Jao Tsung-I Gallery and Heritage Hall

Hypsos was awarded the contract for design, fabrication and installation of exhibits and interpretive elements for the new Jao Tsung-I Gallery and the Heritage Hall.

Located in the former Lai Chi Kok Hospital compound, the project is one of the first of the Hong Kong Government’s initiatives for revitalization of historic buildings.  The project consists of two phases. Hypsos was responsible for Phase 1, which includes a gallery space dedicated to Professor Jao Tsung-i, a world-renowned painter, calligrapher and Sinologist.  Stringent curatorial specifications required the provision of high quality display cases with controlled environments and museum quality LED lighting.  The gallery space will also feature periodic exhibitions of works by local artists.

Phase 1 also included the provision of a Heritage Hall, which looks at the interesting history of not only the hospital compound, which dates back to the early 1920’s, but also to the site. A boundary stone still located within the grounds suggests that by the mid 1800’s, a Qing Dynasty Customs House was located on the site, one of four known to have been located around the Hong Kong region.

Hypsos worked closely with the client to organize the display of various types of artworks, which require specialized mounting methods. These include scrolls, watercolours and traditional brush paintings. Hypsos scope of work also included provision of multimedia content, including touchscreen interactives, audio history interviews with former medical staff and patients, and a documentary style production capturing the restoration and renovation works of the hospital compound buildings.