Dr Raphael Wong: “The Hong Kong Palace Museum is a very important cultural facility for Hong Kong. I very much want to be part of it.”

After earning a PhD in archaeology in the United Kingdom, Dr Raphael Wong returned to Hong Kong to fulfil two wishes: he wanted to continue his heritage research, and he wanted his expertise to benefit the city.

Born and raised in Hong Kong, Dr Wong has been passionate about the arts since a young age. He earned a PhD in archaeology from the University of Oxford after completing a master’s degree in fine arts.

In 2020, Dr Wong joined the Hong Kong Palace Museum (HKPM) as its first curator, focusing on Chinese ceramics and paintings.

“This world-class museum is a very important cultural facility for Hong Kong. I very much want to be part of it,” says Dr Wong, Associate Curator at HKPM. Over the past two years, he has been working intensively with a team of more than ten researchers and curators to plan and organise the museum’s nine galleries, three of which were tasked to him.

The HKPM project was announced in December 2016. Its construction was funded by a donation of HK$3.5 billion from The Hong Kong Jockey Club Charities Trust. Located by the harbourfront, the sleek seven-storey building is wide at the top and narrow at the bottom, resembling classic Chinese utensils such as ding, hu and bowls. The museum opened in July 2022.

Dr Wong says that the museum guides visitors on a journey through different eras of Chinese cultural history – from the introductory exhibition on the Ming and Qing dynasties, through the second gallery showing items from the daily life of the Qianlong Emperor, to exhibitions of ancient ceramics, portraits of emperors and empresses, early Chinese paintings, and ancient horse culture.

Dr Wong notes the close link between local art collecting and the Palace Museum in Beijing. In the 1950s, Hong Kong collector Xu Bojiao actively searched for Chinese paintings scattered worldwide and restored many national treasures to the Palace Museum. In addition to working on the exhibitions on ancient Chinese ceramics and paintings, Dr Wong is also responsible for the exhibition on the history of Chinese art collecting in Hong Kong, showcasing the city’s importance to global art collecting. “We should be proud of our role in the Palace Museum’s collection,” he says.

Dr Wong hopes to make heritage more approachable and bring history to the public using innovative ways. Interactive media is used for both the ceramic and painting exhibitions in HKPM, for example, where visitors can design ceramics or create personalised portraits using official templates from the old days.

“There is constant interaction between humans and historic objects. For instance, we have curated the paintings exhibition in a way that further recognises the value of the exhibits. Every visitor will also be taking part in the recreation of Chinese painting history.”

This story was originally published on The Hong Kong Jockey Club's "With You. Then. Now. Always." website.