Hong Kong Palace Museum to support repatriating cultural heritage in line with central government’s efforts, director says
- Louis Ng’s first public statement on the museum’s position regarding restitution comes as he takes the Post on a behind-the-scenes tour of the institution
- He does not rule out the potential for collaboration with Taipei’s National Palace Museum, referencing a past partnership between Beijing and Taipei
13:23
What’s so special about Hong Kong’s Palace Museum? | Louis Ng on Talking Post with Yonden Lhatoo
The Hong Kong Palace Museum (HKPM) will support the central government’s efforts to seek the repatriation of cultural heritage, its director says.
Louis Ng Chi-wa’s first public statement regarding the institution’s position on restitution comes as he takes the Post on an exclusive behind-the-scenes tour of some of the museum’s more than 900 rare artefacts, and explains the future direction of the West Kowloon Cultural District’s latest addition.
He says that the museum, which opened to the public on July 3, will support the National Administration of Cultural Heritage in mainland China and its work on reclaiming cultural properties through negotiations, legal proceedings and purchases.
Some of the world’s biggest “universal museums” which built up their collections during the 19th- and 20th-century periods of colonial expansion have become more open to the idea of repatriation in recent years – for example with regards to Benin bronzes and Australian Aboriginal human remains.