[VIRTUAL UMAG] Two Years in East Asia: Travelling in Hong Kong 1907–1909

Poised to learn more about Asia and to experience China firsthand, Hungarian naval doctor Dezső Bozóky (1871–1957) travelled to Asia during the first decade of the twentieth century, recorded his journey in an unpublished diary and photographed and self-developed hundreds of images that today present rare visual resources of the former colonial city and its world-famous Victoria Harbour.

Bozóky’s stunning black-and-white and hand-coloured photographs present historic documents that allow us to re-trace his steps, offering insights into the bustling merchant town, culturally mixed society and lush natural landscape that he encountered. Bozóky’s images displayed a foreign world to his compatriots at home where they formed a treasure trove of information in early 1900s Budapest, just as they do today.

The UMAG exhibition was originally displayed in the Fung Ping Shan Building from 26 Oct 2016–08 Jan 2017. The exhibition and publication of Dezső Bozóky’s photographs were generously supported by the Consulate General of Hungary in Hong Kong, in collaboration with Dr Györgyi Fajcsák and the Ferenc Hopp Museum of Asiatic Arts.

Click the link to check out our first online show of Dezső Bozóky's photographs of old Hong Kong: https://www.virtual.umag.hku.hk/two-years-in-east-asia-travel-en