The Paul Mellon Lectures: Maria Mok, Director of Hong Kong Museum of Art

Maria Mok joined the Hong Kong Museum of Art in 1996 and is currently its Museum Director. She has extensive museum experience, having served as curator in charge of various departments, including China Trade Art, Chinese Antiquities, Modern and Hong Kong Art, and Educational and Extension Services. She has curated and led a vast number of exhibitions and programs. She is a specialist in China trade painting with a research focus on dating and authentication. She has published extensively and has a particular interest in the artistic interaction of global trade. She co-authored Images of the Canton Factories 1760-1822: Reading History in Art (HKU Press: 2015) with Paul A. Van Dyke, professor of history at Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou, China. Dr. Mok has a BA in Fine Arts Studies, an MA in Chinese Historical Studies on Guangdong decorative arts of the Qing dynasty, a PhD in China trade painting, and a graduate diploma in Museum Studies.

Eve Tam is the Assistant Director (Heritage and Museums) in the Leisure and Cultural Services Department of the Government of Hong Kong Special Administrative Region. She has worked with different museums and cultural institutions in her museum career and over the years, she has worked on several new museum projects, including the opening of the Hong Kong Heritage Museum, the establishment of the Oi! art space, and she took charge of the major renovation and extension of the Hong Kong Museum of Art as the Museum’s Director between 2012 to 2019. In her current position, she is responsible for developing and coordinating museums, intangible cultural heritage, and visual arts, and overseeing the management of public museums, the Hong Kong Film Archive, the Conservation Office, the Art Promotion Office, the Intangible Cultural Heritage Office, and the Science Promotion Unit, as well as the planning of several major museum projects.