Media

Faculty of Arts at The University of Hong Kong (“HKUArts”) announces the launch of its "Douglas So Post-doctoral Fellowship in Art Conservation" (“Fellowship”): a Pioneering 4-in-1 Powerhouse Partnership to attract global talent for expanding art conservation in Hong Kong and the Asia-Pacific Region — demonstrating a shared commitment to advancing cultural and scientific excellence.

At the launch held at the Hong Kong Museum of Art (“HKMoA”)  on Saturday (22 November), this groundbreaking, world-class partnership has marked Hong Kong’s first-ever strategic collaboration on a research fellowship project entitled “Scientific Analysis of Chinese Paintings", among four leaders in the profession: an academic university (HKUArts), a public museum (HKMoA) and a dedicated team of conservation experts (Conservation Office of the Leisure and Cultural Services Department of the Government of the HKSAR, “LCSD Conservation Office”), and private funding donor (Professor Douglas So).

Professor Derek Collins, Associate Vice-President (Cultural and External Affairs) & Director of the MA in Museum Studies Programme of the HKU shared, “We sincerely thank Professor Douglas So, for his important gift and trust that provide the Faculty an opportunity to engage with our world-class partners and benefit the museum and academic sectors, Hong Kong and the global community at large.  All the efforts my team and I put into working on the collaboration with Professor Douglas So, Dr Maria Mok of HKMoA and Mr Edward Tse of LCSD Conservation Office have enabled us to create a bridge, a postdoctoral fellowship that will attract the strongest talents in art conservation. The fellow will research and provide conservation advice to the museum while advancing their own professional and academic careers”, he envisioned, “With the HKSAR Government's commitment to developing its cultural sector and arts ecosystem, it's a thrilling moment in HK for HKU and HKMoA to pioneer this collaboration.  I expect HKU to lead in art conservation training and conservation science research for HK and for the Greater Bay Area, and beyond. Young people and the public will be delighted at the employment and other opportunities created by these fields.”

University and museum partnerships, including leveraging private capital, are the internationally proven way to advance scholarship, public engagement with art, and collection care for successive generations. Collection research is the foundation not only of art conservation but also of new exhibitions – and so this Fellowship will benefit HKMoA and HKU for years to come and it represents a pivotal step in advancing Hong Kong’s position as a premier international hub for arts, culture, and creative industries which directly supports these objectives — bringing in world-class conservation talents, strengthening Hong Kong’s heritage conservation capabilities, and fostering cross-disciplinary collaboration.  Through this strategic alignment, the Fellowship will help realise Hong Kong’s broader aspirations of cultural excellence, innovation-driven development, and positioning as a global leader in arts and heritage conservation. 

Dr Maria Mok, Museum Director of the HKMoA said, “We are very excited to launch this project—the first of its kind in Hong Kong to recruit global talent for this trailblazing collaboration between the HKMoA, HKUArts, and the Conservation Office, and with the generous support of Professor Douglas So. We will explore world class donation of Chinese painting collection of the museum from the artistic, academic and scientific perspective. We aim to largely expand the understanding of these treasures with the advancement of conservation methodologies, aspiring to unlock the secrets in these masterpieces.”

A top postdoctoral fellow (“Fellow”) would undertake a research fellowship project entitled “Scientific Analysis of Chinese Paintings" (‘Research’) with the designated Chinese painting collections of the HKMoA as the subject of study.  The Fellow will be an affiliate of HKUArts’ Society of Fellows in the Humanities (“SoF”) and will work closely with Professor Marc Walton of the MA in Museum Studies Programme, and Mr Edward Tse, Head of Conservation Office of LCSD and his team on the daily research project works. The recruitment advertisement will be posted on the HKU Careers website in due course.

Mr Edward Tse shared, “The importance of art conservation extends far beyond merely preserving our cultural heritage for future generations. It also plays a vital and active role in research, providing new scientific insight to support curatorial investigations into our collections. This, in turn, deepens our comprehension of the historical, artistic, and scientific significance of these invaluable pieces.  Chinese paintings, in particular, stand as key cultural artefacts of our Chinese ancestry.  The initiation of this Fellowship project in this field is not only essential but also promises to achieve significant breakthroughs. By bridging the gap between conservation, scientific analysis, and curatorial exploration, this project will undoubtedly contribute to a deeper understanding and appreciation of our rich cultural heritage.”

“Thanks to Professor So's generosity, we are embarking on an exciting new phase in conservation science at HKU. This Fellowship will allow us to enhance our capabilities, build local capacity, and compete internationally in scientific research,” Professor Marc Walton envisioned.

