The GuWei Museum Opening Ceremony was held on Saturday, 21 September 2024.
Founders Mr and Mrs Franco Cutrupia, honourable guests H.E. Massimo Ambrosetti, Ambassador of Italy to the People’s Republic of China; Mr Carmelo Ficarra, Consul General of Italy in Hong Kong; Ms Michelle Li, Permanent Secretary for Education; Ms Eve Tam Mei Yee, Deputy Director (Culture) Leisure and Cultural Services Department; Mr Francis Cheng, Southern District Officer; Mr Pál Kertész, Consul General of Hungary in Hong Kong; Mr Chen Zhi, President Beijing Normal University-Hong Kong Baptist University United International College; Ms Fung Ming-chu, Former Director Taipei Palace Museum, Chairman of Baojixian Culture, History and Education Association, and Mr Wan Qiusheng, Chairman Linqing Shanhe Textile Group Co. Ltd., Founder of Sanhe Museum and Wan Garden attended the ceremony.
The ceremony was started by the Founder, who pointed out:
“The true collector does not consider the art object an investment, but an object of intimate pleasure, a means to enter and deepen the knowledge of the culture and history of a civilization. For this reason, he (she) cannot bear the thought that the collections – the result of his (her) passionate research to put together beautiful and culturally significant objects – will one day be dispersed. That is the origin and the reason why we created this Museum”. He added that the Museum fits into his and his wife’s vision of culture and education, and “the Museum will establish or strengthen relations with cultural institutions in Hong Kong, mainland China and overseas to promote and reaffirm cultural exchanges, with the ultimate goal of highlighting the reciprocal influence, understanding and cooperation of the East and West”.
Following to Mr Cutrupia, H.E. Massimo Ambrosetti said that the “GuWei Museum is a tangible example of the depth of cultural exchanges between Italy, China and Hong Kong and of the fruitful cooperation in this sector”. “The promotion of culture in all its dimensions – Ambassador Ambrosetti continued – is key in strengthening bilateral and multilateral relations in a way that enhances mutual understanding and foster dialogue and cooperation. And cultural cooperation is indeed at the core of the process of further enhancing the dialogue between China and Italy, in the framework of the bilateral Global Strategic Partnership which started exactly 20 years ago”.
Ms Fung Chu-ming closed the official speeches by praising “Founders Mr. and Mrs. Cutrupia for their collection preservation and educational ideas as well as their aspirations to base in Hong Kong and look to the world.” She affirmed that “the cultural relics in the Collection not only tell Chinese stories and pass on the auspicious culture of the traditional society, but also mark the exchanges between Chinese and Western cultures” and expressed her wishes that “the establishment of GuWei Museum will promote cultural exchanges between China and foreign countries as well as reawaken and continue the role of auspicious culture in the contemporary society”.
Other highlights of the opening ceremony included the Ribbon Cutting ceremony, and the traditional festive Lion Dance.
We thank all the participants who took part to the Opening Ceremony and we look forward to welcoming them starting from Tuesday 24 September.
Best regards,
GuWei Museum
About GuWei Museum
- The Museum has a permanent collection of more than 1,000 historically and artistically significant items from the Neolithic age era to the late Qing Dinasty and the present time;
- The Museum will curate temporary exhibitions inspired by the themes of the permanent collection;
- The Museum opening special exhibition “Dragon and Phoenix Present Auspiciousness” explores the evolution of these iconic and auspicious animals through different historical period;
- The Museum includes the most advanced IT technology to accompany visitors’ journey. There are touch screens monitors to discover all items in permanent collections and the 222 tankards part of the signature installation; everywhere there are QRcodes for digging into exhibits’ details; there is an immersive room with a video about selected items in the collection and a cartoon animation video dedicated to the “Dragon and Phoenix” special exhibition;
- Visitors can purchase a variety of unique gifts for adult and children with the patterns of the collection in the Gift Corner;
- The Coffee Shop, a leisure space combining stunning mountain views, more exhibits on the culture of drinking vessels from China and Europe and an array of sweet and savoury delights is the perfect place for visitors to end of start their visit to the Museum;
- Educational activities (school visits, extra-curricular activities, parent-child activities etc.), workshops and seminars, together with GuWei Museum Volunteer Programme are part of the educational and engagement programme of the Museum;
- A Library Lounge with more facilities for seminars and education activities will be open soon on another floor in the same building.
- The Museum will open to the public Tuesday 24 September.
Enquiry: www.guweimuseum.com; info@guweimuseum.com ; 2116 0836.
