Hong Kong Museum of Art curator Szeto Yuen-kit has every reason to be excited. A 'very, very rare' exhibition of Chinese masterpieces has just landed in the museum's two special exhibition galleries, which he oversees, and the show is set to be a blockbuster.
The Pride of China is a two-part showcase of 32 priceless classical Chinese brushworks dating from the Jin (265-420) to the Yuan (1279-1368) dynasty. They're on loan from the Palace Museum in Beijing, and most have never before left the mainland.
Calligraphy and ink paintings are the most highly regarded forms of Chinese visual art, yet opportunities to view the best of these works are few and far between. That's because most of the existing pieces are hundreds of years old - and some were created more than 1,000 years ago. Painted on fragile silk and paper, they are locked in vaults.
'Not only visitors, but even curators and directors of the Palace Museum in Beijing rarely have a chance to see the artworks,' says Szeto, who curates the Pride of China exhibit.
When Szeto approached his counterparts at the Palace Museum last October, suggesting an exhibition to commemorate the handover anniversary, he expected to be lent 'one to five pieces'.
Yet as the talks between the two institutions continued, the number grew. In the end, they agreed on