TRANSCENDENCE: Transcendence Journey: Incarnation of Charm and Elegance

Exhibition and Virtual Tour

We are writing to cordially invite you to attend our photo exhibition, TRANSCENDENCE:Transcendence Journey: Incarnation of Charm and Elegance. This exhibition is jointly produced by the Association of World Citizens Hong Kong and Photographer Candy Yeung. It features eleven portrait photos of transgender people living in Hong Kong representing their authentic side and for the public to understand the current situation of transgender people living around us. Through this exhibition dedicated to the transgender community, we hope to share the stories with our guests coming from all walks of life.

“It is very important for anyone to be able to show to others their “True Self”. Otherwise, life in society will be extremely difficult. “ – Mimi Wong. Transgender Person / Producer of Award-Winning Transgender Movie《A Woman Is A Woman》

Guests are welcome to visit the exhibition at the HKU Main Library from 15th to 30th November 2021 or visit the Digital Exhibit Space, a virtual platform provided by HKU.

EXHIBITION DETAILS:

Venue: G/F, Main Library, HKU

Date: 15-30 November 2021

Time: 8:30-22:00 (Monday to Friday), 8:30-19:00 (Saturday), 10:00-19:00 (Sunday)

Please be reminded that participants attending the physical exhibit would need to keep their mask on at all times and have their temperature checked before entering the venue. Eating and drinking are also not allowed in the Main Library.        

VIRTUAL TOUR:

To experience the exhibition virtually, you may visit via the Digital Exhibit Space (DES) link: https://des.hku.hk/spaces/35667/share

(Note: The DES link will be activated on the 15th of November 2021)

For enquiries, please feel free to contact: transcendence@hku.gmail.com.

We look forward to seeing you!

Sincerely,

Students from the University of Hong Kong enrolled in the CCHU9007 course of “Sexuality and Gender: Diversity and Society.”

In collaboration with:

U.S. Consulate General Hong Kong and Macau

CGED (Committee on Gender Equality and Diversity), HKU

Common Core Office, HKU

Gender Studies Programme, HKU

Faculty of Arts, HKU

School of Humanities, HKU

Faculty of Architecture, HKU

The University of Hong Kong Libraries

MAP:

You can reach HKU Main Library by MTR at HKU station, Exit A1/A2.

Car parks are also available.

Please visit these links for more information.

https://lib.hku.hk/general/location/index.html

https://www.estates.hku.hk/campus-information/campus-map-transport/transportation-hku

On a Study Break! Share Space!

As the assessment period approaches, the Chi Wah Learning Commons, Libraries and self-study rooms can get very crowded. We understand that you may try to save a seat. Still, we ask you to please be considerate of others.

To help you share the space, we are introducing “I am taking a study break” cards during the busy periods – fill out a card, leave it on your desk and take a 30-minute break without needing to clear your belongings. The cards are available at the entrances and service counters of Chi Wah Learning Commons and Libraries and can be used up to six times.

Never leave your valuables unattended.

If you wish to leave for longer than 30 minutes, take all your belongings with you. After 30 minutes, other students will be able to use any vacated space by setting unattended items to one side. Our colleagues may also clear desks that have been left unattended for more than 30 minutes, or that have been left without a completed study-break card.

The cards will be available from Monday 15 November to Friday 17 December 2021 and again in April and May 2022.

Thank you for your support!

Learning Environment Services, ITS and University Libraries

You are most welcome to seek help from the Information Counter on Level 3 if you have any enquiries in using the new service.

China’s Russian Princess, the Silent Wife of Chiang Ching-kuo

Publisher:          Joint Publishing of Hong Kong (香港三聯書店出版社)

About the Book

“China’s Russian Princess the Silent Wife of Chiang Ching-kuo” describes the extraordinary life of Faina Vakhreva, wife of Chiang Ching-kuo, son of Chiang Kai-shek. A factory worker in the Soviet Union from a modest family, she had to adapt to life in China’s First Family: learn Mandarin: and how to be a good Chinese wife and mother. With her family, she lived through the devastation of the Sino-Japanese war, the civil war and then the move to Taiwan.

It is an inspiring story of love, heroism and determination to overcome great difficulties.

About the Author

A resident of Hong Kong, Mark O’Neill has written 12 books on Chinese and Hong Kong history and society. Seven of them have editions in Chinese and English. Please see webpage: www.mark-oneill.com

About the Moderator

A scholar, independent neutral, risk advisor, author, and former United Nations Country Head of Legal (VNSU), Mr Stargardt’s experience includes public and private sectors, IT, media and academia.

