香港印象 Hong Kong Impressions (Out Of Stock)

Cultural conventions shaped landscape preferences, perception of landscape, and what historical and cultural meanings and values were attached to particular landscapes. "Hong Kong Impressions" features works of art that were created based on specific sites in Hong Kong, offering us an entry point from which to understand the complex relationships between landscape aesthetics, modern tourism, and the visual representations of the Hong Kong landscapes. The artists included in the exhibition were landscape tourists who conducted extensive tours all over Hong Kong and visualised their travel experiences and perceptions of Hong Kong in pictorial forms. In the post-war period, the rise of site-specific paintings with themes on Hong Kong landscapes reveals a connection between a growing interest in plein air sketching and a rapid development of modern tourism in Hong Kong. From a place with "little to do" to a popular tourist destination, the development of tourism in Hong Kong demonstrates how a specific ideology and landscape perception can become imbued in the travel discourse over time. In the pre-war period, Hong Kong's tourist attractions were selected and constructed through an Oriental lens, aiming to emphasise the contribution of the British government in transforming Hong Kong from the 'barren hill' into the 'Pearl of the Orient' and frame the city as modern yet traditional, Western yet Chinese. After the wars, the contributions of the Chinese cultural elites to the discourse of tourism added a nationalistic perspective to ways of looking at Hong Kong scenery, expanding the list of scenic attractions of Hong Kong and shifting the focus of scenic attractions from the Hong Kong Island to the New Territories. As such, Chinese landscape aesthetic helped to develop a particular landscape sensibility towards the Hong Kong picturesque landscapes. In the process, some attractions were privileged and became the symbolic signs of Hong Kong, becoming popular subjects in site-specific paintings. From the selection of scenic spots and artistic styles, to specific vantage points from which to view and frame the scenic sites, the paintings in the present exhibition advance our understanding of how artists contemplated and imagined Hong Kong, bringing us a new way of seeing and experiencing the Hong Kong landscapes through an artistic lens.

文化傳統塑造景觀的感知，山水的品味，以及賦予特定名勝歷史和文化意涵與價值。「香港印象」展出以香港實景為主題的藝術作品，為我們了解山水美學、現代旅遊與香港風景的視覺呈現之間的種種複雜關係提供一個切入點。展覽包括的藝術家都是曾經遊覽香港不同地方的風景旅客，以繪畫呈現旅遊經歷和對香港勝景的觀感。戰後，以香港風景為主題的實景山水畫蔚然成風，揭示了藝術家對戶外寫生的興趣與日俱增，以及與現代旅遊在香港急速發展之間的密切關聯。香港由「沒有甚麼可以做」的地方演變為著名旅遊勝地，其旅遊發展表明了個別意識形態與景觀論述如何隨着時間推移滲入旅遊論述中。事實上，戰前香港的旅遊名勝均以東方主義的角度挑選和建構出來，旨在強調英國政府把香港從「荒山野嶺」發展成「東方之珠」過程中的貢獻，同時將香港設計成既現代又傳統、既西化又中式的城市。然而，抗戰和內戰之後，中國文化菁英南來並參與建構香港旅遊論述，為觀看香港風景的方式添上家國情懷，開拓香港的風景名勝，也將焦點由集中於香港本島的景點轉移到新界。因此，中國山水美學的注入發展出欣賞香港的特有山水感知。過程中某些景點尤受青睞，成為香港的象徵符號，繼而成為實景山水的常見題材。由挑選風景名勝和藝術風格，到勝景的觀賞角度和名勝的描繪，是次展覽的畫作提供另一角度讓我們理解藝術家如何思考和想像香港，並透過藝術家的角度引領我們以新的方式欣賞和體驗香港山水。