THE WEIGHTY FORM of an ancient Chinese bronze vessel decked out in French-inspired cloisonne. A pair of tiny jade figures from the Yuan dynasty (1279 to 1368) masquerading as foreign tribute bearers from the Tang dynasty (618 to 907). A contemporary sculpture of a man in a Mao suit simulating the classical pose of a Greek discus thrower. These are just some of more than 200 objects in Art and Imitation in China, an exhibition opening on Saturday at the Hong Kong University Museum and Art Gallery. Organised by the Oriental Ceramic Society of Hong Kong (OCS) and curated by Anthony Lin Hua Tien, the show examines imitation art from the Shang dynasty (1600BC-1100BC) to the present day. Lin says the term 'imitation' has several shades of meaning - 'from emulation, in the noblest sense, to venal deception'. To demonstrate this he has selected from the private collections of OCS members and institutional contributors a range of bronzes, jade, lacquer, ceramics, glass, textiles, ink-and-brush and oil paintings, and works of art in wood, bamboo, cloisonne and enamels. OCS president Malcolm Barnett came up with the theme - although he says the name 'Oriental Ceramic Society' has become a misnomer because members are interested in a wide range of Asian art and cultural issues. A collector of jade figures since the 1970s, Barnett became fascinated by the way the stone seemed to encompass two parallel approaches - tending either to be carved as naturalistic forms or as imitations of archaic objects. In 1995, he privately published a catalogue of his collection focusing on this phenomenon, titled Archaism and Naturalism in Chinese Jades. Assuming the presidency of the OCS in 2004, Barnett sought to create an exhibition that would showcase the rich and varying collections of the society's members, from antiquities to avant-garde Chinese paintings. And it then struck him that, from archaism to modern appropriation, the concept of imitation seemed to run like an undercurrent through them all. Barnett called on Lin, former chairman of Christie's Asia, to act as curator. For Lin, the exhibition and its theme presented an irresistible opportunity and a new challenge, marking his debut as curator of a public exhibition. 'The OCS was very brave to invite a neophyte to undertake such a prodigious task,' says Lin, who resigned from Christie's early last year. He says the exhibition is 'an ambitious odyssey', and he adopted a western art historical approach to explore the many political, aesthetic and economic reasons behind the artistic movements encompassed by the theme. As such, the exhibition is organised along three main sub-themes: archaism, transcultural influence, and inter-media exchange. Archaism (fugu in Chinese) is defined as imitation undertaken in tribute to the utopian past, and is expressed primarily in the recreation of ancient Chinese styles and objects. As a trend it can be traced to the Song period (960-1127) and Emperor Huizong's call for a return to Confucian values. Transcultural influence is the imitation of foreign idioms and designs for specific purposes, whether for reasons of religion or social commentary, or sheer novelty or trade. This influence can be seen variously in objects employing Mid-Eastern styles and media, transferred to China along the trade routes of the Silk Road; or, in contemporary terms, in the appropriation of the American Pop idiom by Chinese artists such as Wang Guangyi seeking a new language to express new realities. Inter-media exchange is defined as the imitation of works of art in a medium different to that in which they were originally crafted, the main intention being to show off the technical virtuosity of the craftsmen (and to amuse the connoisseur who often commissioned them). An example in the exhibition is a ceramic lobed dish from the Tang period which imitates in exact detail a fourth-century Northern Wei metalwork prototype. In most cases, objects in the exhibition encompass at least two of these themes. A feature of the exhibition is that the imitative object on display can be viewed alongside the earlier prototype - or in some cases the original object itself - which inspired the imitation. A case in point is the elaborate 18th-century cloisonne wine jar, which imitates an ancient ritual bronze form of the Western Zhou period - an example of which is also featured in the show. A number of China Trade paintings show another permutation of the imitation theme, an example being a portrait of a Chinese mandarin by George Chinnery (1774-1852) which shares proximity with an astonishingly accurate imitation executed years later by the Guangzhou artist Lamqua II, who flourished around 1840 to 1870. The exhibition's illustrated catalogue features essays by specialists in the field and at an accompanying symposium several of these will present papers on the art and imitation theme, including Mayching Kao on traditional Chinese painting, Richard Stanley-Baker on archaism, Julian Thompson on ceramics and Paul Serfaty on contemporary art. Art and Imitation in China, Hong Kong University Museum and Art Gallery, 94 Bonham Rd, Oct 14-Dec 17; symposium, Oct 14, 2.30pm-5.30pm, Fung Ping Shan Building, University Museum and Art Gallery, free
