Campus Digest

Department of History and the University Library present the “Leisure Space and Historical Memory: A Photo Exhibition on Sun Yat-sen Parks in the World”

11 Nov 2016

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The exhibition is being held in the HKBU Library until 29 December
Honoured guests officiate at the opening ceremony of “Leisure Space and Historical Memory: A Photo Exhibition on Sun Yat-sen Parks in the World”.

 

In commemoration of the 150th anniversary of the birth of Dr Sun Yat-sen, Hong Kong Baptist University’s Department of History and the University Library jointly present the “Leisure Space and Historical Memory: A Photo Exhibition on Sun Yat-sen Parks in the World”. An opening ceremony was held today (11 November).

 

The exhibition is an extended event following the creation of the HKBU-produced database “Sun Yat-sen Parks in the World” (http://digital.lib.hkbu.edu.hk/sunyatsen/), which was launched in March this year. 

 

The exhibition is divided into three parts: “History”, “Current Situation”, and “Highlights”. It draws on a variety of historical sources concerning the 106 Sun Yat-sen parks worldwide to give an overall introduction to the parks as well as to examine their background, establishment, developments, features and facilities. Several of the Sun Yat-sen parks are highlighted in the exhibition.

 

Dr Henry Tan, CEO of Luen Thai International Group Ltd; Dr Jim Chang Hok-yan, Chief Librarian of the Hong Kong Public Libraries, Leisure and Cultural Services Department; Mr Vincent Kwan, Executive Director of the Dr Sun Yat-Sen Classical Chinese Garden, Vancouver, Canada; Mr Li Hexie, Secretary General of the Tan Siu Lin Foundation; Professor Adrian Bailey, HKBU’s Dean of Faculty of Social Sciences; Mr Kendall Crilly, HKBU Librarian; Professor Clara Ho, Head of HKBU Department of History, and Mrs Lily Chan, Director of University Advancement, HKBU, officiated at the opening ceremony.

 

The opening ceremony was followed by a public seminar hosted by Mr Vincent Kwan, who delivered a presentation entitled “Dr Sun Yat-Sen Classical Chinese Garden in Vancouver – Past, Present and Future”. He introduced the symbolic meanings, cultural orientation and social values of the garden from the aspects of nation, race, culture and tourism. He also stressed the necessity of re-examining the relation between the garden and community, as well as the need to build external partnerships, and renew the mission of the garden. 

 

Mr Kwan also joined a public dialogue moderated by Dr Kwok Kam-chau and Dr Raymond Lau Kwun-sun of the Department of History after his presentation. In this session, they discussed the meaning of the garden within Vancouver’s mainstream society, the relation of the garden and the identity construction of overseas Chinese, the operation mode of the garden, among other topics. 

 

The exhibition will continue on the HKBU campus through 29 December 2016, while a parallel session of the exhibition will be held at Weiyuanlou, Quanzhou in Fujian province, from 11 November to 25 November 2016. A separate exhibition will be held at the Hong Kong Central Library from 4 January to 28 February 2017.