bodyType

customContents

entityId

entityUuid

articlePageQuery

filter

article

articleBaseAdvertisingInfoArticle

articleListArticle

articleSeoArticle

hooksArticleAcknowledgementGateOverlayArticle

hooksTrackPageViewArticle

hooksContentInterestArticle

articleLinkingDataContent

hooksAmpRedirectArticle

articleSchemaContent

liveArticle

advertZone

sentiment

contentLock

topics

types

sections

paywallTypes

createdDate

publishedDate

sponsorType

urlAlias

moreOnThisArticles

commentCount

authorLocations

authors

corrections

displaySlideShow

multimediaEmbed

printHeadline

seriesContainer

articleSpeeches

socialHeadline

headline

images

flag

firstTopic

glossary

flattenTypeIds

image

relatedLinks

relatedNewsletters

__typename

sponsor

pdfFiles

seriesReverseOrder

series

disableOffPlatformContent

published

updatedDate

summary

subHeadline

body

keywords

readingTime

customTimezone

liveContents

Vivienne Chow

An exhibition of the late master lyricist James Wong Jim's school life may pave the way for an archive or museum of local pop culture.

The exhibition - 'Pop Culture  @ Hong Kong: James Wong's Study', at the University of Hong Kong's Centre of Asian Studies - comprises previously unpublished works and photos of Wong's life as a student from the 1950s, when he was at La Salle College, to his recent years at HKU studying for his doctorate.

Part of the exhibition hall has been set up to resemble Wong's study at home, with part of his music collection and books.

Wong died of lung cancer last year, aged 64. He was best known for the lyrics to tunes composed by his long-term songwriting partner Joseph Koo Ka-fai. Their songs defined the genre of Canto-pop.

Ng Chun-hung, assistant professor at HKU's department of sociology and a curator of the exhibition, said 'Uncle Jim' was one of the city's most creative artists.

His cross-media works - including film, music and advertising - reflected the development of Hong Kong's popular culture since the 1950s, he said.

Professor Ng hoped the exhibition would expand into a fuller version in the near future and possibly promote an archive for Hong Kong pop culture in a few years' time.

'This is a long-term project. Now it's only a starting point. Hong Kong's pop culture is unique. It is more than pop culture. It is Hong Kong culture,' he said.

When Wong was doing his doctoral thesis, he attended Professor Ng's lectures on 'mass communication and society'.

'He was the oldest and best student in my class, which was mainly an elective course for young undergraduates,' Professor Ng said.

'He was never late for my class, and he always had feedback on what I said. Sometimes we had hour-long discussions on what had been said during lectures.'

He praised Wong's determination and desire for knowledge.

'He was already a master of writing, but he still took basic courses such as thesis writing.'

Music will also be played at the exhibition hall, but not classics composed by Wong.

'It will be music that Uncle Jim listened to when he was working,' said Professor Ng. 'This includes jazz and classical music. In his study, you wouldn't find any recordings of his own songs.'

The exhibition runs until Tuesday.



'Uncle Jim' exhibition may spur pop museum