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The new head of Hong Kong’s M+ museum has pledged to strengthen cultural exchanges between China and the world while enhancing the city’s global appeal. The remarks that Paulo Pong Kin-yee, also board chairman of the city’s Ocean Park, made on Wednesday aligned with the central government’s 14th five-year plan, which states that Hong Kong should become an East-meets-West centre for international cultural exchange. His appointment as the museum’s board chairman, which took effect on October 9, was announced by the West Kowloon Cultural District Authority on Monday. His term will last about 2½ years until March 31, 2028, or until he is no longer a board member of the district. “One of the important missions of M+ is to promote cultural exchanges between China and the rest of the world, and it has been very successful in doing so,” Pong told the Post. “In the future, we will work even harder to make M+ and Hong Kong an international hub of arts and culture.” He added that the institution was a major attraction for visitors and important for arts and cultural tourism, having welcomed more than 9.7 million visitors since its opening in November 2021. It ranked among the most popular art museums worldwide in 2023 and 2024 and was recognised as one of the top three art museums in Asia for two consecutive years. The appointment was announced after the former museum chairman, Bernard Chan, was named the authority’s chairman on October 1. Peggy Yeoh Lee was also appointed as a board member of M+ from July 28 to March 31, 2027. She is a trustee of the Art Gallery of New South Wales Foundation and a member of its Major Patrons Committee. She also serves on the boards of the Swiss Institute and the Peggy Guggenheim Collection. The West Kowloon Cultural District comprises M+, which focuses on contemporary art; the Hong Kong Palace Museum, which spotlights historical Chinese artefacts; the Xiqu Centre for Chinese opera; and other facilities and properties. M+ hosted exhibitions that fostered international exchange, such as one last year showcasing the collections of the Bibliotheque Nationale de France, which coincided with the 60th anniversary of Sino-French diplomatic relations. The Hong Kong museum also organised exhibitions displayed abroad, such as the largest retrospective of contemporary artist Yayoi Kusama outside Japan, which was shown in Spain and Portugal. Another example is the first full-scale retrospective of Chinese-American architect Ieoh Ming Pei, renowned for landmarks like the Bank of China headquarters, which was exhibited in Qatar after being shown in Hong Kong.
