Jointly established by the Environmental Protection Department and The University of Hong Kong
Exhibition Introduction
Lung Fu Shan Environmental Education Centre and guest co-curator Maxime Decaudin are pleased to present Ecology in the Making, Hong Kong’s first historical exhibition featuring local amateur naturalists from 1816-1986. Including notable naturalists such as Father Anthony Bogadek and Chinese writer Yip Linfeng, the exhibition presents 12 passionate individuals and their work in discovering, collecting, identifying, conserving and popularizing Hong Kong’s nature.
In Hong Kong, amateur naturalists played significant and surprising roles. This group of varied individuals were not necessarily professionally trained in the sciences, but importantly had a great passion for studying natural things such as birds, butterflies, rocks and plants. Not only did their work contribute to our current understanding of ecology, they also promoted the natural sciences to audiences in Hong Kong and abroad. In this exhibition, their stories and the species they interacted with are grouped into five loosely chronological chapters, each exemplifying a particular approach to nature characteristic of an era.
Being ‘amateur naturalists’, studying the natural world and in so doing re-building our relationship with nature – this exhibition reminds us that this is not something only scientists can do. As guest co-curator Maxime Decaudin describes amateur naturalists and their contributions in this exhibition: “the fact that these individuals were not always scientists is a great incentive for all of us to think of our role in future challenges.”
Exhibition Information
Exhibition Period : Jan 7, 2020 to Aug 23, 2020
Venue: Lung Fu Shan Environmental Education Centre Exhibition Gallery
On-Site Exhibition Team
Curators: (Guest Curator) Maxime Decaudin and Chun-See Tsao
Project Planner: Joanne Cheng
Exhibition Designer: Maxime Decaudin
Researchers: Rachel Chan, Karine Leung, Rachel Ma, Thomas Yeung, Sabrina Young, Trista Zhang
Translators: Rachel Chan, Harmony Yuen
Online Exhibition Team
Researchers and Editors: Angela Chan and Joanne Cheng
Video Editor and Photographer: Andrew Lam
English Editors and Translators: Chun-See Tsao and Lee Chun Yi
Acknowledgment
The centre thanks Maxime Decaudin for serving as guest curator for this exhibition. His time and intellectual contributions to this project are deeply appreciated.
In addition, the centre would like to thank the following individuals and their institutions for their generous contributions in expertise and in items loaned for display in this exhibition.
Dr. Petra Bach and Dr. Haz Cheung Man Ching, Stephen Hui Geological Museum, HKU
Jody Beenk and Iris Chan, The University of Hong Kong Libraries
Julia Buckly, Katherine Harrington and Trishya Long,
Library, Art, and Archives of the Royal Botanic Garden, Kew, UK
Bonny Chan, Fountain of Love and Life, Canada
Patrick Chan, Saint Louis School, Hong Kong
Prof. Fa-ti Fan, Binghamton University, New York, USA
Dr. Benoit Guénard, School of Biological Science, HKU
Hilda W.M. Mak and Hina C.Y. Yeung, Hong Kong Museum of Art
Christopher Mattison, University Museum and Art Gallery, HKU
Prof. Mark Nesbitt, Economic Botany Collection of the Royal Botanic Garden, Kew, UK
Pang Yuk Man
Dr. Alicia Weisberg-Roberts, Fine Arts Department, HKU
Zhang Xiumei, Taiwan Herborist Culture and Art Studio
Exhibition Content
Browse by Timeline
Stories from 1816 to 1984 are divided into five chapters in chronological order, click image below to view the full content.
Browse by Characters
Twelve naturalists who contributed to Hong Kong's natural history, click to view their stories.
Browse by Exhibits
