Palace Museum director hails close ties with Hong Kong as partnership agreement signed

Second letter of intent on cultural exchange between mainland and Hong Kong counterparts signed on Thursday

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Dr Shan Jixiang (left), director of the Palace Museum and Michelle Li Mei-sheung, director of leisure and cultural Services, at the signing of a second letter of intent on cultural exchange and co-operation. Photo: Edward Wong

Published: 9:33am, 8 Dec 2017Updated: 10:51am, 8 Dec 2017

Exhibitions at China’s top museum have made great strides in the past five years thanks to the exchange with its Hong Kong counterpart, its director has said.

Shan Jixiang, director of the Palace Museum, made the remarks as he was in the city on Thursday to sign a second letter of intent on cultural exchange and cooperation with Michelle Li, director of leisure and cultural services. Both parties signed the first one in 2012 and the latest agreement will take the cooperation to 2022, the year the Hong Kong Palace Museum will be completed at the West Kowloon hub.

“We have benefited greatly from the cooperation in the past agreement and, in my opinion, the fast advancement of the Palace Museum in curating and exhibition owe to what we learned from the museums in Hong Kong,” Shan said of the first five-year deal.

The second five-year plan will feature annual thematic exhibitions of the museum’s artefacts, plus training and exchange of professionals through internships and seminars on both sides in the run-up to the opening of Hong Kong’s branch of the museum in 2022.

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Shan summarised the five areas that he hoped to contribute to the future museum: exhibition series, relic repairing, digital technology, innovative industry, and technical training.