M+, Asia’s first global museum of contemporary visual culture in the West Kowloon Cultural District of Hong Kong, is set to open to the public on November 12th. The museum will host an official opening ceremony and a media tour on Thursday, 11 November 2021, to unveil the opening displays of its pre-eminent collections of visual art, design and architecture, and moving image from Hong Kong, Greater China, Asia, and beyond.
Around 1,500 works drawn from the M+ Collections will be presented in the 17,000 square-metre exhibition space that spans across thirty-three galleries and other display spaces in the museum.
Located on the Victoria Harbour waterfront, the monumental architecture consists of a striking terracotta tile-clad tower, featuring a dynamic LED system on the south facade for the display of M+ content, defining the museum’s place within the urban landscape and contributing to the city’s vibrant night-time environment. The Found Space, M+’s signature display space for major installations, is a striking setting at the B2 level defined by the alignment of the underground rail tunnels above which the M+ building sits.
The museum’s opening displays will include six thematic exhibitions drawn from different areas of strength in the M+ Collections, featuring visual artworks, moving image works, design objects, architectural projects, and archival items from M+ Collections, including ‘Hong Kong: Here and Beyond’, four chapters each encapsulating the city’s transformation and unique visual culture from the 1960s to the present, and ‘Antony Gormley: Asian Field’, an expansive installation of tens of thousands of clay figurines created by the world-renowned British sculptor together with around 300 villagers from a Guangdong village in five days in 2003, reflecting the country’s vast territory and population.
In addition to the main exhibition galleries, M+ will present a series of commissions and displays throughout its public spaces, including the M+ Facade, the Grand Stair, the Studio, the Roof Garden, and the Found Space.
“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,” said Doryun Chong, Deputy Director, Curatorial and Chief Curator, M+.
“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.”
To launch the museum, a special celebratory programme of live performances, talks, tours, workshops, screenings, and online events will run across three weekends following the museum opening. For more information about the museum and membership prices, visit their website here.
Source: M+ Museum