About 40 exhibits using the horse as a subject are on display starting from Friday at the Hong Kong Museum of Art.

People view exhibits at the "Story of the Horse" exhibition in Hong Kong, south China, on June 27, 2008. About 40 exhibits were displayed in the six-month exhibition for the celebration of Hong Kong's co-hosting of the Equestrian Events of the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games, to be held in August.[Photo: Xinhua]

The exhibition, Story of the Horse, features artifacts of different dates and in various medium ranging from Chinese pottery, bronzes, bamboo carvings, Chinese calligraphy and painting, historical pictures to modern art selected from the collections of the Museum of Art.

Divided into four sections: the function of the horse in ancient China; the literati taste in Chinese paintings of horses; the horse motif and its symbolic meanings; and the horse in modern art, the exhibition reviews the value of the horse and how its artistic representation evolves over time.

Highlight exhibits of this exhibition include a horse in " Sancai" glaze of the Tang Dynasty, an engraving "Forcing the Encampment" of the Qing Dynasty, a bamboo carving "Monkey on a Horse Carved in the Round" of the Kangxi period of the Qing Dynasty, and an ink painting "Horse under a Tree" by Zhang Mu of the Qing Dynasty.

Horse paintings by Gao Qifeng and by Xu Beihong, and a digital print "The Chinese Cyclical Years" by local artist Wong Chung-yu are also on display.

The exhibition will last until December 28.

(Xinhua News Agency June 28, 2008)