HKUArts is keen on joining forces with significant, local and global partner institutions in the art and academic sectors to enhance the training of the next generation of art and cultural heritage leadership. Future developments and ongoing collaboration among HKUArts, HKMoA, and the LCSD Conservation Office will lead to further initiatives aimed at expanding academic programmes and enhancing art conservation efforts. To achieve these ambitious goals that promote transformative innovation and long-term success, increased support and engagement from all stakeholders are important to foster sustainable progress for Hong Kong and the global community at large.

HKU Careers website: https://jobs.hku.hk/en/listing/

For media enquiries or press interview invitations, please contact:
Professor Marc Walton, HKUArts and its MA in Museum Studies Programme (E-mail: mwalton@hku.hk)
Ms. Sally Chung, Media Co-ordinator (Heritage & Museums), Leisure and Cultural Services Department (Email: slmchung@lcsd.gov.hk)

About HKU Faculty of Arts:
The Faculty of Arts is one of the flagship faculties of the University of Hong Kong (HKU) and is an internationally renowned and leading humanities faculty.  It is ranked 1st in Asia and 18th in the world in Arts and Humanities in the QS World University Rankings by Subject 2025.  HKUArts’ presence amongst the best institutions in the world is evidence of its exceptional record in achieving academic excellence, and it strives to attract and nurture outstanding scholars and students from around the world through excellence and innovation in teaching and learning, research, and knowledge exchange. 
(https://arts.hku.hk/)

About the MA in Museum Studies Programme:
The University Museum and Art Gallery and the Faculty of Arts at the University of Hong Kong have established the Master of Arts in Museum Studies programme —an interdisciplinary degree that will prepare individuals for professional positions across the cultural sector. Hallmarks of the programme include practical training by museum professionals and international networking with established partners. As key players in the emerging cultural market, museums will continue to provide diverse career opportunities in related fields such as curation, management, education, design, communication, and preservation.

The programme trains students to become proficient in collecting, curating, exhibiting, mediating, and preserving cultural and scientific objects, whether in public or private collections. Students will also develop a critical approach to handling source materials, such as artifacts, archival documents, and oral records. Through observation, interpretation, and exchanging ideas in an academic setting, students will improve their scientific argumentation and basic comparative research skills, with a focus on the objects themselves.  Additionally, the discipline focuses on the ways in which individual objects are collected, researched, archived, and preserved for future generations.  (https://www.mamuseumstudies.arts.hku.hk/)

About the Hong Kong Museum of Art:
Established in 1962, HKMoA is the first public art museum in Hong Kong and the custodian of an art collection with over 19,700 sets of items, representing the unique cultural legacy of Hong Kong’s encounter with the globe.

By curating a rich world of contrasts, from old to new, Chinese to Western, local to international, with a Hong Kong viewpoint, we aspire to refresh ways of looking at tradition and make art relevant to everyone, creating new experiences and possibilities.

Over the years, the HKMoA has enriched its Chinese painting collection through remarkable and generous donations, ranging from the early donation of the Xubaizhai Collection by Mr Low Chuck-tiew to the recent donations of the Chih Lo Lou Collection by the Ho family, as well as the Jingguanlou Collecion by Dr Leo Wong Kwai-kuen. The collection offers a comprehensive presentation of the evolution of Chinese paintings from traditional to the modern day.

The HKMoA has been listed three times on the 100 most popular art museums in the world by the international art publication The Art Newspaper in 2022, 2024 and 2025.  
(https://hk.art.museum/en/web/ma/home.html)

About the Conservation Office of the Leisure and Cultural Services Department:
The Conservation Office of the Leisure and Cultural Services Department (LCSD) provides professional conservation services and exhibition technical support to the LCSD museums, Art Promotion Office, Hong Kong Film Archive, Intangible Cultural Heritage Office, and Chinese Culture Promotion Office, preserving over 1.4 million collection artefacts.

Uniquely positioned as a specialised conservation institution, the Conservation Office’s expert teams are dedicated to safeguarding cultural heritage across diverse materials and forms. Beyond formulating, conducting, and reviewing conservation treatment plans, the Conservation Office undertakes scientific research and technical analysis of cultural objects. With the aim of promoting the public awareness of cultural heritage conservation, it organises educational programmes and extension activities. The Conservation Office welcomes and fosters professional exchange with overseas counterparts.
(https://www.conservationoffice.gov.hk/en/web/co/home.html)