The Emperor’s Secret Garden

Dir. Mandy Chang and Zhou Bing. USA/China. 56 min.

In 2001, the Palace Museum and the World Monuments Fund partnered to conserve the magnificent 18th-century Qianlong Garden in the Forbidden City, choosing first to restore Juanqinzhai (the Studio of Exhaustion from Diligent Service), a unique building with some of the palace's finest surviving architectural interiors and décor. This film highlights the search for and use of disappearing traditional craftsmanship during the conservation. Screening introduced by Henry Tzu Ng, WMF's Executive Vice President, who has overseen the WMF side of the collaboration. Screening followed by Q&A moderated by Adriana Proser, John H. Foster Curator for Traditional Asian Art of Asia Society. Co-presented with World Monuments Fund.

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Henry Tzu Ng has spent over twenty-five years with cultural and philanthropic organizations devoted to improving the quality of urban life, architecture, cities, and the protection of our built world. He currently serves as Executive Vice President of World Monuments Fund (WMF), the world’s leading private, international historic preservation organization. Founded in 1965, WMF works to safeguard the built heritage of mankind through the conservation and preservation of culturally and historically significant works of art and architecture. Mr. Ng is responsible for developing and implementing institutional initiatives that respond to the threats and challenges that endanger cultural heritage; encourage public–private sector conservation partnerships; and advance new issues in the field of international preservation.

Current initiatives include addressing the increasing threats to modern architecture, and expanding the role of WMF in new regional areas of interest such as China, Tibet, and Japan. Previous initiatives developed responses to cultural heritage crises, including Lower Manhattan after 9/11, Iraq, and other sites in conflict.

Prior to joining WMF, Mr. Ng was the Director of the J.M. Kaplan Fund, and then Vice President of the Nathan Cummings Foundation, two private family foundations focused on the quality of urban life. He holds a B.S. from New York University and an M.B.A. from the University of Chicago.