Header Image（afs1180, CC BY-NC 2.0 via .Creative Commons）
Getting your first full-time job always means you are stepping into a new stage in life. You can enjoy the fun of having new colleagues, opportunities, and challenges on the horizon.
I have recently started to work as a research assistant at the Tsz Shan Monastery Buddhist Art Museum, which is located in a Chinese Buddhist monastery surrounded by a beautiful natural environment. The museum is the first and the only museum in Hong Kong themed with Buddhist art and culture. It is situated beneath a super huge Guan Yin Statue (figure 1), which is the representative icon of the monastery.
Figure 1
The museum exhibits many Buddhist artefacts from several different places in Asia. The exhibition (figure 2) consists of 4 different themes, including Heavenly Kings, Buddha's disciples, Bodhisattva, and various Buddhas. It not only shows the aesthetic characteristics of Buddhist art but also the interaction of Buddhist art across Asia. My favourite object in the collection is the Standing Śākyamuni Buddha sculpture, which shows the transformation of Buddhist art from aniconic to iconic as well as the cultural exchange between the East and the West in the ancient world. As a Hongkonger, I think this sculpture has a very unique status in a Hong Kong museum because the sculpture is similar to the city of Hong Kong (a city where East meets West) in terms of cultural significance, they both reflect the fusion of different cultures.
Figure 2
In this place filled with beautiful things, the most beautiful thing of all to me is the people and their enthusiasm. Before starting to work here, I first experienced an event of Buddhist music as a participant. In the beginning, I felt a little bit worried about what I was going to face in a new environment. Fortunately, other participants (the museum volunteers) actively talked to me and introduced me to many interesting things about the monastery and the museum. This made me feel welcomed and gave me a holistic picture of my future workplace.
The volunteers are important to our museum as they have played a role in bridging the audiences and the Buddhist artefacts. Therefore, our museum has offered training to them. For instance, in the following three months, our museum offered a lecture series themed with "Buddhist Art and Faith" to the volunteers (and the public). By joining these lectures, they can gain a better understanding of Buddhist history and culture. I am very happy to work with the volunteers during the preparation of the lectures.
As a museum studies student, I have realized how important interdisciplinary collaboration is to museums. My team is interdisciplinary as our members have specialized in different subject areas, including translation of Buddhist texts, Buddhist art, and museum studies. Through cooperation with my colleagues, I can explore different perspectives and views, and more importantly, learn how to develop new ideas with people from different academic backgrounds.
There is so much to say about the monastery and the museum. It's better to see something once than to hear about it a thousand times. If you have a chance to travel to Hong Kong, I highly recommend you visit our museum! I look forward to seeing you in the future.
Written by Billy Wong Hon-Fung