You’ve been the chairman of the Friends of HKMoA since 2005. How did the role come about?

I joined the Friends of HKMoA in the late Nineties, when Maisie Wong was the chairman. Then I left the committee and rejoined under Rosamond Brown. At that time, I began to organise all the membership programmes and took over the chairmanship after two years when Rosamond stepped down. Over the years, I have worked with several museum chief curators, including Gerald Tsang, Christina Chu, Tang Hoi-chiu, Eve Tam and the current director, Maria Mok.

Where does your passion for the arts come from?

I have always loved the visual arts and grew up devouring art books and scouring museums. Art, to me, is the highest expression of the human spirit. But my journey to art was not direct: I studied physical chemistry first and earned a Masters from Johns Hopkins University. Eventually, I made the leap into art history through John White [an art historian and former head of the department of history of art] at the University College London and followed that with a graduate degree from New York University Institute of Fine Arts, specialising in early Chinese ceramics and 17th- and 18th-century Spanish paintings.

Last year, Friends of HKMoA kicked off a city-wide campaign featuring 100 images of artworks from the HKMoA collection. What did you hope to achieve with this campaign?

The Hong Kong Museum of Art underwent a three-year renovation and reopened in November 2019, but because of social unrest and Covid-19, we were not able to celebrate its reopening fully. We felt that it was important to publicise the museum and its superb collections more widely among the Hong Kong community. That is why we launched a publicity campaign last spring to coincide with the organisation’s 30th anniversary. Since then, attendance at the museum has risen, particularly among the young. It seems that we have achieved our goal [of promoting the museum].

Why is it important to make art available for everyone?

There has always been a perception that art is an exclusive and rarefied pursuit, but in fact, art has been an intrinsic part of human existence since prehistoric times. The process of creating art can be a way of exploring the world and understanding yourself, and can bring a deep sense of healing and happiness. We hope to break down the barriers and fears that people may have about seeing unfamiliar works of art, and encourage encounters with art daily.

How has Friends of HKMoA impacted the evolution of the museum? 

In the Nineties, the museum was a very quiet place, with few visitors and very little community engagement. As chairman, I set out to enliven members programmes and create a series of community outreach programmes, which included free buses to shuttle government school students to and from museum exhibitions; a free monthly concert series, Sound of Art, featuring young professional musicians; and a summer art camp for children who have disabilities or are battling cancer. Then there are special grants for young artists who are the winners of the museum’s contemporary art awards. Friends of HKMoA looks forward to nurturing a new generation of art lovers and supporters who can take up the mantle and go forward. The future is very bright.

See also: Friends of Hong Kong Museum of Art Celebrates 30th Anniversary with Dazzling Bash