************************************************************
An exhibition titled "From Soya Bean Milk to Puer Tea" opens tomorrow (October 15) and will run until November 15 next year at the Flagstaff House Museum of Tea Ware. The exhibition celebrates the 30th anniversary of the establishment of the museum.
Dr Lo Kwee-seong, founder of the Vitasoy Group, advocated the establishment of Asia's first museum for the collection and display of tea ware in Hong Kong 30 years ago. He also generously donated more than 600 sets of tea ware, collected from China and overseas, to the museum. The exhibition will showcase more than 80 sets of tea ware chosen from the museum's collection, which will also tell the story of Dr Lo's interest in tea ware.
Dr Lo's interest in tea ware began one day in the 1950s when he was attracted by some tea pots of diverse shapes and forms displayed in shop windows of the Central Building in Central. He bought over 30 pieces of Yixing purple clay teapots that day, and since then his fascination for tea ware developed further as he embarked on a lifetime of collecting.
Dr Lo remained devoted to the collection of Yixing tea ware following retirement. He helped persuade the Government to transform the heritage building Flagstaff House, which was formerly the residence of the Commander of the British Forces in Hong Kong, into the Museum of Tea Ware we see today, for the promotion of Chinese tea culture.
The museum has been organising exhibitions to promote tea culture since its opening in 1984. With support from Dr Lo the museum once organised a touring exhibition of Yixing ware in North America, thus promoting public understanding of the art of Yixing craft abroad.
In 1992, Dr Lo suggested building a tea gallery next to the Museum of Tea Ware to further promote Chinese tea culture. Three years later, the K.S. Lo Gallery was opened to the public. Apart from holding art lectures, demonstrations and extension activities related to Chinese tea drinking and other Chinese art forms, the gallery also showcases precious ceramic antiques donated by Dr Lo dating from the Song, Yuan, Ming and Qing dynasties, as well as Chinese seals from the Ming, Qing dynasties and more modern times.
Since its establishment the museum has collected more than 1 300 pieces of Chinese tea ware, pottery and seal carving donated by Dr Lo. The exhibition aims not only to showcase Dr Lo's contribution to Hong Kong society and the promotion of Chinese tea culture, but also to promote tea culture and the appreciation of tea ware in the city.
For more information about the exhibition, please visit the Hong Kong Museum of Art's website at hk.art.museum, or call 2869 0690 or 2869 6690.
Ends/Tuesday, October 14, 2014
Issued at HKT 17:55
NNNN
