Exhibition Gift Giveaway

To celebrate the exhibition opening, visitors are invited to register in advance for a limited-edition exhibition gift. Interested participants should complete the online form and visit the exhibition venue during the exhibition period for redemption.

How to redeem: Register via Google Form → Visit the exhibition during the exhibition period → Present confirmation for gift redemption.

From Memory to Horizon: The Visual Language of Hong Kong Tourism

As an internationally renowned metropolis of tourism, Hong Kong has established itself as a global travel hub since the early 1970s. At its peak, this city of just over seven million people welcomed up to sixty million inbound and outbound travellers annually. Growing up in this biliterate and trilingual environment where East and West converge, we have learned from an early age how to become citizens of the world.

Looking back to the 1950s, Hong Kong was often perceived through a narrow and stereotypical lens—an exotic fishing port in the Far East under British rule. With the passage of time, manufacturing rapidly expanded, and industries such as textiles and toys flourished, transforming this once-sleepy harbour into a globally significant production centre. To streamline exports and navigate tariff systems, products began to bear markings such as ‘Empire Made’ and later ‘Made in Hong Kong’—emblems that formed the city’s first distinct impression on the world. Hong Kong’s trading companies, especially its airlines, played a quiet yet persistent role in shaping the city’s international image. Based in Hong Kong, they introduced the city to global audiences in direct manner. At the same time, the establishment of the Hong Kong Tourist Association (now the Hong Kong Tourism Board) brought systematic and strategic promotion that propelled the island onto the world stage.

The people of Hong Kong have developed their understanding of the city through both personal experience—of its environment, daily life, and landscapes—and through curated messages conveyed via tourism campaigns. As one of the major pillars of local economy, tourism has also ingrained in us, from a young age, the values of hospitality and the art of welcoming visitors. Yet throughout the years, we have rarely paused to closely examine how visual design, language, and overarching strategies have been employed to present Hong Kong to the world. The aesthetics and execution behind these efforts are both elegant and precise. Through Western eyes, Hong Kong often appears as a dazzling, multifaceted Pearl of the Orient, while through local perspectives, it embodies deeply rooted values and memories. Both views are invaluable.

The exhibition ‘From Memory to Horizon: The Visual Language of Hong Kong Tourism’ seeks to present, from multiple viewpoints, the evolution and accumulation of visual expressions used in Hong Kong’s tourism landscape from the 1950s to the present. Through these compelling images and narratives, we invite visitors to reflect on the past of our tourism industry, observe its present, and collectively imagine its future.