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We are pleased to announce that the Hong Kong History Centre, based at the University of Bristol, is calling for offers of donations of historic materials to its ‘Hong Kong Collection’, which is held in the University of Bristol Library’s Special Collections.
Established in 2022, and building on the previous seven years of successful work of the Hong Kong History Project at Bristol, the University’s Hong Kong History Centre is the only such research centre in the world. The Centre supports research on the history of Hong Kong and its peoples, nurtures and develops academic talent in the field, and serves as an international hub for the discipline, hosting visiting staff and students from across the world. Another core strand of our work is public engagement and outreach, with the aim of raising public awareness of the history of Hong Kong and its global connections. The Centre leadership team consists of co-directors Dr Vivian Kong and Professor Robert Bickers, and Research Director Professor Ray Yep.
The Hong Kong Collection preserves materials with significant research value to the study of Hong Kong History. The collection contains archival materials in a wide range of physical and digital formats and media, in both English and Chinese. No other institution in Great Britain has the collection of material relating to Hong Kong’s history as a strategic priority. The photographic collection stands out as a highlight, offering a visual narrative of the evolving landscape and lives in Hong Kong across different periods. Our goal is to make these photographs freely accessible online internationally.
In this first phase of the collection development, the Centre is calling for offers of donations of materials with priority given to photographic collections, although we will be interested to hear about other types of material. It is unlikely that we would be able to consider most donations of printed books, however, and we cannot accept digital copies of materials where the originals are not also donated.
As well as providing long-term archival preservation, the Centre is building an online platform, ‘Historical Photographs of Hong Kong’, that will be freely accessible to users internationally. Most collections of photographs held by libraries or archives document the history of photography, or represent the work of professional photographers, or the work of institutions and agencies. In line with the aims and objectives of the Centre, we are looking for family photographs and private materials that document the more hidden histories of Hong Kong and its diverse peoples across the nineteenth and twentieth centuries.
We are seeking offers of donations of original photographs (loose or in albums), negatives, post cards, or magic lantern slides. We are looking for material that is likely to be of significant interest to scholars and students seeking to understand the diverse histories of Hong Kong. These could be small collections, or large ones; they could be rich in records of momentous events, or institutions, or rich in evidence of family life and social history. We are happy to hear about all sorts of materials, such as family letters, diaries, unpublished memoirs etc.
We will assess all offers of materials for permanent deposit against a set of criteria that will ensure that the Hong Kong Collection would be the most suitable permanent home for them. We may decline offers and advise on alternatives if we conclude that material would find a more appropriate home elsewhere.
Materials like this have helped scholars and learners, and the interested general public internationally understand a very wide range of topics. They have been requested for reproduction in books and articles, in presentations and projects by school pupils, in exhibitions and in films.
Together with the members of our team we look forward to hearing from you.
For enquiries about possible donations please use the Hong Kong Collections email: hkhc-collections@bristol.ac.uk
For information about the Hong Kong History Centre and its plans please see our website: http://hkhistory.net