Over 10,000 Visitors Have Seen "Transforming Minds: Buddhism in Art"

Exhibition Extended until July 22, 2012 Due to Popular Demand

Asia Society Hong Kong Center Goes Mobile - launching of an informative app that also acts as your personal tour guide.

HONG KONG, May 14, 2012 /PRNewswire-Asia/ -- The Asia Society Hong Kong Center is pleased to announce the extension of its inaugural exhibition "Transforming Minds: Buddhism in Art" until July 22, 2012. The exhibition showcases the world-renowned Mr. and Mrs. John D. Rockefeller 3rd Collection of Asian Art and contemporary works by leading Asian and Asian American artists. The Robert H. N. Ho Family Foundation is the Presenting Sponsor of the exhibition and its related education programs, lecture series and film series. Bank of America Merrill Lynch is the Corporate Sponsor of the exhibition.

Since the exhibition opened in February this year, over 10,000 visitors have visited the show including more than 1,000 local school students. With strong demand and registrations for gallery tours and school visits in the coming weeks, the Asia Society Hong Kong Center has decided to extend the inaugural exhibition until July 22, 2012.

Given the favorable public response to the exhibition and the interest in docent tours for the show, the Asia Society Hong Kong Center will also be launching an app for Transforming Minds: Buddhism in Art that will be available to iPhone and Android device users. The app can currently be accessed through the weblink - http://guide.asiasociety.org.hk and will be available in numerous app stores shortly. This tailor-made trilingual (English, Cantonese, and Putonghua) app for 3G smart phones will not only guide visitors through the exhibition but also provide information on other Asia Society Hong Kong Center programs as well as explain the architectural and historical significance of the Asia Society Hong Kong Center site.

The "Late Night Thursday" promotion will continue where every last Thursday of the month, the Asia Society Gallery (Former Magazine A) has extended opening hours until 8pm with an English docent tour scheduled at 7pm. Visitors will now also have the opportunity to visit the Center's newly opened AMMO cafe for drinks and/or dinner. And those joining as Asia Society members during "Late Night Thursday" will receive a HK$100 AMMO Cafe voucher as an extra bonus. Mark it on your calendars, and make it the perfect social event after work for your friends and families.

For more information and a schedule of exhibition-related events, please visit www.asiasociety.org.hk.

Details of "Transforming Minds: Buddhism in Art" Exhibition:

About Asia Society Hong Kong Center

The Asia Society Hong Kong Center (ASHK Center) was established in 1990 by a group of Hong Kong community leaders, led by Sir Q.W. Lee, the chairman of Hang Seng Bank. It was the first overseas center of the Asia Society, which was founded in 1956 by John D. Rockefeller 3rd in New York as a not-for-profit, non-government educational organization to promote understanding of Asian culture and countries. With offices in 11 cities in the U.S. and Asia, the Society organizes programs across the fields of arts and culture, business and policy, and education. The ASHK Center will host important traveling exhibitions of traditional and contemporary Asian art.

Located at 9 Justice Drive, the Asia Society Hong Kong Center at the Hong Kong Jockey Club Former Explosives Magazine carries historical, architectural and cultural significance to the city. Revitalized with funds generously donated by The Hong Kong Jockey Club Charities Trust and other local and international individuals and organizations, the ASHK Center combines heritage conservation with a distinctive modern aesthetic that has created a dynamic complex allowing the Center to extend our educational programs to the larger community. The transformed facilities will not only provide a unique venue for educational programs for students and the general public on heritage, arts, culture and contemporary affairs, but will also symbolize a partnership between the non-profit sector, local business and the Hong Kong government in heritage revitalization and cultural exchange.

About the presenting sponsor: The Robert H. N. Ho Family Foundation

Established in Hong Kong in 2005, The Robert H. N. Ho Family Foundation is a private philanthropic organization engaged in strategic, long-term projects in Hong Kong and around the world. Its mission is to foster and support Chinese arts and culture, as well as to promote deeper understanding of Buddhist philosophy and to apply it to everyday life.

Since 2001 the Ho family has been building a global network of Buddhist learning through the support of Buddhist studies at leading universities including Harvard University, Stanford University, the University of Hong Kong, the International Buddhist College in Thailand, the University of British Columbia and the University of Toronto. In 2010, the Foundation provided funding for The Buddha, a documentary film by David Grubin about the life and teachings of the Buddha which was broadcast on PBS in North America. Additionally, the Foundation has provided funding for The Robert H. N. Ho Family Foundation Gallery at the Victoria and Albert Museum in London, the first gallery for Buddhist sculpture in the United Kingdom. The Ho family has also initiated the establishment of www.buddhistdoor.com, one of the largest and most visited global websites on Buddhism.

In Hong Kong, the Foundation develops projects to engage young people in art, culture and creativity. Since 2005, the Foundation has reached nearly 40,000 young people through its three creative arts education programmes - Through Our Eyes, a photography programme; Get It Write!, a literary writing programme; and Leap!, a body education programme; all designed to nurture creative talent for the future of Hong Kong. Since 2008, the Foundation has partnered with the Design and Cultural Studies Workshop to produce the We All Live in the Forbidden City project, which includes an award-winning publication series, a public exhibition and an educational outreach programme in which Beijing's iconic Forbidden City serves as a platform for cultural education and understanding. In 2012, the Foundation's partnership with the Workshop brings the launch of the Forbidden City 100 documentary series on CCTV9, reaching millions of television and online viewers worldwide.

About the corporate sponsor: Bank of America Merrill Lynch

Bank of America is one of the world's largest financial institutions, serving individual consumers, small- and middle-market businesses and large corporations with a full range of banking, investing, asset management and other financial and risk management products and services. Bank of America is among the world's leading wealth management companies and is a global leader in corporate and investment banking and trading across a broad range of asset classes, serving corporations, governments, institutions and individuals around the world. The company serves clients through operations in more than 40 countries. Bank of America Merrill Lynch is the marketing name for the global banking and global markets businesses of Bank of America Corporation.