Michelle Yeoh Returns to Hong Kong for ‘Cartier and Women’ Exhibition

STAR ALIGNED: Michelle Yeoh, who made history last month by becoming the first Asian to win an Academy Award for best actress, returned to Hong Kong, where she started her acting career four decades ago, for the “Cartier and Women” exhibition at the Hong Kong Palace Museum in the West Kowloon Cultural District.

She joined decades-old friends who included famed actress Carina Lau, wife of Yeoh’s “Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings” costar Tony Leung; businesswoman Pansy Ho, daughter of the late Macau casino magnate Stanley Ho, and famed Taiwanese actress Brigitte Lin at the opening event of the exhibition on Wednesday night. Yeoh is also set to appear as a presenter at the Hong Kong Film Awards on Sunday, according to local media.

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Running from Friday to Aug. 14, the jewelry showcase is touted to be the world’s first major exhibition that traces women’s role and presence in the history of Cartier. It features around 300 pieces created by Cartier, including high jewelry, timepieces, objects, accessories and archival records from the 19th century to the present day.

Making a connection to Hong Kong’s high society, the exhibition includes rare pieces borrowed from Lau, Ho and Lin’s personal jewelry collection, as well as pieces that belonged to Grace Kelly, Elizabeth Taylor, Barbara Hutton, Wallis Simpson, Daisy Fellowes and Marie Bonaparte.

Lau, Ho and Lin, who are considered local royalties for their exceptional achievements in their respective fields, also appeared in a series of promotional shoots wearing Cartier tiaras that they lent to the exhibition.

The exhibition, which is organized by the Hong Kong Palace Museum with the support of Cartier, also comes with a section that explores how Chinese art and culture have inspired Cartier’s creations in terms of style, motifs, materials and craftsmanship.

Key examples presented include a 1928 Chinese-style vanity case that references a Kangxi period porcelain dish from the collection of Mr. and Mrs. Louis Cartier; the first Cartier pendant with the yin-yang symbol created in 1919, a motif inspired by Daoism, and a brooch featuring “two dragons chasing a pearl” acquired in 1920 by French couturier Jeanne Paquin.

Louis Ng, museum director of the Hong Kong Palace Museum, said the exhibition “underscores Hong Kong’s position as an East-meets-West center for international cultural exchange,” and “we hope to inspire visitors to explore the role and influence of women across time and enrich their understanding of works that marry Eastern and Western aesthetics.”

Pierre Rainero, image, style and heritage director at Cartier, added that the assembled pieces in the exhibition “illustrate the influence of Chinese aesthetics on Cartier design and illuminate how much we owe to the prominent women of the day for our inspiration and style.”

The Hong Kong Palace Museum, funded by the Hong Kong Jockey Club Charities Trust with a donation of 3.5 billion Hong Kong dollars for its establishment in July 2022, was built with the goal to showcase artifacts from the Palace Museum at the Forbidden City in Beijing and beyond. It also serves as a physical manifestation of the cultural ties that Hong Kong shares with mainland China.

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