Exhibition to mark 20th anniversary of Hong Kong Cantopop diva Anita Mui’s death opens at Heritage Museum
- Hong Kong Heritage Museum opens exhibition, titled ‘Timeless Diva: Anita Mui’, with 70 items on show
- Revered singer’s records, stage costumes and awards, as well as film stills, magazine covers, sketches and video footage, on display
The Hong Kong Heritage Museum in Sha Tin officially opened the exhibition, titled “Timeless Diva: Anita Mui”, on Saturday, with the revered singer’s records, stage costumes and awards, as well as film stills, magazine covers, sketches and video footage, on display.
Among the 70 exhibits is a TBS Award trophy Mui won in 1983 at the 12th Tokyo Music Festival that was donated by her close friend and stylist Eddie Lau Pui-kei and is on display for the first time.
Lau donated 20 pieces to the exhibition, including eight stage costumes he designed for Mui throughout her career.
The exhibition, presented by the Leisure and Cultural Services Department and organised by the museum, opens to the public from Sunday until September 2 next year. Admission is free.
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One of Hong Kong’s most revered stars, Mui died at the age of 40 of cervical cancer and respiratory complications on December 30, 2003. In the spotlight for more than two decades, Mui recorded 28 studio albums, racked up almost 50 film acting credits and scooped 11 acting awards.
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“Anita Mui is the collective memory of Hong Kong … We hope this exhibition will bring the public closer to Mui, who was not only a performer on stage and successful artist, but also a person who actively strove for progress,” museum director Brian Lam Kwok-fai said.
Lam said a special aspect of the exhibition was the stage costumes, which were related to significant moments in Mui’s music career. Audio recordings and video footage featuring Mui including interviews were also added to allow viewers to reminisce about her achievements in the music and film industries.
He said he expected more than 200,000 people would visit the exhibition.
Fashion and image designer Lau picked a costume worn by Mui in 1998 when she received the Golden Needle Award at RTHK’s 21st Top Ten Chinese Gold Songs Award Concert as one of the highlights of the exhibition.
He said the exhibits reminded him of Mui and their working together throughout the years, saying their collaboration was “destined”.
“That day when I put this costume on display and opened the bow, I felt it was real, and that the person was still there that day,” he said.
“This costume is very memorable. It’s more than 30 years old, but we have still preserved it so well,” he added, recalling how he worked with Mui in designing her stage costumes.
Hong Kong culture chief not ruling out arts hub as possible site for new museum
Authorities earlier suggested in a paper to the Legislative Council moving the Science Museum in Tsim Sha Tsui to the site of the Heritage Museum, which would close and have its collection moved to other venues across the city.
The move would free up the Science Museum’s site for the new showcase on national successes, a project unveiled in this year’s policy address as one of the measures to promote patriotic education.
Asked if he was concerned about the possible closure of the Heritage Museum and the arrangement for its collections, Lau said he “did not believe the government would neglect the Heritage Museum”.
Museum director Lam said the institution’s operation had not been affected by the government proposal.
Director of Leisure and Cultural Services Vincent Liu Ming-kwong said at the exhibition’s opening ceremony that the department organised the show to let people reminisce about Mui’s ever-changing image on stage as well as her achievements in music and film, and to promote the development of Hong Kong’s pop culture.
“Anita Mui is a music queen and legendary superstar of a generation,” he said.
“Being a pop culture icon of her generation, she not only left people to miss her, but also left behind many classic works that still touch people growing up in different eras.”
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Liu said the government would continue to promote pop culture. In addition to holding pop culture festivals, the government had been looking for a site to build a venue designated to pop culture, he said.
The government also had plans to increase the number of museums in Hong Kong from 15 to more than 20, he noted.
