The Heritage Museum recently invited 18 contemporary artists and designers to visit its permanent collection of Chinese antiquities and asked them to select an exhibit and create art inspired by their chosen piece.
The result became "The Past is Continuing" exhibition - a 1,000-year journey into Chinese history, with a modern twist.
Assistant Curator for Contemporary Art Lo Yan-yan wrote the visitors guide which contains fictional accounts of how she and the artists had taken a time-travelling train to the original era the exhibits came from. She chose a first-person narrative to create diary-like entries.
"The introductory articles are written as a novel. We used stories by 18 contemporary artists who had taken a train into the past to meet the ancients, to let the audience travel through space and time, and witness a dialogue between the ancients and modern people in a lively way," the curator said.
Ceramic cherubs
One of the exhibition highlights, bReAK tHE ruLeS by sculptor Johnson Tsang, features ceramic babies creating havoc among the displays.
The babies are based on the famous Ming dynasty blue and white ceramics "children at play" which were traditionally given as gifts wishing the recipient a large family.
"Johnson Tsang was inspired by our collection of blue and white Ming dynasty porcelain bowls depicting children at play. He made up a story about the bowl being broken in the museum and all the babies escaping to different locations to play hide-n-seek with visitors," Ms Lo explained.
Beauty concepts
Ceramic artist Rosanna Li wanted to explore different perceptions of beauty through the ages. She created Acrobats featuring her signature fuller-figured female sculptures set against modern day slimming product advertisements.
Ms Li's time travel story centres on how most modern societies perceive slim women as attractive, whereas in the Tang dynasty, the curvier figure was considered the ideal.
"The pottery figures are of Tang women travelling to the present only to find they have to keep fit, while modern women travelling to the Tang dynasty are told to gain some weight," Ms Lo said.
While most of the ancient exhibits are behind protective glass, there is one that visitors can interact with.
War games
Design trio KaCaMa chose to travel back to the Year 227 during the Three Kingdoms Period. Their story brings them to the house of renowned military strategist Liang Zhuge for a game of chess.
Using the 3D printing process, KaCaMa redesigned the look of the chess pieces by combining warriors from different dynasties, hierarchies and posts.
Notes have been provided next to the chess board explaining the roles and armour of the various ancient warriors.
"People can learn more about ancient war culture and can have the chance to touch the Chinese antiquities in the form of chess pieces when they play this game," Ms Lo said.
Transformed art form
Comic artist Justin Wong and fashion designer Aries Sin based their time travel story in the not-too-distant past of the 1950s and 60s for conversations with Cantonese Opera stars.
Ms Sin was inspired to design a contemporary version of an opera actor's costume, while still incorporating traditional embroidery handicraft.
Mr Wong transformed Foshan Opera Stage Wanfutai - the birthplace of Cantonese Opera - into an animation, placing contemporary comic figures within a historical drama setting.
Both artists wanted to attract a younger audience base with their exhibits by coming up with new ideas for a classic art form.
"The Past is Continuing" will run at the Heritage Museum until September 28.
