[Concurrent] Wu Zhihua, Director of Hong Kong Palace Museum
It has been set recently. There are about 800 cultural relics of the Forbidden City, which will be displayed when we open.
These cultural relics are all very, very good cultural relics. They are all the finest items among them. Many of them have not been exhibited in Hong Kong, and many have never left the Forbidden City.
[Commentary] On May 17, the director of the Hong Kong Palace Museum, Wu Zhihua, revealed in an exclusive interview with a reporter from China News Agency that about 800 precious cultural relics will be transported from the Palace Museum in Beijing to the Palace Museum in Hong Kong in April 2022. It will be officially exhibited at the opening exhibition in mid-2022.
In Wu Zhihua's view, the unique geographical location and cultural network have formed a Hong Kong culture that is rooted in Chinese culture and blended with Western colors.
The unique Hong Kong perspective will add charm to the interpretation of the Forbidden City culture.
[Concurrent] Wu Zhihua, Director of Hong Kong Palace Museum
Chinese culture has a characteristic of "integrity and diversity." Hong Kong, as a part of our China, has its own cultural characteristics.
The Forbidden City of Hong Kong is backed by the motherland, rooted in Hong Kong, and facing the world. We will use Hong Kong's unique perspective to interpret the cultural relics of the Forbidden City and Chinese culture, and then spread it to all parts of the world.
In the past, Hong Kong had its special human geography and historical background, which developed a perspective in which we have local colors.
We feel that its interpretation can enrich the connotation of our Chinese culture.
[Explanation] In addition to being an exhibition space for the Hong Kong people, Wu Zhihua believes that the Hong Kong Palace Museum is an important window for spreading Chinese culture to the outside world.
He said that Hong Kong has a long history of foreign exchanges due to geographical, cultural and historical reasons.
After the return, Hong Kong has played a better role as a hub for cultural exchanges between China and foreign countries in the new historical stage, and the Hong Kong Palace Museum will also play an important and unique role in this process.
[Concurrent] Wu Zhihua, Director of Hong Kong Palace Museum
In the future, our Hong Kong Palace Museum will have many projects. Apart from exhibiting the Palace Museum culture in Hong Kong, we will also introduce it to foreign audiences.
On the one hand, we are bringing Chinese culture to the world, and on the other hand, we also hope to bring world culture to Hong Kong and the mainland.
Recently, in the National 14th Five-Year Plan, it was mentioned that Hong Kong is a very important cultural and artistic exchange center between China and foreign countries.
I think this is a very important positioning for Hong Kong. It can better integrate us into the overall development of the country and contribute to a new positioning of the country in the world's cultural landscape in the future.
[Commentary] Wu Zhihua emphasized that the promotion of Chinese culture and art and the promotion of exchanges and dialogues between world civilizations are one of the important visions of the Hong Kong Palace Museum.
In the near future, more exhibitions that integrate Eastern and Western cultures and promote exchanges between Chinese and foreign civilizations will become the focus of promotion of the Hong Kong Palace Museum.
[Concurrent] Wu Zhihua, Director of Hong Kong Palace Museum
We have a horse exhibition, a key exhibition we opened.
There are almost 300 cultural relics, which are the history of horses in the Forbidden City. From the Neolithic period to the Qing Dynasty, we all have horses, which shows the importance of horse culture in China.
We have already discussed with the Louvre at the same time. There are more than ten cultural relics representing Western culture horses, which are displayed in our exhibition.
So this prompts us to have a dialogue between Eastern and Western cultures, how do you think about horses in different cultures in the world (regions), and its importance in the development of our human civilization.
In the future, such exhibitions will be our focus.
[Explanation] Wu Zhihua also has his own unique insights and plans on how to attract young audiences and let traditional culture and art enter the lives of modern young people.
[Concurrent] Wu Zhihua, Director of Hong Kong Palace Museum
Our culture is not flat, it is three-dimensional.
This may be more interested in modern young people, because they may sometimes feel that this cultural relic and art is too advanced, and they don't understand it themselves.
Our hope is to bring this content closer to their lives.
We will find some young artists in Hong Kong, and we will invite them to take a look at some of the cultural relics we are going to exhibit in the Forbidden City, and then see how these cultural relics affect their concept of creation, and how the ancients created this cultural relic. Can a Hong Kong artist of the century create some modern artworks according to his idea, and then use this opportunity to have a dialogue with ancient artists.
[Explanation] As the first curator of the Hong Kong Palace Museum, Wu Zhihua feels a long way to go.
He said frankly that a good team is half the battle. At present, he is gathering professionals from different countries and regions and different cultural backgrounds to join the team, and strive to build an international professional team, aiming to make audiences from all over the world go deeper. Learn about the Forbidden City of China and fall in love with Chinese culture.
[Concurrent] Wu Zhihua, Director of Hong Kong Palace Museum
When we select our team, we hope that people from different majors, different cultural backgrounds, and different cities can join our team.
Our current team is very international, some from Hong Kong, some from the mainland who have worked in museums for many years, some from Taiwan, and one of our researchers is from the National Palace Museum in Taipei.
There are also some from the United States and the United Kingdom. After they have different backgrounds, they need to understand how to understand and explain Chinese culture in the world. This is of great help to our future work.
Reporter Fan Siyi and Liang Yuan from Hong Kong
Editor in charge: [Ji Xiang]