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This year marks the 40th anniversary of the passing away of the internationally renowned martial arts movie star Bruce Lee. A large-scale exhibition, "Bruce Lee: Kung Fu • Art • Life", is being presented by the Leisure and Cultural Services Department (LCSD) at the Hong Kong Heritage Museum in commemoration. The opening ceremony of the exhibition was held today (July 19) with the Financial Secretary, Mr John C Tsang, officiating.
Other officiating guests were the Chairperson of the Bruce Lee Foundation, Ms Shannon Lee; collector Mr Perry Lee; the Chairman of the Federation of Hong Kong Filmmakers, Mr Ng See-yuen; the Director of Leisure and Cultural Services, Mrs Betty Fung; the Commissioner for Tourism, Mr Philip Yung; and the Chief Curator of the Hong Kong Heritage Museum, Ms Belinda Wong.
Presented by the LCSD and jointly organised by the Bruce Lee Foundation and the Hong Kong Heritage Museum, the exhibition is one of the highlight programmes of the "Vibrant Hong Kong" theme under the territory-wide "Hong Kong: Our Home" Campaign launched this year. Sponsored by Fortune Star Media Limited, the exhibition will be opened to the public tomorrow (July 20) and will run for five years at the Hong Kong Heritage Museum.
Addressing the opening ceremony, Mr Tsang noted that Bruce Lee took kung fu to a whole new level of recognition and a new international audience with his natural charisma and physical prowess. He introduced Hong Kong to the world through his films and did more in this area than any other person. Movies such as "Fist of Fury", "The Way of the Dragon" and "Enter the Dragon" have been considered by film critics to be all-time classics that transcend generational, cultural and geographical boundaries.
Mr Tsang said the exhibition is a great chance for the younger generation to understand what the fuss is all about. The exhibition takes visitors on a marvellous journey through the life and achievements of Lee: from a rebellious street fighting child growing up in Kowloon to accomplished Hollywood actor and director and revered kung fu master.
Mr Tsang took the opportunity to express his gratitude, on behalf of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Government, to the Bruce Lee Foundation for co-organising this event with the Hong Kong Heritage Museum and for lending more than 400 of its invaluable artefacts to the exhibition. He also thanked renowned collector Mr Perry Lee, who has lent more than 100 items on "The Green Hornet" for display at the Collectors' Corner of the exhibition.
Bruce Lee was born on November 27, 1940, in San Francisco. His father, Lee Hoi-chuen, was a celebrated Cantonese opera actor and his mother, Ho Oi-yee, was a daughter of prominent Hong Kong businessman Ho Kom-tong. Lee was brought back to Hong Kong when he was a newborn. Because of his father's strong connections to the world of show business, Lee first came into contact with cinema when he was an infant, making his silver screen debut as a baby in the Cantonese film "Golden Gate Girl", shot in the US in 1941. Outstanding performances in the films "The Kid" (1950) and "Infancy" (1951) earned him praise as a "genius child actor". He left for the US to pursue his studies in 1959 after finishing a final film in Hong Kong, "The Orphan" (1960).
Lee was passionate about martial arts when he was small. He became a student of the Wing Chun grandmaster Ip Man at the age of 13. After he went to the US, the lifestyles and world views of Western society became catalysts for his new conception of the philosophy of martial arts. He began teaching Wing Chun when he was studying at Edison Technical School in Seattle, and later, in 1962, he founded his own Jun Fan Gung Fu Institute at a permanent venue. He also named the martial arts system that had been brewing in his mind Jeet Kune Do - a style with no fixed technical movements and no specific forms.
In 1965, Lee was invited by 20th Century Fox to play the role of Kato in the US TV series "The Green Hornet". His agile and skilful kung fu alerted Hong Kong film producers to his talents, and in 1971 he returned to Hong Kong to resume his career and starred in a number of sensational movies, including "The Big Boss" (1971), "Fist of Fury" (1972), "The Way of the Dragon" (1972) and "Enter the Dragon" (1972). His true and hard-hitting kung fu and jaw-dropping nunchaku skills mesmerised audiences. Lee not only took Chinese kung fu films to the international market but also reached the peak of his life and his career. Sadly, he died suddenly during the shooting of his last film, "The Game of Death", on July 20, 1973, at the age of 32.
