Cabinets of Curiosities – From the Natural Sciences to the Art of Nature

28 June (Thu) 4:00pm- 6:00pm

Room 6-213, Lau Ming Wai Academic Building, City University of Hong Kong

The talk will trace how Europeans responded to the ‘four treasures of the literati’s study room’ (Chinese paper, brush, ink, and ink stone) during 1600-1860. Although Europeans noticed that there was something special about the four treasures and gave detailed discussions, they focused mainly on the physical and material aspects of these four objects but did not mention their cultural importance or their relationship to artistic practice particularly related to Chinese painting and calligraphy. In fact, these top two visual arts in Chinese culture received much less attention and many more negative comments from Europeans.

Speaker: Dr. Elaine Kwok Lecturer of Centre for China Studies, CUHK

Conducted in Cantonese. Free admission.

To register, please click here. Registration advised due to limited seat.

Co-presenter: