M+, described as Asia’s first global museum of contemporary visual culture, has opened in Hong Kong. Located in the city state’s West Kowloon Cultural District, the museum features six thematic exhibitions housing more than 1,000 works. Designed by architects Herzog & de Meuron, M+ acts as a cultural centre for 20th and 21st-century art, design, architecture, and the moving image. As well as the 33 exhibition galleries, the complex houses retail areas, restaurants, cafés, a research centre and multi-purpose halls. M+ is set to become a centrepiece of The West Kowloon Cultural District. Director Suhanya Raffel spoke to Attractions Management about M+’s aims.
How would you sum up M+ offers? M+ is special because it is Asia’s first global museum of contemporary visual culture and it is located here, in the global city of Hong Kong.
Over the past few years, the art market has exponentially grown in Hong Kong, however to transform the city into an international cultural hub, it required a leading institution for visual culture.
M+ offers a brand-new centre for visual culture and a world-class landmark for a great international city. Dedicated to collecting, exhibiting, and interpreting visual culture of the 20th and 21st centuries, the collections span visual art, design and architecture, and moving image. I want M+ to be a major platform for fostering cultural exchange between Hong Kong and the rest of the world.
M+ aims to offer an Asian perspective on contemporary visual culture. Why is this important? Great museums change global perceptions of cities and nations. A museum such as M+ can have a transformative effect by expressing the identity, creativity, and energy of the city.
At M+, we represent the histories that emanate from this part of the world, so we can take purchase of these important discussions. We want to tell our stories through multidisciplinary, interdisciplinary and interregional narratives. When we look at Hong Kong – the skyline, the art and design, the architectural histories of this city, its regional authenticity and international influences reflect a rich and entirely unique history.
How is the museum and its content rooted in its place? For us, Hong Kong, its history, position and place in the world, is an integral part of many stories that are configured across various disciplines within the exhibitions in M+. One of the opening exhibitions is dedicated to Hong Kong and Beyond, which considers the transformation and unique visual culture of Hong Kong from the 1960s to the present.
Through our programming, we want to ensure that Hong Kong artists and designers are shown as equal to their international colleagues. We also take Hong Kong to the world, for example, we’ve worked with the Hong Kong Arts Development Council to present local artists in the Venice Biennale, while simultaneously bringing the international to Hong Kong. This two-way street lies at the very heart of M+.
How would you sum up the architecture? How does it support the content of the museum? Herzog & de Meuron have created a superb and extraordinary museum building that extends that public space into and on top of the museum through a design that’s porous and inviting.
It is truly a gift to Hong Kong that will become one of its most recognised architectural icons. Indeed, we regard the building itself as part of the M+ Collections.
Can you tell us about the opening exhibitions and what you have planned for the longer term? Our six inaugural exhibitions will provide different avenues through which its possible to enter our collections. By offering various approaches, we want to educate our visitors on the many paths that they can take to perceive the variety of histories on display. Some visitors will prefer observing clear chronologies, such as the M+ Sigg Collection: From Revolution to Globalisation, which explores the development of contemporary Chinese art from the 1970s through the 2000s. Others may find a much richer experience when looking from a thematic approach, as seen in Individuals, Networks, Expressions – a narrative of post-war international visual art told from the perspective of Asia.
Moving forwards, our plans for collaborations are well underway. We’ve already loaned our collections to institutions, such as MOMA, Tate and the Mori Art Museum; sharing our artwork is a way of sharing our stories. And, exhibitions are always being discussed with many institutions internationally. So watch this space!
