Hong Kong’s M+ Museum, which claims to be an institution that connects Asia and the rest of the world with the concept of being “a museum and more,” will finally open its doors to the public on November 12.


M+ Facade ⒸM+

Due to various difficulties, the museum’s opening has been postponed several times since 2017. But the museum has been carrying out numerous activities, opening its extensive collection of roughly 8,000 contemporary artworks through its website and running various programs, such as educational programs.

The long-awaited M+ will open with six thematic shows exhibiting 1,500 collections across 33 galleries, including visual artworks, moving images, design objects, and architectural projects.


M+ Ⓒ Virgile Simon Bertrand of Herzog & de Meuron

Hong Kong: Here and Beyond will show the visual culture of Hong Kong from the 1960s to the present in the Main Hall Gallery, while the M+ Sigg Collection: From Revolution to Globalization will occupy the Sigg Galleries and survey the development of contemporary Chinese art from the 1970s to the 2000s. 

In the East Galleries, Things, Spaces, Interactions will explore international design and architecture over the past 70 years, and Individuals, Networks, Expressions, in the South Galleries, will discuss post-war international visual art from an Asian perspective.

Antony Gormley: Asian Field, an installation of tens of thousands of clay figurines, will be presented in the West Gallery. And lastly, in the Courtyard Galleries, The Dream of the Museum will reflect M+’s vision for global conceptual art.


Doryun Chong. Ⓒ M+ Hong Kong

Doryun Chong, deputy director and senior curator of M+, said that “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.”

Doryun Chong was the first Korean curator to work at MoMA as an associate curator of painting and sculpture and was selected as one of the 20 “Most Influential Curators of 2016” by Artsy.


Hong Kong Ⓒ 415 M+, Herzog & de Meuron

Meanwhile, due to the enforcement of China’s Hong Kong National Security Act in 2020, several works have been deleted from the website or will be excluded from the opening exhibition, as they have been judged to be contrary to China’s security.

Some of the works that have been removed include Ai Weiwei’s photograph of Tiananmen Square and a 3D map made of wood from demolished temples in China, which are both in M+’s Sigg Collection.


Uli Sigg, Courtesy of Chinatown London. Ⓒ 2021 Shaftesbury PLC.

In 2012, M+ received significant attention when Uli Sigg, known for owning the world’s most extensive Chinese contemporary art collection, donated 1,510 artworks to the museum.

Uli Sigg is a Swiss entrepreneur who, from 1972 to 2012, collected about 2,300 works by more than 350 Chinese contemporary artists. M+’s Sigg Collection includes 1,463 pieces worth about $167 million and an additional 47 works purchased for $22.78 million.

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