M+, located in Hong Kong’s West Kowloon Cultural District, will open on November 12. It is Asia’s first global museum of contemporary visual culture, displaying visual art, design, architecture and moving image.
The M+ museum will showcase around 1,500 works in 17,000 square metres of exhibition space across 33 galleries. The museum’s opening displays will include six thematic exhibitions.
“I firmly believe that the future history of the art museum will be written to a significant degree in Asia,” said Suhanya Raffel, M+ director.
“Few institutions will be more pivotal to that story than M+, a brand new centre for visual culture and a world-class landmark for a great international city.”
“M+ delivers the stories from our part of the world, told by voices participating in and influencing the global conversation,” Raffel added.
M+ museum’s opening exhibitions
Hong Kong: Here and Beyond explores Hong Kong’s transformation and visual culture from the 1960s to the present day.
M+ Sigg Collection: From Revolution to Globalisation offers a chronological look at the evolution of contemporary Chinese art from the 1970s through the 2000s.
Things, Spaces, Interactions is a thematic and chronological exploration of international design and architecture over the past 70 years.
Individuals, Networks, Expressions is a narrative of post-war international visual art told from the perspective of Asia.
Anthony Gormley: Asian Field is an expansive installation of clay figurines created by the British sculptor alongside residents of a Guangdong village.
The Dream of the Museum is a global collection of conceptual art practices at the heart of the M+ museum’s Asian context.
M+ debuts on November 12, 2021
M+ was designed by Herzog & de Meuron in partnership with TFP Farrells and Arup. The building covers 65,000 square metres and joins Hong Kong’s most iconic landmarks.
The institution’s amenities include two shops, restaurants, and the Roof Garden, offering incredible views of Hong Kong‘s skyline. The Other Shop and CURATOR Creative Café at M+ are already open to the public.
Doryun Chong, chief curator at M+, said: “M+ was founded in Hong Kong with an ambitious mission to create a new kind of multidisciplinary cultural institution dedicated to visual culture.
“No other museum has created a team, cultivated expertise, and invested resources and infrastructure to realise such a transformative vision on this scale.
“Compared to leading modern art museums in the West, M+ will look very different, because our vantage point on this side of the world is distinct.”
“This is a multidisciplinary contemporary collection, grounded in Asia and like no other in the world,” Chong added.
The West Kowloon Cultural District includes the M+ Pavilion, Art Park and Xiqu Centre. The Hong Kong version of the Palace Museum is due to open in 2022, and the Lyric Theatre in 2024.
Images: Herzog & de Meuron
