Members of the public and tourists to Hong Kong are invited to experience a contemporary Asian cultural odyssey created by a multi-media art exhibition at the Hong Kong Museum of Art from July 23 to Sept. 5.

Jointly organized by Hong Kong Museum of Art, the Center of Visual Culture of the China Academy of Art and the Shenzhen Fine Art Institute, the exhibition aims to explore the cultural contents of Asian countries which adopt a "parallel time" system through the presentation of a cultural research project "Edges of the Earth: An Investigation Journey".

The project was conducted in 2003 by a group of young scholars from the China Academy of Art in company of artists and independent curators. Based in east China's Hangzhou city, they traveled through selected cities, including Tokyo, Kyoto, Bangkok, Bombay Tehran and Istanbul, to study the cultural identity of Asian countries.

During the journey, the project participants visited different art communities ranging from contemporary masters to ethnic artists, national institutions to private art spaces, traditional workshops to working places of cultural celebrities.

By documenting the distinguished human-geographical features, episodes of daily life and mechanism of contemporary and traditional art production in these Asian cities, the investigation provides not only materials but also new approaches for the discussions in relation to the development of contemporary art and visual culture in the context of Pan-Asia, connecting contemporary Chinese art to the reconstruction of a new Asian cultural vision.
 
(Xinhua News Agency July 20, 2004)