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| Hong Kong Heritage Project | |
|---|---|
| Name | Hong Kong Heritage Project |
| Established | 2014 |
| Location | Hong Kong |
| Type | Cultural heritage, archival research, digital humanities |
Hong Kong Heritage Project is an independent research initiative based in Hong Kong dedicated to documenting, preserving, and interpreting the territory's visual, social, and built heritage. The Project undertakes archival digitization, oral history, exhibition curation, and publication to make primary materials and interpretive scholarship accessible to scholars, students, and the public across Greater China and internationally. It collaborates with museums, libraries, universities, and grassroots organizations to illuminate histories connected to colonial administration, migrant communities, industrial infrastructures, and urban development.
The Project operates at the intersection of archival practice, public history, and digital humanities, partnering with institutions such as the University of Hong Kong, Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong Museum of History, Hong Kong Heritage Museum, and M+ Museum to foreground collections related to urban change, maritime trade, and social movements. It collects materials ranging from photographic negatives and oral testimonies to maps, government reports, and ephemera linked to neighborhoods like Sheung Wan, Sham Shui Po, Mong Kok, and Kowloon City. Through exhibitions and open-access portals, the Project connects users with artifacts tied to events including the 1967 Leftist Riots, the 1997 handover of Hong Kong and the post-1997 transformations of districts such as Wan Chai and Central. Collaborations have extended to archives and institutions across Asia and Europe, including the British Library, the National Archives (United Kingdom), the Asia Art Archive, and the Smithsonian Institution.
Founded in 2014 amid growing public interest in heritage conservation and urban redevelopment controversies such as the preservation debates over Queen's Pier and Star Ferry Pier, the Project emerged as a response to the fragmentation of photographic and documentary records held in private hands and small museums. Its initial phases were shaped by partnerships with academics from institutions like City University of Hong Kong and curators from the Hong Kong Heritage Museum and drew on methodological precedents from projects such as the Endangered Archives Programme and the Oral History Society. Early fieldwork documented industrial sites in Kwun Tong and village communities in the New Territories, producing datasets used by researchers studying the legacies of agencies such as the Royal Hong Kong Police and infrastructures like the Kowloon–Canton Railway. Over time the Project expanded to address transnational circulations involving the Pearl River Delta, diasporic networks tied to Ho Chi Minh City and Shanghai, and archival exchanges with collections like the National Archives of Singapore.
Major holdings and initiatives include digitized photographic archives, oral history collections, map repositories, and curated exhibitions. Collections draw on private photographers such as Lam Chun-sing and institutions like the Hong Kong Film Archive, containing imagery of markets in Temple Street, trams on Hennessy Road, and docklands at Kwun Tong. Projects have documented the material culture of professions—dockworkers associated with the Hong Kong Tramways and seamen linked to the China Merchants—and documented community responses to redevelopment in neighborhoods such as Tai O. The Project has produced themed exhibitions about topics including colonial architecture (e.g., Government House), vernacular housing types like Tong Lau, and protests associated with movements such as the Umbrella Movement. It has hosted collaborative projects with the British Council, the Hong Kong Arts Centre, and the Hong Kong Institute of Planners.
Research strategies combine oral history methods, photographic conservation, metadata standards, and digital cataloguing, informed by practices articulated by bodies like the International Council on Archives and the International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions. Fieldwork protocols emphasize informed consent and community co-curation, producing interviews with participants from labor unions such as the Hong Kong Confederation of Trade Unions, elders from clan villages in the New Territories, and former civil servants from bodies including the Urban Council. Analytical frameworks draw on scholarship associated with historians at University of Hong Kong and theorists of urbanism linked to projects at MIT and University College London. Digitization follows standards used by the National Archives (United Kingdom) and the Library of Congress for high-resolution imaging and long-term preservation.
Outreach activities include workshops for school students from institutions such as St. Paul's Co-educational College and community groups in districts like Sai Ying Pun, public lectures featuring scholars from Chinese University of Hong Kong and curators from the Hong Kong Museum of Medical Sciences, and training for volunteer archivists. The Project runs community archiving programs in partnership with neighborhood organizations in Shek Kip Mei and village committees in Lantau Island to document intangible practices tied to festivals at shrines such as Tin Hau Temple and traditional trades like boatbuilding in Tai O. Educational resources have been used by courses in heritage studies at City University of Hong Kong and by postgraduate researchers at institutions like Hong Kong Baptist University.
Funding has come from a mix of philanthropic donors, cultural foundations, and institutional grants, including support from entities like the Hong Kong Jockey Club Charities Trust, the Hong Kong Arts Development Council, and international funders modeled on programs at the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation. Governance involves a steering committee composed of academics, archivists, and independent curators drawn from organizations such as the Asia Art Archive and the University of Hong Kong. Partnerships with public institutions follow memorandum of understanding arrangements similar to those used by museums like the Hong Kong Museum of History and university-based centers such as the Hong Kong Institute for the Humanities and Social Sciences.
The Project has influenced heritage debates in Hong Kong, with its materials cited in policy consultations concerning preservation of sites like Central Market and public dialogues about redevelopment in Prince Edward Road. Its exhibitions and datasets have been referenced in scholarly publications appearing in journals affiliated with institutions such as Cambridge University Press and Routledge and featured in media outlets including the South China Morning Post and Radio Television Hong Kong. Academic and cultural awards include recognition from professional bodies akin to the Museums Association and invitations to present work at conferences hosted by the International Council on Monuments and Sites and the Asian Studies Association of Hong Kong.
Category:Cultural heritage organizations in Hong Kong