Occupying a total area of 850 square metres, the "Bruce Lee: Kung Fu • Art • Life" exhibition features more than 600 precious relics related to Bruce Lee on loan from a number of local and overseas collectors, including memorabilia of Lee and his costumes, books and gym equipment, as well as his articles. The exhibition gallery also houses several sets of reconstructions, which were created with ideas inspired by prominent scenes in Lee's five classic kung fu movies as well as his gym and his study. Also featuring a 3D hologram animation on Bruce Lee, a newly created 3.5-metre-high statue of Lee and the 75-minute documentary "The Brilliant Life of Bruce Lee", the exhibition will enable visitors to review Lee's life story based on his profile, his movies, his martial arts and his development as a cultural phenomenon from a more comprehensive, in-depth and independent perspective.
The exhibition will also include a collector series in which the theme will be changed regularly to show the precious collections of different collectors with an aim of introducing the cultural significance and the influence of Bruce Lee through the collectors' eyes. The first exhibition in the collector series will feature more than 100 products related to the TV series "The Green Hornet" provided by internationally acclaimed US collector Perry Lee. Through this collection, visitors will be able to learn more about the first image of Bruce Lee branded by a US enterprise.
To tie in with the five-year exhibition, the Hong Kong Heritage Museum will organise a series of education and extension programmes with different themes which will be carried out in phases. The first phase of activities, under the theme "The Bruce Lee that Hong Kong Knew", will include lectures, sharing sessions and interactive demonstrations to explore the life, career and achievements of Bruce Lee from different perspectives.
To enable the public to obtain more information about "Bruce Lee: Kung Fu • Art • Life" and to enhance their interest in the exhibition, interactive media will be employed along with social media, a dedicated exhibition website and smartphone apps. Members of the public will be able find from the LCSD's newly launched Facebook fan page, "Visit HK Museums" (www.facebook.com/VisitHKMuseums), a public engagement campaign, directional day tour and exhibition promotional videos, highlights of must-see exhibits, interviews, quotes and the making-of materials for the exhibition.
During the early stage of the exhibition, the museum will arrange viewing sessions and online reservation of tickets for the first two months (from mid-July to mid-September) after the exhibition opens. Visitors can, via email, reserve tickets for a time slot that fits their schedule through the Hong Kong Heritage Museum's online reservation website at blor.lcsd.gov.hk. Visitors will also be able to purchase tickets at the museum.
Online reservation is being conducted in two phases:
* Phase 1: From 10am on July 4 onwards (for exhibition dates from July 20 to August 19)
* Phase 2: From 10am on August 1 onwards (for exhibition dates from August 20 to September 20)
Interested parties will only be allowed to make reservations for a maximum of three viewing sessions and four tickets for each session during each phase of online reservation while the quota lasts. The quota will be available on a first-come, first-served basis.
As the exhibition is classified as a long-term exhibition of the Hong Kong Heritage Museum, visitors will only need to pay the museum's standard admission fees to visit the exhibition without any additional charges. However, visitors will be required to present the special admission slip for viewing the exhibition. Standard admission to the Hong Kong Heritage Museum is $10 with a half-price concession available for full-time students, people with disabilities and senior citizens aged 60 or above. Group tickets at $7 each are available to groups of 20 persons or more. Admission is free on Wednesdays.
The Hong Kong Heritage Museum is located at 1 Man Lam Road, Sha Tin. It is open from 10am to 6pm on weekdays, and from 10am to 7pm on Saturdays, Sundays and public holidays. It is closed on Tuesdays (except public holidays). Paid car parking is available at the museum. Those who prefer to use public transport may take the MTR Ma On Shan Line and get off at Che Kung Temple Station, which is within three minutes' walk of the museum.
For more details about the exhibition, please visit the Hong Kong Heritage Museum's website at hk.heritage.museum. For ticketing and arrangements for online reservation, please visit the website at blor.lcsd.gov.hk. For enquiries, please call 2180 8188.
Ends/Friday, July 19, 2013
Issued at HKT 19:53
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