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Here's a piece of good news for art lovers - the great master of Chinese painting Wu Guanzhong has just arrived Hong Kong to officiate at the opening ceremony of his solo exhibition entitled "Wu Guanzhong: A Retrospective" to be held at Hong Kong Museum of Art (Museum of Art) from this Friday (March 15) to May 12. Meanwhile, he will conduct a series of activities to share his view of art with the audience.

Mr Wu will first conduct a special lecture on the modernization of Chinese ink painting at 2.30 pm this Saturday (March 16) at the Lecture Hall of the Museum of Art. During the lecture, Mr Wu will share his experience in the exploration of the possibilities of Chinese ink painting and express his opinion on various issues about the modernization of Chinese ink painting. The lecture, in Putonghua, will be free for admission, and the 150 seats will be available on a first-come-first-served basis.

Besides the lecture, Mr Wu will also perform a sketching demonstration at 3 pm on March 23 at the Sculpture Court of the Museum of Art. The great master will make sketches of the splendid panoramic view of Victoria Harbour, and the whole process will be video-taped for showing at the Museum of Art during the exhibition period. On top of that, an education pamphlet on Wu's sketching will also be published and available for collection at the Museum of Art. Admission to this sketching demonstration will be free. Due to space limitation, the demonstration will be limited to 150 audiences on a first-come-first-served basis.

Meanwhile, the Chief Curator of the Museum of Art, Dr Christina Chu Kam-leun, will conduct a Gallery Talk on the "Wu Guanzhong: A Retrospective" exhibition at 2.30 pm this Sunday (March 17) at the Museum of Art. Through an in-depth explanation and interpretation of the exhibits, Dr Chu will lead the audience to the artistic world of Mr Wu. The Gallery Talk will be conducted in Cantonese.

The Hong Kong Museum of Art is located at 10 Salisbury Road, Tsim Sha Tsui, Kowloon. It opens from 10 am to 6 pm daily and closes on every Thursday (except public holidays). Admission fee is $ 10 with half-price concession applicable for full-time students, people with disabilities and senior citizens aged 60 or above. Admission is free on Wednesdays. For enquiries, please call 2721 0116 or visit the Museum of Art's website at http://www.lcsd.gov.hk/hkma/

End/Wednesday, March 13, 2002

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