Date: September 8 – December 17

Venue: Hong Kong Museum of Art

In response to the Belt and Road Initiative and the development strategy of the Guangdong–Hong Kong–Macao Greater Bay Area, the exhibition A Tale of Three Cities: The Guangdong–Hong Kong–Macao Bay Area and Export of Silk Products in the Ming and Qing Dynasties opened at the Hong Kong Museum of Art on September 8. Jointly hosted by the Department of Culture and Tourism of Guangdong Province, the Culture, Sports and Tourism Bureau of the Hong Kong SAR Government, and the Cultural Affairs Bureau of the Macao SAR Government, and co-organized by the Guangdong Museum, the Hong Kong Museum of Art, and the Macao Museum, this is the first Bay Area-themed exhibition jointly curated and organized by the three regions.

Opening Ceremony

With the curatorial vision of “Telling the Story of Greater Bay Area and Building a Culturally Vibrant Bay Area Together,” the exhibition uses the export of silk products as its narrative thread to recount the shared history and development of the Guangdong–Hong Kong–Macao region. Featuring 108 sets comprising 200 artifacts, including more than 130 items from the Guangdong Museum, the exhibition presents historical paintings reflecting the social and economic life of the three regions, alongside exquisite silk and embroidery works that testify to centuries of East–West cultural exchange and the region’s shared historical roots.

Exhibition View

From 2020 to 2022, the exhibition toured Guangdong and Macao to great public acclaim, earning the International and Hong Kong–Macao–Taiwan Cooperation Nomination Award at the 19th (2021) National Top Ten Museum Exhibitions. The exhibition in Hong Kong marks the final stop of the tour, celebrating both its successful conclusion and the strengthening of long-term cultural collaboration among museums in the three regions.

As a major cultural institution in the Greater Bay Area, the Guangdong Museum has long maintained close exchange and cooperation with cultural institutions in Hong Kong and Macao. Through the established Guangdong–Hong Kong–Macao cultural cooperation framework, the Museum actively promotes both “going global” and “bringing in” strategies, presenting exhibitions such as The Silver Age: Origins and Trade of Chinese Export Silver, Sailing the Seven Sea: Legend of Ming Maritime Trade during Wanli Era, East Meets West: The Maritime Silk Routes in the 13th to 17th Centuries, and Exquisite Chaozhou Woodcarving in Hong Kong and Macao. Guangdong Museum has also collaborated on major joint exhibitions including Maritime Porcelain Road: Relics from Guangdong, Hong Kong and Macao Museums, Historical Imprints of Lingnan: Major Archaeological Discoveries of Guangdong, Hong Kong and Macao, The Cheongsam Culture of Hong Kong, and A Tale of Three Cities: The Guangdong–Hong Kong–Macao Bay Area and Export of Silk Products in the Ming and Qing Dynasties, several of which have received the International and Hong Kong–Macao–Taiwan Cooperation Award of the National Top Ten Museum Exhibitions.

Building on the success of the Hong Kong stop of A Tale of Three Cities, the Guangdong Museum will continue to deepen its cultural collaboration with Hong Kong and Macao through diverse initiatives, further exploring, integrating, and revitalizing the region’s rich cultural resources. It aims to foster the shared development and dissemination of the cultural achievements of the Greater Bay Area, contributing actively to the construction of a culturally vibrant Greater Bay Area.