WHERE DOES THE CONTEMPORARY MUSEUM GO FROM HERE?: M+
On the 11th of November, 2021, the international contemporary visual art museum M+ opened in Hong Kong. It took fifteen years for this project to be realised since the establishment of museum was confirmed in 2006. What does this contemporary museum look like, a project in which numerous parties have engaged over many years? And what topography of display will be drawn in the future? Let’s consider the processes behind establishing an art museum as an institution and building a distinctive physical space through two interviews with Doryun Chong (deputy director, M+) and Wim Walschap (partner, Herzog & de Meuron).
The Operation and Direction of M+: More than Museum
Choi Eunwha (Choi): M+ is the first global museum in Asia to address ‘contemporary visual culture’. What is the role and identity of M+ as a museum?
Doryun Chong (Chong): Contemporary visual culture can be understood simply by dividing it into two eras: the ‘contemporary’ period usually refers to a span of time of about 70 years, which ranges from the postwar period to the present. On many occasions, the year 1945, when the war ended, is treated as the starting point. But M+ pays special attention to the year 1949, as it is the year the People’s Republic of China was established. Comprehensively speaking, ‘visual culture’ is all that is visual around us. We wanted the museum to embrace everything from fine art, such as painting and sculpture, to popular culture, such as architecture, design, and film. In 2006, when the museum was confirmed, various experts gathered to hold an advisory meeting to consider the identity of the museum. Different proposals were discussed, such as the Design Museum, the Popular Culture Museum, the Fine Arts Museum, and the Hong Kong Ink Wash Painting Museum. However, the decision was made to create a model that could encompass all practice the whole, rather than dealing with cultural effects individually. The tentative name ‘M+’ was given to indicate it is more than museum of the 20th century, but the tentative name became a branding schema and it was therefore christened with this as the official name.
Choi: Today, a museum that encompasses various arts is commonly referred to as a ‘contemporary museum’. How is M+ different from it?
Chong: In terms of the history of museums and curatorial history, M+ is not a brand new attempt at something that has never
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