Behind-the-scene of the Museum Construction

The construction of the new Swire Marine Discovery Centre has started in December 2021 in the museum. Have you wondered how the museum looks now? Let’s have a sneak peek.

Harbour Viewing Gallery on B Deck

You may remember one of the impressive exhibits on B Deck of the Hong Kong Maritime Museum–the figurehead of Guanyin. In the West, figureheads replaced the ancient “seeing eye”, or okulos, on the bow as well as the later Christian substitute, the Star of the Sea (Stella Maris), or Virgin Mary. This figurehead of Guanyin is where east meets west. The fleur de lys (lily) shape in the figurehead’s hand may evoke the lotus (water lily) of Buddhism. This artefact has been installed since 2013 when the museum relocated to Pier 8.

Antique figurehead of Guanyin (Goddess of Mercy), mid-19th century, HKMM2004.0223.

To keep this figurehead safe, we had the help of the construction crew to uninstall this enormous exhibit.

Read more about the new Swire Marine Discovery Centre.

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