Read more from this issue of Attractions Management magazine
View contents of Attractions Management 2021 issue 4
Editor's letter: Eco drivers
Therme Group and The Eden Project are going global, on an environmental mission says Magali Robathan
AM People: Julia Baird
On why her brother John Lennon would have loved the Strawberry Field attraction and the work it’s doing for the local community
AM People: Åsa Caap
The thrill of opening the Space Stockholm digital culture centre
Interview: David Harland & Sir Tim Smit
With projects underway around the world, the Eden Project is going global with its call to arms for the future of the planet
Museums: Getting creative
How the Young V&A will aim to provide children with the creative tools stripped out by the pandemic
Interview: Richard Land
Mixing waterslides with wellbeing, the Therme Group is creating a category all of its own while taking on the world, says the group’s chief development officer
Museums: Kunsthaus Zurich completes
A David Chipperfield extension has more than doubled the museum’s exhibition space, making Zurich a major destination for the arts
Interview: Julien Kauffmann
As Farah Experiences prepares to open SeaWorld Abu Dubai, its CEO talks COVID-19, branding and branching with David Camp
Research: Making pre-booking work
Attractions are benefiting from the switch to pre-booking, but must cater for spontaneous, disorganised visitors too, says Jon Young
Research: All creatures great and small
Zoo enrichment and research can’t just be focused on the large animals most popular with visitors, argues Dr Paul Rose. All must be represented
Research: Popularity game
Research on zoo animals focuses more on ‘familiar’ species such as gorillas and chimpanzees, rather than less well known ones such as the waxy monkey frog, scientists say
Analysis: Light in the dark
A successful winter light show can see margins upwards of 30 per cent. Kathleen LaClair and
Yael Coifman look at some of the operators getting it right
Museums: Munch Museum opens in Norway
The iconic new attraction has opened on Oslo’s waterfront with the world’s largest collection of works by Edvard Munch
Mystery Shopper: Galleries & Gourds
It has transformed the sleepy town of Bruton, UK, but does Hauser & Wirth Somerset live up to the hype? Magali Robathan mystery shops to find out
An opportunity to reimagine one of the UK’s most recognisable towers has been formally
opened by Rivington Hark, as St Johns Beacon invites operators and partners to shape its
next phase. [more...]
M+, described as Asia’s first global museum of contemporary visual culture, has opened in Hong Kong. Located in the city state’s West Kowloon Cultural District, the museum features six thematic exhibitions housing more than 1,000 works. Designed by architects Herzog & de Meuron, M+ acts as a cultural centre for 20th and 21st-century art, design, architecture, and the moving image. As well as the 33 exhibition galleries, the complex houses retail areas, restaurants, cafés, a research centre and multi-purpose halls. M+ is set to become a centrepiece of The West Kowloon Cultural District. Director Suhanya Raffel spoke to Attractions Management about M+’s aims.
How would you sum up M+ offers? M+ is special because it is Asia’s first global museum of contemporary visual culture and it is located here, in the global city of Hong Kong.
Over the past few years, the art market has exponentially grown in Hong Kong, however to transform the city into an international cultural hub, it required a leading institution for visual culture.
M+ offers a brand-new centre for visual culture and a world-class landmark for a great international city. Dedicated to collecting, exhibiting, and interpreting visual culture of the 20th and 21st centuries, the collections span visual art, design and architecture, and moving image. I want M+ to be a major platform for fostering cultural exchange between Hong Kong and the rest of the world.
M+ aims to offer an Asian perspective on contemporary visual culture. Why is this important? Great museums change global perceptions of cities and nations. A museum such as M+ can have a transformative effect by expressing the identity, creativity, and energy of the city.
At M+, we represent the histories that emanate from this part of the world, so we can take purchase of these important discussions. We want to tell our stories through multidisciplinary, interdisciplinary and interregional narratives. When we look at Hong Kong – the skyline, the art and design, the architectural histories of this city, its regional authenticity and international influences reflect a rich and entirely unique history.
How is the museum and its content rooted in its place? For us, Hong Kong, its history, position and place in the world, is an integral part of many stories that are configured across various disciplines within the exhibitions in M+. One of the opening exhibitions is dedicated to Hong Kong and Beyond, which considers the transformation and unique visual culture of Hong Kong from the 1960s to the present.
Through our programming, we want to ensure that Hong Kong artists and designers are shown as equal to their international colleagues. We also take Hong Kong to the world, for example, we’ve worked with the Hong Kong Arts Development Council to present local artists in the Venice Biennale, while simultaneously bringing the international to Hong Kong. This two-way street lies at the very heart of M+.
How would you sum up the architecture? How does it support the content of the museum? Herzog & de Meuron have created a superb and extraordinary museum building that extends that public space into and on top of the museum through a design that’s porous and inviting.
It is truly a gift to Hong Kong that will become one of its most recognised architectural icons. Indeed, we regard the building itself as part of the M+ Collections.
Can you tell us about the opening exhibitions and what you have planned for the longer term? Our six inaugural exhibitions will provide different avenues through which its possible to enter our collections. By offering various approaches, we want to educate our visitors on the many paths that they can take to perceive the variety of histories on display. Some visitors will prefer observing clear chronologies, such as the M+ Sigg Collection: From Revolution to Globalisation, which explores the development of contemporary Chinese art from the 1970s through the 2000s. Others may find a much richer experience when looking from a thematic approach, as seen in Individuals, Networks, Expressions – a narrative of post-war international visual art told from the perspective of Asia.
