Conversation between the curators, Yi Yi Mon (Rosaline) Kyo and Julia M. White, and the late artist's sister, Cynthia Tongson
Tradition, Innovation, and Transcendence: Understanding Wesley Tongson’s Ink Play
Date: 16 July 2026 (Thursday), 6:30 - 8:00 pm
Venue: Miller Theater, Asia Society Hong Kong Center
This event is free-of-charge, registration is required. The event will be conducted in English.
Yi Yi Mon (Rosaline) Kyo’s research focuses on modern and contemporary Chinese and Tibetan art and visual cultures. As a Mellon Postdoctoral Fellow at the University of California, Berkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive (BAMPFA), she curated the first major exhibition of contemporary Tibetan art on the West Coast. Kyo has published articles in the Archives of Asian Art, Orientations, and the Journal of Contemporary Chinese Art. Currently, she is preparing her book manuscript on Tibetan art from Lhasa and the diaspora community from 1960 to 2025.
Julia M. White’s expertise in organizing exhibitions, conducting research and publication, and managing all aspects of collections has been recognized through her work on the redesign and reinstallation of the Honolulu Academy of Arts and the Denver Art Museum’s major collections of Asian art. White recently retired from the University of California, Berkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive after 15 years as Senior Curator for Asian Art. Her final exhibition there was Spiritual Mountains: The Art of Wesley Tongson. She has been the recipient of fellowships from the National Endowment for the Arts, the Tokyo National Research Institute, and the Asian Cultural Council.
Cynthia Tongson is the guardian of and advocate for the legacy of her late brother, Hong Kong ink artist Wesley Tongson. Recent major projects included Spiritual Mountains: The Art of Wesley Tongson at the Berkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive (2022), and Wesley Tongson: The Journey at the Chinese Culture Center in San Francisco (2018). She has placed Tongson’s works in museum collections in Hong Kong and the United States. Cynthia Tongson currently serves on the boards of the Chinese Culture Foundation of San Francisco as well as the Berkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive. She is a supporter of Asia Art Archive (Hong Kong and New York) and the Asian Cultural Council (Hong Kong).
Text and image courtesy of the Asia Society.
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