Time travel at fingertips
‘Time Travel • Hong Kong’ integrates the journey of art and history with innovation.
The CUHK Art Museum has claimed the University Museums and Collections (UMAC) Award 2022 with its virtual reality tour ‘Time Travel • Hong Kong’. Coveted internationally among university museums around the world, the UMAC Award is a prestigious honour that recognises outstanding contributions to all areas of museum and collections theory and practice. The museum is proud to be the first winner in East Asia for its innovative use of an open-source tool to foster community engagement in fulfilling its mission of preservation of the Chinese arts and culture.
Blending art, history and technology
‘Time Travel • Hong Kong’, sponsored by GS Charity Foundation, was originally designed to supplement a special exhibition ‘Hong Kong Impressions’, but it became a project by itself, ‘outliving’ the exhibit. It is an online interactive tool for public engagement that leveraged the revival of local tourism in Hong Kong at times of travel restriction caused by COVID-19. Comprising online tours, it effectively uses Google street views. The tour-tool offers an immersive and informative journey of art, history and culture, supported by developments in the latest technology.
‘Time Travel • Hong Kong’ has been selected for the UMAC Award for its innovation, creativity, excellence, transferability, and significant impact on the University, the community and society at large.
Prof. Josh Yiu, Director of CUHK’s Art Museum, said, ‘The Art Museum is thrilled and honoured to be selected for such an accolade. I’d like to thank the team for their innovation in realising old Hong Kong artworks through Google street views. I hope to see more university museums make similar use of technology, integrating it with their exhibits.’
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