He is a Life Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society (RGS), a Senior Research Associate of the University of Sussex Centre for World Environmental History, a Guest Lecturer at City University’s LL.M. and J.D. programmes, a Member of the Advisory Board of the Global Studies Master’s Programme at Baptist University and a Member of the Commonwealth Association of Legislative Counsel (CALC).

Mr Stargardt has been involved in ADR since the mid-1970s. His clients include major corporations and start-ups. As an independent neutral, he advises on risk, risk mitigation, global change and dispute resolution. He is active in alternative dispute resolution (ADR) including mediation, arbitration, advising on, negotiating, mediating and adjudicating commercial, maritime, international, environmental, constitutional, human rights, administrative, high-net-worth family, public-private and public matters.

Mr Stargardt is a member of the Hong Kong International Arbitration Centre (HKIAC), a past member of the HKIAC’s Hong Kong International Mediation Council’s executive committee (HKIMC) and the HKIAC’s mediation rules rewrite committee. He is a consultant at ADR International; past chairman of the HKIAC’s commercial mediation group, introduced the HKIAC’s commercial mediation scheme, a past member of the HKIAC’s mediation council board, and the editorial board of Asian Dispute Review, Asia’s premier ADR journal. In addition to his other work, Mr Stargardt participates in legislative drafting, geographical and historical scholarship and does pro bono work.

Mr. Stargardt’s interdisciplinary postgraduate research was on public international law, the laws of war, conflict resolution, refugee law, environmental law and the law of the sea, with interdisciplinary research on the impact of war on the environment, public health and infrastructure. He has worked in polar and  high alpine research. He has a graduate certificate in principled negotiation and mediation. His work, including pro bono work, also includes geography, history, human rights and advancing the study and practice of ADR, serving as a judge in international moot competitions such as the ICC-DoJ Mediation Moot, the YIMC Moots and the Vis East Moot, at which the Vis Foundation awarded him the coveted ‘Star Arbitrator’ Award.

Mr Stargardt researches and writes on law, history, global change, geography, trade and economics. Among other works, he is the author of ‘Citizenship’ volume 7 of Halsbury’s Laws of Hong Kong; and a co-author of Butterworths Hong Kong Company Law Handbook. He is the author of other books, which are currently in preparation for publication.

Admission: Free

HKU Libraries Website: http://lib.hku.hk/

Connect with the Libraries on social media:
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/hkulib/

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/HKULibrariesCollection

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/hkulibrary/

Ecology in the Making (1816-present)

In collaboration with Lung Fu Shan Environmental Education Centre, jointly established by EPD and HKU, the Main Library is pleased to present the Ecology in the Making (1816-present) exhibition at the 2nd Floor Exhibition Area, Ingenium, Main Library, HKU from 8th October – 10th November 2021.

Lung Fu Shan Environmental Education Centre is bringing their acclaimed exhibition on amateur naturalists, “Ecology in the Making (1816-present)”, to the HKU Main Library. Even if you have visited their exhibitions previously at the centre or the Hong Kong Science Museum, Part III of the exhibition at HKU has new exhibits for you to explore. 

Based on research with their partnering HKU scholars, this new edition features a collection of centuries-old rare books from the HKU Libraries and animal specimens from the Hong Kong Biodiversity Museum. Additional exhibit materials are on loan from or reproduced from The Kew Gardens, London, The National Archives (United Kingdom), St. Louis School (Hong Kong), and more. 

Featured naturalists include C.J. Braine, a merchant in the 19th century whose story shines a light on the history of Lan Kwai Fong, the well-known Chinese writer Yip Ling Feng and his inspirations, Gefferoy Herklots, the first Reader of Biology in HKU, and Gloria Barretto, a civil servant and an orchid expert from Kadoorie Farm and Botanic Garden.

On top of the historical parts of the exhibition, be delighted by the centre’s well-loved section that features amateur naturalists of our time, including former Director of the Hong Kong Observatory Lam Chiu Ying, writer Human Ip, embroidery artist Sandy Lam, and more.

