Some images from the archives stop you in your tracks. Not because they’re beautiful — though they are — but because they remind you of a time when Hong Kong did something no other city in Asia had done before.
A Sculptor and a City
Hong Kong’s relationship with Henry Moore began in 1970, when the Hong Kong Museum of Art staged the first Henry Moore sculpture exhibition ever held in the city — a quiet, formative encounter between Hong Kong and one of the twentieth century’s greatest sculptors.
Sixteen years later, the city would do it again. But this time, nothing about it would be quiet.
1986: The Largest Sculpture Exhibition in Asia
From 1 February to 12 March 1986, as part of the Hong Kong Arts Festival, The Art of Henry Moore brought 165 sculptures, 60 drawings, and 32 graphics to seven locations across Hong Kong — from the Hong Kong Museum of Art and the Academy for Performing Arts, to City Hall Memorial Garden, Edinburgh Place, and the Tsim Sha Tsui Promenade.
Organised by the Urban Council Hong Kong, the British Council, the Hong Kong Arts Festival Society, the Hong Kong Arts Centre, and the Henry Moore Foundation, and sponsored by American Express, it was the largest and most important sculpture exhibition ever mounted anywhere in Asia. Opened by the Duchess of Kent, it spanned sixty years of Moore’s creative career — from his early carvings to the monumental bronzes he became known for, exploring themes of ‘Mother and Child’, ‘Reclining Figures’, and ‘Interior and Exterior Forms’.
The over life-size and monumental pieces were displayed outdoors. The smaller works — carvings, working models, maquettes, and two-dimensional pieces — were shown in various indoor venues.
But the logistics of the outdoor installation were what made it legendary.
The monumental sculptures were transported by Royal Air Force helicopters with the assistance of the Army Air Corps, then installed on both sides of Victoria Harbour. It was an unprecedented operation. Crowds gathered along the waterfront to watch the airlift. The media covered it extensively. For a brief, remarkable moment, the entire harbour became a stage — and Henry Moore’s forms became part of Hong Kong’s skyline.
Why Sculpture Needs Light
Sculpture has always fascinated us — because light changes everything.
A sculpture is never the same object twice. Walk around it, wait for the light to shift, and it transforms. Where the light falls on a bronze surface determines what the viewer sees — the curve of a reclining form, the hollow of an arch, the tension between mass and space. Get it wrong, and a masterpiece flattens. Get it right, and it breathes.
William Artists was entrusted with lighting the outdoor installations. Our role was not to design the exhibition — but to ensure that after dark, against the glow of Victoria Harbour, Moore’s work continued to hold its presence.
What the Archives Remember
These photographs, taken during the exhibition, capture that balance. The reclining figures, the abstract forms, the monumental arches — each one lit to hold its own against Hong Kong’s nightscape. In one frame, the Kowloon skyline glows behind a bronze. In another, a towering white form rises against the harbour.
They are a reminder that William Artists was founded in 1976 — just ten years before this exhibition. By 1986, we were already trusted to light one of the most significant cultural events in Hong Kong’s history.
Fifty Years of Light
This post is part of our 50th anniversary series, resurfacing projects from the William Artists archives that shaped who we are.
The Henry Moore exhibition taught us something that has stayed with us for four decades: light doesn’t just illuminate an object. It interprets it. It can flatten a masterpiece or bring it to life. That understanding — earned sculpture by sculpture, night by night — is what we carry into every project today.
Because when you light a Moore against Victoria Harbour, you learn what light really does. It completes.
The Art of Henry Moore was presented as part of the Hong Kong Arts Festival, 1 February – 12 March 1986, organised by the Urban Council Hong Kong, British Council, Hong Kong Arts Festival Society, Hong Kong Arts Centre, and the Henry Moore Foundation, sponsored by American Express Company. Sculptures were displayed on both sides of Victoria Harbour across seven locations, transported by Royal Air Force helicopters with the assistance of the Army Air Corps. William Artists supplied the lighting solutions for the outdoor installations. Archive photographs from the William Artists collection.
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