On 16 February, Dr. Laurajane Smith of Australian National University and Prof. Sidney C.H. Cheung, chairman, Department of Anthropology, CUHK, were invited to talk about the transfer of seemingly intangible knowledge to the community through various means at a lunch sharing session organized by the Knowledge Transfer Office. The aim was to foster appreciation for the richness of our cultural heritage.

The full-house event received active support from colleagues from the arts, humanities and social sciences. A scholar in archaeology and anthropology, Dr. Smith shared her experience in the UK as the principal investigator of the 1807 Commemorated project on slave trade. Her collaboration with seven national museums has generated a spectrum of deliverables, such as the construction of an interactive website, the sequence of workshops throughout the project lifecycle, and the creation of four toolkits for exhibition development, community consultation, audience responses, and practitioner experience. It has been an exemplary knowledge transfer project that showcases what impact can be made when academic knowledge and practical curation come together.

Professor Cheung gave a brief account of his CUHK Knowledge Transfer Project Fund Project, ‘Learning from Neighbourhood Tourism in Sheung Wan, Hong Kong’. It is a vivid example of how a local neighbourhood can help to boost visitors’ understanding of Hong Kong from an anthropological perspective, bringing inspiration to cherished cultural aspects in Hong Kong’s tourism development, and exhibiting the essence of collaboration between the community and research.