M+ Museum's Artistic Leadership in Asia Pacific

M+ Museum's Artistic Leadership in Asia Pacific
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About M+ Museum
M+ Museum opened on 12th November 2021. In Hong Kong West Kowloon Cultural District, M+ Museum occupies one of the main buildings. It is located on the waterfront of Harbour and the southern end of West Kowloon. The name M+ is a concept that denotes a “museum and more” where the museum endeavors to move beyond the typical model of exhibiting art. M+ is a museum of visual culture. It displays 10th and 21st-century visual culture like visual art, design, architecture, and moving images. The museum rivals other museums like Tate Modern and New York’s MoMA regarding its breadth and the importance of its collections. Currently, Suhanya Raffel is the executive director of the M+ Museum.[Giles, Oliver. 2021. Exclusive: Inside Hong Kong's New M+ Museum—Asia's Answer To Tate Modern And MoMA.]
The inclusion of more subjects serves to ensure that M+ is a more inclusive museum. With more than 700,000 square feet of space, M+ entry into the art scene of Asia. As a future-oriented global museum, M+ has a significant role in providing leadership in many aspects. As a contemporary museum, M+ can be at the forefront of providing leadership in the Asia Pacific. This paper will discuss the formation and start of the M+ Museum, originally designed to be a place for visual culture, and what led to the need for such a museum. The paper will outline the activities M+ Museum carries out and how it supports the relevant stakeholders. Lastly, the paper explores the programs and activities of M+ through the themes of how the leadership works to develop a new sustainable development model and the focus on climate change to come up with practical ways to address it.[Taylor, Hannah. 2021. Asia’s First Global Museum of Contemporary Culture M+ to Open in Hong Kong in November]
The Formation of M+
Over the years, Hong Kong has become a hub for business and finance. Hong Kong has positioned itself on the global front to take advantage of the business opportunities around the Asia Pacific. Despite the reputation of Hong Kong as a business hub, there is a vibrant arts scene and a rich cultural heritage. The museums around town capture most of the aspects of the people, mainly how they lived in the past. For instance, art from the Chinese dynasties is typical in Hong Kong’s museums. Here, people can familiarize themselves with ancient culture and interact with the works of rising local artists. Various museums have been instrumental in promoting Hong Kong as a place for artistic expression. For instance, the Hong Kong Museum of Art seeks to promote local art while at the same time shedding light on China’s long cultural legacy. The museum has a vast collection of more than 17,000 artifacts. Similarly, the Hong Kong Heritage Museum is located in Sha Tin, and it’s dedicated to history, art, and culture.[Pak, Jennifer. 2022. A quarter-century after the handover, is Hong Kong still attractive as a business hub?] [Kang-chung, Ng. 2022. Over 900 Chinese antiques, art pieces to be displayed in Hong Kong Palace Museum, including national treasures spanning 5,000 years] [Hong Kong Tourusm Board. 2022. Hong Kong Museum of Art.]
Despite the existence of the other museums, there was a need to have yet another museum. The construction of M+ encountered a series of challenges, numerous postponements, pauses in building, cost overruns, and high-profile resignations. In 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic slowed the construction process and made it possible to proceed as planned. Because of the numerous challenges, the realization of M+ was challenging. Controversy soon emerged from some artists complaining that the museum censored some works. Just days before opening, Chinese artist Ai Weiwei accused the museum of failing to exhibit his work because of implementing censorship. Weiwei’s series of photographs demonstrates the artist giving the middle finger to the various seats of power. Similarly, Kacey Wong, a participant in the 2019 pro-democracy protests, shared the same sentiments with Weiwei. Wong expressed concerns that the law was curtaining artistic expression. Artists feared arrests, hence limiting their creativity. Wong accused M+ of censorship, something the leadership did not address effectively. Instead, the authorities overseeing M+ indicated that the curatorial team would comply with all laws. The authorities were clear that the opening of M+ does not imply that artistic expression is not above the law. Nonetheless, the opening of M+ took place on 12th November 2021.[Zeiger, Mimi. 2021. Hong Kong’s New M+ Museum Is a Beautiful Study in Contradiction.] [Ibid]
M+ activities and relationships
The primary purpose of M+ is to provide a multidisciplinary cultural institution that focuses on visual culture. It is a transnational compendium of 20th and 21st-century visual culture, with various disciplines like design and architecture, visual art, moving images, and other thematic areas touching on Hong Kong visual culture. The curators appreciate that a collection is not just a gathering of objects; it also projects possible knowledge structures and ways of looking at issues. M+ has been working towards establishing an unparalleled collection of works from different artists, designers, and artists. The multidisciplinary approach seeks to serve the needs of various people who visit the museum. M+ endeavors to ensure that its collections mirror reality and give shape to a wide range of networks of objects. It demonstrates that museums can be up to date with the 21st reality and exhibit contemporary objects.[MPlus. 2022. Overview.]
M+ works closely with the relevant stakeholders. Firstly, West Kowloon Cultural District Authority (WKCDA) owns the museum. WKCDA is the statutory body established by the WKCDA Ordinance. M+ observes the various policies and practices WKCDA has laid down. M+ undertakes its activities like governance, planning, recruitment, and other business activity according to the requirements WKCDA has laid down. Different committees have been established under the M+ board to offer expert knowledge and recommendations to the museum. The committees work closely with the board and the staff to outline the institutional strategies that move the museum towards its long-term goals. The M+ works closely with WKCDA, the board, committees, and the team to realize the outlined goals and objectives. It values the contribution of the experts because they are responsible for ensuring that the outlined goals are attained.[Mplus. Corporate Governance]
Suhanya Raffel is the M+ director. She works closely with the other three deputy directors, Doryun Chong, Veronica Castillo, and John Wicks. Doryun Chong heads the curatorial team. M+ has a strong curatorial team consisting of individuals with different skills. The group consists of curators, digital specialists, educators, and researchers. Veronica Castillo is in charge of collecting and exhibition. The team schedules and delivers all the exhibits. They are responsible for the collections' display, management, and care. The team has diverse specialists like photographers, librarians, technicians, and designers. John Wicks heads the museum operations. The team plans and develops an onsite visitor experience. It is also responsible for the museum’s commercial and business strategies. The team comprises accountants, project managers, procurement specialists, and engineers. The director has maintained good relations with the assistant directors. She often consults them on important issues concerning their teams. Because of teamwork, M+ is on the right track toward achieving the set goals and objectives.[Mplus. People] [ibid] [ibid]
M+ remains open to receiving donations from individuals and organizations. The museum remains grateful to the donors and recognizes the contribution of all the community members who have assisted build M+ from the ground up. The M+ major donors consist of dedicated people who have contributed to the museum. To date, M+ has received more than 2.600 objects from donors. Further, through the acquisitions councils, M+ raises funds for the research and acquisition of objects that accelerate the collection's growth across disciplines. Through the M+ acquisitions councils, the museum has added more than 50 objects. The donation of objects to M+ started long before the museum's opening. For instance, in 2012, Uli Sigg, an art collector, donated 1,463 artworks to the museum, which laid the foundation for the museum’s development. In 2020, M+ received a major donation from the Living Collection from William and Lavina Lim. William Lim is a renowned architect in Hong and a collector with his wife, Lavina. The donation included 90 works from 53 artists from Hong Kong and other countries. The collection includes objects collected systematically since the 2000s. M+ seeks to attract more donors t...