Hong Kong as Archive, Studio, and Living Heritage
A Digital Archive for the World
A city lives not only in its streets and buildings, but in its images, stories, sounds, and collective memories.
The Centre for Film and Creative Industries’ open-access archive, A History of Film Exhibition and Reception in Colonial Hong Kong (1897–1925), directed by Professor Emilie Yeh, restores the early life of cinema to Hong Kong’s historical imagination. With more than 30,000 digitized records, it makes visible the cultural networks through which a modern city learned to watch, gather, and dream.
By August 2026, the resource had received more than 13.26 million page views. Its significance lies not simply in scale, but in its generosity: a shared archive through which scholars, students, filmmakers, and citizens may rediscover Hong Kong’s cultural past. and citizens may rediscover Hong Kong’s cultural past.
Heritage Education for a Changing Society
Cultural heritage is not a relic of the past. It is a living inheritance, continually renewed through practice, interpretation, and the participation of new generations.
With HK$30.19 million in support, the Jockey Club ICH+ Innovative Heritage Education Programme brings intangible cultural heritage into classrooms, communities, and public spaces. Led by Professor Lau Chi-pang and the Hong Kong and South China Historical Research Programme, it enables students and communities to encounter heritage as a source of knowledge, creativity, continuity, and dialogue.
The programme embodies a central humanistic insight: a society’s future is strengthened not by turning away from its past, but by engaging it critically, generously, and imaginatively.
Material Culture and the History Classroom
History lives not only in written records, but in the tangible objects through which past societies organized their worlds. To transform how Chinese history is taught in secondary schools in Hong Kong, Professors Vincent S. Leung and Lau Chi-pang developed Old Objects and New Histories: A Sourcebook for Teachers of Chinese History, a groundbreaking visual sourcebook commissioned by the Education Bureau. Grounded in rigorous scholarly research, the resource introduces over 1,000 teachers across Hong Kong to ancient bronze vessels, historical maps, architectural remains, and newly excavated artefacts that bring the curriculum vividly to life. By moving beyond text-based memorisation, the project enables students to touch the texture of history, foster critical inquiry, and understand Hong Kong’s place in broader historical narratives.
Eco-Translation and Cultural Accessibility
Culture is rooted in the natural landscapes we inhabit, yet modern city life often obscures this connection. Through innovative eco-translation projects, Professor Darryl Sterk is bridging the gap between language, ecology, and heritage. By translating local environmental knowledge and Hakka cultural traditions—from native bionyms to historical practices in villages like Lai Chi Wo—they are reconnecting communities with Hong Kong’s living environment. Partnering with local activists and environmental groups, the initiative delivers interlingual, visual, and sign language-interpreted tours and workshops. This work brings non-Chinese speakers, local students, and the hard of hearing into active conversation with the city’s biodiversity. In doing so, translation becomes a tool for environmental stewardship and inclusive cultural belonging.