Moving forwards, our plans for collaborations are well underway. We’ve already loaned our collections to institutions, such as MOMA, Tate and the Mori Art Museum; sharing our artwork is a way of sharing our stories. And, exhibitions are always being discussed with many institutions internationally. So watch this space!
Read more from this issue of Attractions Management magazine
View contents of Attractions Management 2021 issue 4
Editor's letter: Eco drivers
Therme Group and The Eden Project are going global, on an environmental mission says Magali Robathan
AM People: Julia Baird
On why her brother John Lennon would have loved the Strawberry Field attraction and the work it’s doing for the local community
AM People: Åsa Caap
The thrill of opening the Space Stockholm digital culture centre
Interview: David Harland & Sir Tim Smit
With projects underway around the world, the Eden Project is going global with its call to arms for the future of the planet
Museums: Getting creative
How the Young V&A will aim to provide children with the creative tools stripped out by the pandemic
Interview: Richard Land
Mixing waterslides with wellbeing, the Therme Group is creating a category all of its own while taking on the world, says the group’s chief development officer
Museums: Kunsthaus Zurich completes
A David Chipperfield extension has more than doubled the museum’s exhibition space, making Zurich a major destination for the arts
Interview: Julien Kauffmann
As Farah Experiences prepares to open SeaWorld Abu Dubai, its CEO talks COVID-19, branding and branching with David Camp
Research: Making pre-booking work
Attractions are benefiting from the switch to pre-booking, but must cater for spontaneous, disorganised visitors too, says Jon Young
Research: All creatures great and small
Zoo enrichment and research can’t just be focused on the large animals most popular with visitors, argues Dr Paul Rose. All must be represented
Research: Popularity game
Research on zoo animals focuses more on ‘familiar’ species such as gorillas and chimpanzees, rather than less well known ones such as the waxy monkey frog, scientists say
Analysis: Light in the dark
A successful winter light show can see margins upwards of 30 per cent. Kathleen LaClair and
Yael Coifman look at some of the operators getting it right
Museums: Munch Museum opens in Norway
The iconic new attraction has opened on Oslo’s waterfront with the world’s largest collection of works by Edvard Munch
Mystery Shopper: Galleries & Gourds
It has transformed the sleepy town of Bruton, UK, but does Hauser & Wirth Somerset live up to the hype? Magali Robathan mystery shops to find out
A new immersive attraction designed to transport visitors into the final hours of ancient Pompeii
is preparing to open near the world-famous archaeological site in southern Italy.
Experience design company, BRC Imagination Arts, has completed a transition that sees founder
Bob Rogers pass ownership of the business to four long-serving senior executives, while
remaining actively involved with the company.
Movie Park Germany has opened a new Paramount Pictures-themed attraction as part of its 30th
anniversary celebrations, using immersive storytelling and adaptive reuse to reinforce the park’s
longstanding “Hollywood in Germany” positioning.
Therme Manchester’s 28-acre development, which will include interconnected glass pavilions
that measure 65,000sq m, will be the largest bathing and wellbeing attraction in the world once
complete, according to prof David Russell, CEO of Therme UK.
Efteling has opened Hooghmoed, a new family drop tower designed to broaden the appeal of its
recently launched Sirene Island themed area and introduce younger visitors to thrill attractions.
A proposed Puy du Fou development near Bicester and Universal Destinations and Experiences’
planned resort in Bedford are emerging as part of a wider transformation of the Oxford–
Cambridge Growth Corridor into a major centre for UK leisure and tourism inv
Shedd Aquarium has opened the Immersion Theater developed in partnership with SimEx-
Iwerks, as part of a wider strategy to enhance the guest experience and create additional
revenue opportunities.
The UK government has announced a temporary reduction in VAT on visitor attractions and
children’s meals as part of a summer cost-of-living support package designed to stimulate the
visitor economy and encourage family days out.
As designer Yinka Ilori prepares for his first solo gallery show in London, he speaks exclusively
to CLADmag about his mission to spread joy, the power of play, and his bold approach to using
colour (including the colours you won’t see in his work).
The government of Thailand is exploring plans for a THB300bn (£6.3bn, US$8.3bn)
entertainment complex in the country’s Eastern Economic Corridor (EEC), with officials
proposing a large-scale theme park and sports destination as part of a broader tourism and
economic development strategy.
An opportunity to reimagine one of the UK’s most recognisable towers has been formally
opened by Rivington Hark, as St Johns Beacon invites operators and partners to shape its
next phase. [more...]