5 chapters, 15 stories of amateur naturalists, and over 100 exhibits…

Date: 8.10.2021 (Fri) – 10.11.2021 (Wed)

Venue: HKU Main Library 2F Exhibition Space

Details of the Exhibition

Date: 8 October – 10 November 2021

Venue: 2^nd Floor Exhibition Area, Ingenium, Main Library, The University of Hong Kong
Time: During Main Library Opening Hours

Closed on Public Holidays

Check Main Library Summer hours before your visit: https://lib.hku.hk/general/hours/index.html

Admission: Free

For enquiries, please contact Tel: 29759031 / email: lfseec@hku.hk
HKUL Website: https://lib.hku.hk/

Connect with the Libraries on social media:
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/hkulib/

Events: https://www.facebook.com/hkulevents/

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/HKULibrariesCollection

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/hkulibrary/

Lung Fu Shan Website: https://lungfushan.hku.hk/en

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/lfseec.hk

Instagram: https://instagram.com/lungfushan

Library Closure on the day following the Mid-Autumn Festival & National Day

21 September 2021 (Mid-Autumn Festival)

CLOSED at 5 pm.

Borrowing service available until 4:30 pm.

_______________________________________________

22 September 2021 (The day following the Mid-Autumn Festival)

CLOSED

1 October 2021 (National Day)

CLOSED

The Main Library G/F (except e-learning lab and Joseph Needham Room), and the Yu Chun Keung Medical Library 24-hour Study Room will remain open for use by CURRENT STAFF and CURRENT STUDENTS ONLY.

For enquiries, please call 3917-2203 or 3917-2202 for Main Library, and 3917-9215 for Medical Library.

Best wishes
Flora Ng

Chief Information Officer and University Librarian

In collaboration with Hong Kong University Press, the Libraries is pleased to present Painting Myanmar’s Transition book talk at the 2/F Multi-purpose Area, Ingenium, Main Library, The University of Hong Kong on 23 September 2021 from 6:30 – 8:00 pm.

About the Book

Painting Myanmar’s Transition presents paintings by and concise companion interviews with eighty artists. Ian and Aung Kaung showcase work produced by local artists during a period of significant reform.

In the 2010s, Myanmar moved away from half a century of rigid military rule and a wave of liberalization spread across the country. Artists eagerly embraced the new freedoms and, in so doing, captured their nation at a time of considerable fluidity.

Collectively, the paintings from the 2010s and the interviews from 2020 reveal the lived experience of Myanmar’s reform years and the aspirations expressed by citizens for the future. They assume an almost elegiac quality in the aftermath of a 2021 military coup that brought the transition to a crashing halt and cast a dark cloud over society.

Placed alongside each other, the eighty paintings and the reflections of the artists who created them offer rare insights into a landmark decade in Myanmar. Together, they conjure a set of nuanced understandings of a pivotal Southeast Asian state navigating complex political change and building dreams that, in the event, were all too suddenly shattered.

About the Speakers 

Ian Holliday is Vice-President (Teaching and Learning) at The University of Hong Kong. He is the author of Burma Redux: Global Justice and the Quest for Political Reform in Myanmar (2011), co-author with Roman David of Liberalism and Democracy in Myanmar (2018), and co-editor with Adam Simpson and Nicholas Farrell of Routledge Handbook of Contemporary Myanmar (2018).

Aung Kaung Myat is a research postgraduate student in the Department of Politics and Public Administration at The University of Hong Kong.

About the Moderator

Florian Knothe is the Director of the University of Hong Kong Museum and Art Gallery. Before joining the University, Florian was the curator of European glass at The Corning Museum of Glass overseeing the European and East Asian departments. There, he organized an exhibition on East Meets West, and afterward, lectured internationally on cross-cultural influences in art and workshop practices in Western Europe and East Asia.

Admission: Free

HKU Libraries Website: http://lib.hku.hk/

Hong Kong University Press: https://hkupress.hku.hk

University Museum and Art Gallery: https://www.umag.hku.hk/en/

Connect with the Libraries on social media:
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/hkulib/

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/HKULibrariesCollection

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/hkulibrary/

Connect with HKU Press on social media:

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/hkupress

Twitter: https://twitter.com/hkupress

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/hkupress/

Connect with University Museum and Art Gallery on social media:

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/university.museum.and.art.gallery.hku/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/hkupress

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/umag_hku/

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/UniversityMuseumArtGalleryHKU

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/umaghku/

The University of Hong Kong Libraries First Semester 2021 Hours

A Collaborative Photography

by

HKU WISE (Women in Science & Engineering)

and

Laura Simonsen (Photographer & Visual Arts Educator)

Project Goals:

 The aim of the HKU Women in Science project is to bring the women doing work across the sciences at HKU into greater visibility by showcasing the diversity of women in science as well as the range of science we all do.

