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Heavenly Horse, Museum of History
Story of the Horse, Museum of Art

Equestrian events may have the Olympic prestige, but when it comes to horsing around in Hong Kong, you can’t beat a bit of racing. And so, with two exhibitions based around mane attractions currently on show, we bring you the Time Out Classic, live and direct from Tsim Sha Tsui.

The Museum of History’s Heavenly Horse is the favourite heading into the race, borrowing some of the best horsey pieces from museums across the mainland to show how the animal has been used throughout Chinese civilisation, from warhorses to polo games in the Tang dynasty. The Museum of Art’s Story of the Horse, meanwhile, looks to establish itself as a contender by focusing on artistic attempts to capture the animal’s image. The odds are 6-5 for Heavenly Horse and 4-3 for Story of the Horse; this is going to be a close one folks, so place your bets.

Straight out of the gates, Heavenly Horse is looking strong with the earliest horse-shaped bronze sculpture ever found, Li Ju Zun from Shaanxi Province, a terracotta horse from Qin Shi Huang, and the bronze horse head from the Yuan Ming Yuan Summer Palace. Story of the Horse has some catching up to do.

As we round the first bend, Story of the Horse narrows the gap thanks to wall panels adorned with enlarged images of richly detailed engravings of Chinese battle scenes, with the actual engravings by Castiglione and Le Bas following on. This impressive curation draws cheers from the bleachers. Story of the Horse may have fewer items, but the presentation propels it forward to run neck-and-neck with its better-endowed rival.

Heavenly Horse isn’t going to give up easily, though, and an ornate gold chariot ornament decorated with evidence of Confucian and Taoist beliefs from the Western Han dynasty puts this thoroughbred in front by a nose as we reach the final bend.

But here comes Story of the Horse, giving it everything as the finish line approaches. The beautiful ink works on show were clearly selected with the utmost care to capture the nature of the horse as a motif with significant symbolic meaning in Chinese art through the ages. Contemporary ink works and paintings of horses by Hong Kong artists also add weight to the final push. Heavenly Horse loses ground as the line approaches; the audio tour is a dry history lesson that’s informative but just no fun.

The finish line is metres away and we’re nose to nose; we might need a playback to confirm this one but it looks as if Story of the Horse has done it. Its fluid narration, which poetically informs while invoking the vivacity and tender nature of the horse, gives it the edge in the final reckoning. But Heavenly Horse put up a good fight, and the diversity of its collection and sheer number of items on show ensure it will escape the glue factory and live to run another day. Bourree Lam