[Talk] Collecting The Peranakan Past: A Living Legacy
Details
Speaker: Chris Ong
Date: Monday 20 January 2025
Time: 8.00pm–9.30pm
Venue: Conference Hall, Penang Institute
Moderator: Gareth Richards
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Join us for a talk by Chris Ong, who provides an intimate portrait of his singular collection of Peranakan antiques. This event is hosted by Penang Institute and co-organised by Gerakbudaya Bookshop.
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Synopsis
A renowned hotelier, Chris Ong is also a collector of all things Peranakan. Over the course of many decades, he has assembled an unrivalled collection of antiques and has developed an intimate passion for his pieces. Some of the most outstanding features of the collection include kamcheng covered containers, tingkat porcelain tiffin carriers, sweetmeat trays, ceremonial vessels and much more. Where did he get the inspiration to create the collection? What made him so focused on this genre of Straits Chinese material culture? What is the bigger picture that has provided the object lessons of the collection? All these questions are captured in the newly published The Chris Ong Collection, a beautifully designed book replete with stunning photographs and meticulous documentation. In this talk, Chris Ong brings the book to life – telling the intimate stories behind the pieces, revealing how he set about curating what to include in the book, and identifying the wider cultural significance of this unique living legacy.
About the Speaker
A fifth-generation Baba from Penang, Chris Ong is a pioneer in George Town’s boutique heritage hotel sector, with his portfolio of hotels – Seven Terraces, Muntri Mews, Muntri Grove and Jawi Peranakan Mansion – each housed in a nineteenth-century building of architectural distinction. These spaces serve as living museums where guests can experience his extensive collection of Peranakan antiques, reproducing the ambience of grand homes of a previous era. Since returning to Penang after decades living abroad, Chris Ong has focused much of his creative energy in deepening his appreciation of the significance of Peranakan material culture – the essential props of an elaborate domestic theatre of social customs and family traditions.
Moderator
Gareth Richards is a writer, editor and bookseller. His most recent book is Discourses, Agency and Identity in Malaysia.