Despite the trend that an increasing number of girls and women choose to study Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) subjects at the high school and University level, the number of women who stay in STEM fields declines at higher ranks. In the Faculty of Science at HKU, for example, while roughly 50% of the undergraduate students are female, less than 20% of the tenure track appointments are held by women. There are many factors which influence a woman’s decision to stay in or to leave STEM fields, which makes it a complicated problem to address. Women’s departure from the professional practice of the STEM fields is a pressing problem, however, since as multiple studies have shown that increasing the diversity of the STEM workforce also increases productivity and innovation. The loss of women in STEM, therefore, has real consequences both for the progression of individual scientists, for science itself, and for the well-being of society.

HKU Women in Science, a photography and oral history project, is the first of a series of events which aim to increase the visibility and diversity of women working across the  sciences at HKU. We hope that this exhibition will stimulate conversations about what a scientist is and does; the value of diversity for scientific research; and different ways to support girls and women as they make their way more deeply into scientific work.

In the Common Core course CCST9065 Women in Science, for example, on the first day of class students are asked to name as many female scientists as they can. The overwhelming majority of students can only name onefemale scientist. When asked to draw a scientist, the most common image is a likeness of a wild-haired Einstein in a lab coat wielding a beaker. Through portraits and photos of women actively conducting scientific research in the lab and in the field, this exhibit aims to expand our view of what a scientist looks like, to give women scientists a more prominent voice, and to demonstrate how actual science is done in different contexts.

HKU Women in Science is an ongoing project and we will continue to add images to the collection to capture more of the diversity of science across the University. If you would like to participate in the project, please contact HKU WISE at hkuwise@gmail.com – we’d love to have you join us!

About: HKU WISE

HKU Women in Science and Engineering was founded five years ago to create a supportive community to promote and support diversity and inclusion in STEM fields on campus. The overall goal of the group is to increase the participation of women in the fields of Science and Engineering. The group has three main aims: 1) to inspire female students to study and build careers in these fields, 2) to build a supportive community of female scientists and engineers on campus, and 3) to encourage the University to adopt hiring and promotion practices that increase diversity. The groups organizes events which aim to provide networking opportunities for students and faculty, increasing the visibility of women scientists and engineers on campus, and provide professional development opportunities through the organization of workshops and seminars. Together, these events encourage ongoing conversations about factors that perpetuate gender inequity in STEM subjects and best practices for increasing diversity and inclusion. In 2020, the HKU WISE Student Chapter was formed to bring this conversation and support to undergraduate students on campus. Our events are open to everyone. Ultimately we hope to inspire more women to join and stay in STEM fields and to work towards a more inclusive campus community.

About: Laura Simonsen

Laura Simonsen is a photographer and visual art educator. She has been living in Hong Kong for 15 years and has held several photography exhibitions that have raised awareness and support for several NGO’s in Hong Kong. Laura’s work encourages dialogues about social minority groups, subcultures and powerful personal journeys. She wants to create an impact with her photos and hopes to open the minds of her audience. She has the ability to capture narratives showing honest personalities through a lens. Laura sees photography as a powerful tool that can encourage acceptance, raise awareness and instigate change.

www.laurasimonsen.com

“Women in Science has been an ongoing project for the past 2 years, with long gaps in between each photo shoot. I am so proud that we kept the vision alive during challenging times. I also believe this is only the start and the project will be ongoing with several phases and possibilities that will evolve in the future into a much larger celebration of ‘Women in Science’.  For this project, I decided to step out of my comfort zone and shoot only in analogue using Kodak Portra 800 film. I love the colour and grainy aesthetic. I like to take risks and I believe when you become too comfortable, it is very important to challenge yourself to keep evolving as an artist. My previous projects and exhibitions are all shot using a digital camera. This experience has allowed me to value the simplicity of shooting in film and having to really think about each photograph instead of having the luxury of seeing your photograph straight away, and being able to delete or edit. It’s a very different approach and for me it has been more challenging. The most rewarding part of this project has been meeting individually each scientist and listening to their stories and their passion for what they do. Science and academia is also out of my comfort zone and I have loved entering the fascinating worlds and minds of each woman rising above the challenge of being a ‘Woman in Science.” – Laura Simonsen

URL: https://www.bygoneages.hku.hk