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"The Golden Age of Couture: Paris and London 1947–1957"

This exhibition focuses on post-war couture during a decade (1947–1957) that Christian Dior described as the "Golden Age" of fashion. Drawn mainly from the Victoria and Albert Museum's collections of French and British fashion and photography, it explores the creative, social and commercial aspects of this highly traditional and luxurious craft industry and analyses its legacy.

Starting in Paris under the German occupation and the impact of the "New Look" that emerged in 1947, the exhibition examines the world and history of couture: its designers, fashion houses, models and clients and its introduction into popular fashion. Highlighting the works of the masters and legends of fashion such as Christian Dior, Cristobal Balenciaga, Pierre Balmain and Hubert de Givenchy in Paris and their London counterparts Norman Hartnell and Hardy Amies, it traces one of the most glamorous and remarkable decades in fashion history. More than 100 dresses will be on display, including daywear, cocktail and evening dresses made for the high society and royalty, alongside photographs by renowned fashion photographers Cecil Beaton and Richard Avedon and documentary film, textiles and archive material.

"The Golden Age of Couture: Paris and London 1947–1957" offers an insight into fashion at its most artful, imaginative and powerful and into a decade when designers set the highest standards of quality and innovation.

Date:	Thursday, 20 August 2009
Time:	9:15 – 11:00 am, bus leaves promptly from Central at old Star Ferry by City Hall at 9:15am and will return around 11:00 from Shatin
Venue:	Hong Kong Heritage Museum, 1 Man Lam Road, Shatin, N.T.
Cost:	Members $100, Students $50, Guest $150

Architectural Tour - Visit to a Special Apartment in North Point

This architectural tour wants to take you to a Hong Kong apartment which has been created as a single room that can be configured in 24 ways. The apartment has been featured in the New York Times and points to the kind of creativity Hong Kong would do well to promote. It could even represent the home of the future.

The Architectural and Interior Designer who created this fun and innovative apartment for himself is Gary Chang, who studied at the University of Hong Kong. One of his even better known works is the Suitcase House in the Great Wall Commune, Beijing. He will show us personally the wondrous life to be lived in the apartment. Before he does that we will look around his office/studio and hear from him about his past and ongoing projects and experiments.

Date:	Saturday, 22 August 2009
Time:	1:00 – 4:00 pm
Venue:	Edge Design Institute Ltd. Suite 1604, Eastern Harbour Centre, 28 Hoi Chak Street, Quarry Bay Members meet at the Studio for talk with wine and cheese, followed by apartment visit in North Point
Cost:	Members $100, Students $50, Guest $150.

The Ultimate South China Travel Guide - Canton

Once upon a time, in a land not very far away and in a time when life was less complex but more unforgiving, there was a wealthy city known to the world as Canton (today’s Guangzhou). This city’s fame and wealth peaked from the mid-1700s to the mid-1800s. China’s gateway city was then known to the western world as London’s match in the Orient. Its elaborate European architecture existed well before Shanghai’s came to the fore. There were no hotels for foreigners at the time, but the city welcomed foreign visitors in stylish apartments equipped with servants. In many ways, Canton functioned like a commercial depot serving an exclusively Western clientele. Communication was not a problem as locals invented a Pidgin English that foreigners were quickly able to acquire. Indeed, the promise of a voyage to Canton was held in exotic regard by many a Westerner of the time.

Come and travel back in time and visit the Canton of 1800’s. This exhibition will serve as your travel guide by offering practical information, local etiquette, and a shopping directory for the foreign traveler of that period.

A handy tip before you embark: the exhibition is made up of about fifty sub-sets of oil paintings, watercolours, sketches and prints depicting the daily life and landscape of Canton, selected mostly from the Historical Pictures collection.

Date:	Tuesday, 15 September 2009
Time:	6:00 – 7:00 pm
Venue:	HKMA
Cost:	Members free, Students free, Guest $50.

The Prosperous City: A Selection from the Liaoning Provincial Museum

This rare exhibition features 15 important paintings from the Ming (1368 – 1644) and Qing (1644 – 1911) dynasties, focuses on the unique theme of prosperous cities, a rare opportunities to view the pieces from the collection of the Liaoning Provincial Museum. Most of the exhibits were once prized possessions of the Qing emperor Qianlong and are representative works of that period and genre. Offering an insight into China's urban wealth during the Ming and Qing periods, they include significant paintings such as Along the River during the Qingming Festival by Qiu Ying (ca.1494 – ca.1552) of the Ming dynasty, Ten Views of West Lake by Wang Yuanqi (1642 – 1715) and Prosperous Suzhou by Xu Yang (1712 – after 1777) of the Qing dynasty.

The centrepiece of the exhibition is the handscroll by Xu Yang, a Qing court painter during the reign of Qianlong. Completed in 1759 during Qianlong's second Southern Inspection Tour, the scroll painting provides a panoramic but extraordinarily detailed view of 18th century Suzhou. In it, Xu painstakingly depicts people from all walks of life – from fishermen, woodcutters and tillers to merchants, literati and civil officers – as well as Suzhou's fascinating scenery, in which many prosperous aspects of the city during the High Qing era are emphasised.

Date:	Tuesday, 29 September 2009
Time:	6:00 – 7:00 pm
Venue:	HKMA
Cost:	Members free, Students free, Guest $50.

Visit to an artist’s studio in Yuen Long - Ng Yuen-wa

A special visit has been arranged to the artist Ng Yuen-wa’s studio in Yuen Long. The brightly lit, spacious and elegant space has been newly decorated. An atmosphere of tranquility pervades the house, which is surrounded by three beautiful, lush gardens. Our visit will be enhanced by the lighting in the gardens after dark, and accompanied by a Chinese vegetarian dinner at the studio.

Ng yuen wa ‘s paintings and prints have been collected by the Hong Kong Museum of Art, the Hong Kong Heritage Museum, The Hong Kong Economic and Trade Office in San Francisco, Washington, D.C., Geneva, Brussels, Hong Kong Arts Development Council, MTR of Hong Kong and Museum both in oversea and mainland and many private collections.

Date:	Saturday, 31 October 2009
Time:	4:00 –7:30 pm, bus leaves promptly from Central at old Star Ferry by City Hall at 4:00pm and will return around 6:45 from Yuen Long
Venue:	17 Kik Yeung Road, Yuen Long
Cost:	Members $150, Students $100, Guest $200.

Tour of Christie’s Autumn Preview 2009

The Friends are pleased to announce a special tour for members of Christie’s Autumn Preview 2009. The tour will highlight Chinese Ceramics and Works of Art, and will be led by two experts in the field: Rosemary Scott, Christie’s International Academic Director of Asian Art, and Pola Antebi, Head of Chinese Ceramics and Works of Art Department in Hong Kong.

Date:	Friday, 27 November, 2009
Time:	9:30 am – 10:30 am
Venue:	Hong Kong Convention & Exhibition Center I Expo Drive, Wanchai
Cost:	Members $100, Guests $150, Students $50