With their vast repository of Buddhist art, the Dunhuang Caves has been acclaimed as an “Encyclopaedia of the Middle Ages”. Following the great success of Dunhuang – Untold Tales, Untold Riches exhibition in 2014, Hong Kong Heritage Museum is delighted to join hands once again with the Dunhuang Academy in presenting another exhibition on Dunhuang’s grotto culture. This newly curated exhibition highlights the achievements of digitisation projects of the Dunhuang Academy, together with a presentation of unearthed artefacts, the grotto art of Dunhuang, and the latest multimedia technology, to allow visitors an opportunity to study Dunhuang culture up close and appreciate the stories of the Buddhist realm and the ordinary people. Technology plays more and more important role in the cultural heritage conservation. The Dunhuang Academy is a pioneer in the field among the cultural institutes in Mainland and has made substantial achievements in digitisation, 3D scanning and virtual reality representation of the Dunhuang relics, not to mention its accomplishments in promoting the cultural heritage of Dunhuang through internet and multimedia programmes. The exhibition showcases 100 exhibits including a replica cave of Mogao Cave 285, virtual caves, a digitised monumental mural of Mogao Cave 61, Mount Wutai, artefacts and archives, interactive multimedia installations and audio-visual programmes, to offer a unique museum experience that allows visitors to learn about the history and art of the Dunhuang Caves.

The Hong Kong Jockey Club presents Life is Only One: Yoshitomo Nara – the first major solo exhibition of the renowned Japanese artist in Hong Kong. The exhibition title comes from one of Nara’s paintings, Life Is Only One! A provocative declaration – but of what? Nara invites Hong Kong visitors to give in to their imaginations and engage in a dialogue with the artist’s work and his world. Through a rich selection of paintings, sketches, photographs, sculptures and mixed-media installations covering a broad range of his oeuvre in the past two decades, the exhibition will present a journey into Nara’s open-ended interpretation of “life.”

For the first time in Asia and for a strictly limited season, the Consulate General of Italy in Hong Kong and the Asia Society Hong Kong Centre, with the generous support from The Hong Kong Jockey Club Charities Trust, are proud to present Light and Shadows — Caravaggio • The Italian Baroque Master. The exhibition will be held from March 12 to April 13, 2014.

This is an once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to see one of the most famous paintings in the world, by one of the greatest artists of our time and a pioneer of modern painting. The exhibition also brings Hong Kong audiences up-close with one of Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio’s most important works, Supper at Emmaus.

A haunting Baroque masterpiece, Supper at Emmaus (1605-06) was painted during a dark period in the artist’s life when he was exiled after committing an act of manslaughter. It depicts Jesus Christ revealing himself to his disciples following his resurrection, in the town of Emmaus. It is a portrait of a flawed humanity, vulnerable to sin and expresses the artist’s desire for salvation offered by faith in Christ.

Also on display are contemporary works by four Hong Kong artists — Chow Chun-fai, So Hing-keung, Tsang Kin-wah, and Wucius Wong — which showcase how techniques found in Caravaggio’s paintings were adopted centuries later. The exhibition is curated by Professor Frank Vigneron of the Department of Fine Arts, the Chinese University of Hong Kong.

Organized around the themes of “shadows,” “theatricality,” “mystery,” and “realism,” this exhibition illustrates different characteristics of Caravaggio’s style, which were so influential that they shaped the painting practices of many later European artists.

“Shadows” emphasize aesthetic choices rooted in the European liturgical tradition of its time; Tsang Kin-wah’s projection of moving texts both relates to darkness as a setting and illustrates its ideological content.

“Theatricality” not only relates to the use of strong contrasts between light and darkness but also to the choice of powerful and simple gestures to accentuate the action of the painting; the photographic montages of Chow Chun-fai are a very personal take on this dramatic style.

“Mystery” represents the sense of spirituality emanating from Caravaggio’s paintings; Wucius Wong’s paintings exemplify a philosophical choice rooted in a concept borrowed from Taoist philosophy that can be compared to the darkness of Christian cosmology.

“Realism” is a characteristic of Caravaggio’s painting that has had a profound influence on the whole of European art; the photographic portraits of So Hing-keung are reminiscent of Caravaggio’s interest in using the disenfranchised as models for his historical and religious figures.

Through the interaction of Caravaggio’s famous painting with works by four Hong Kong artists, each representing an aspect of contemporary art practices, audiences can experience a contemporary perspective on the art of one of the greatest and most influential artists of all time.

Thanks to the initiative and support of the Consulate General of Italy in Hong Kong and Macau and the Italian Cultural Institute that have made the exhibition possible, in collaboration with the Italian Ministry of Cultural Heritage and Activities and Tourism and Pinacoteca di Brera in Milan.

This exhibition showcases nearly 120 artefacts that represent all the core aspects of Dunhuang grotto art and fully demonstrate the vast diversity of Dunhuang culture. Highlights include three replica caves, a 13-metre-long statue of the Nirvāṇa Buddha, wooden movable type in Uighur script, Buddhist sūtras written in Tibetan script, The Book of Psalms written in Syriac script, the only extant printed copy in the world of Essential Mantras in Tangut script and copies of the cave murals produced by the founding pioneers of the National Dunhuang Art Institute (precursor of the Dunhuang Academy), including Mr Chang Shuhong and Mr Duan Wenjie.