Opening Ceremony of Roaring Guardians: The Mari-Cha Lion with Asian Traditional and Contemporary Art | Asia Society

Opening Ceremony of Roaring Guardians: The Mari-Cha Lion with Asian Traditional and Contemporary Art

Guests of honor give a toast at the opening ceremony. From left to right: Ms. S. Alice Mong, ASHK Executive Director; Mrs. Pia Getty; Mr. Robert Miller; Mr. Ronnie Chan, ASHK Chairman; Mrs. Chantal Miller; Mr. Tung Chee-hwa, Vice Chairman of the Twelfth National Committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference; HRH Crown Princess Mari-Chantal of Greece; and Mr. Richard Camber, Guest Curator for the Mari-Cha Lion.
A visitor checks out the Mari-Cha Lion interactive game.
The Mari-Cha Lion exhibition’s curatorial team. From left to right: Assistant Curator Joyce Hei-ting Wong, ASHK’s in-house curator and Head of Gallery and Exhibition Dominique Chan, Guest Curator for the Mari-Cha Lion Richard Camber.
Guest curator for the Mari-Cha Lion, Richard Camber, explains the history of the Mari-Cha Lion.
A visitor views the Mari-Cha Lion.
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HONG KONG, January 19, 2017 — Asia Society Hong Kong Center unveiled its first exhibition in 2017, Roaring Guardians: The Mari-Cha Lion with Asian Traditional and Contemporary Art, with a glittering opening ceremony on January 19. The exhibition celebrates the fifth anniversary of ASHK at the Former Explosive Magazines in Admiralty, and is generously sponsored by The Mari-Cha Collection Limited. Admission is free and will be on display from January 20 to February 19, 2017.

Roaring Guardians explores the religious, imperial and vernacular significance of the lion symbol by presenting the remarkable Mari-Cha Lion, a rare mid-11th to mid-12th century South Italian bronze sculpture bearing Arabic decorations, on public view in Hong Kong for the first time, alongside a selection of Asian objects from the Mr. and Mrs. John D. Rockefeller 3rd Collection, local museums and other private collections. Through these artworks, the exhibition illustrates how the lion iconography is reinvented today and highlight the malleability and endurance of the lion as a powerful cultural symbol.

Over 100 guests joined the opening ceremony, followed by a gallery tour.