Within the West Kowloon Cultural District of Hong Kong, Asia’s leading museum of contemporary visual culture M+ Museum offers a spellbinding parade of exhibitions on view during Hong Kong Art Week, from a sweeping tribute to luminary Madame Song to the screening of a cinematic masterpiece by Chinese artist and filmmaker Yang Fudong.
“Madame Song: Pioneering Art and Fashion in China”
July 29, 2023 – April 14, 2024
Installation view of “Madame Song: Pioneering Art and Fashion in China,” 2023, garments: Pierre Cardin Archives, photo by Dan Leung, courtesy of M+, Hong Kong.
M+ unveils a sweeping homage to the luminary Song Huai-kuei (1937–2006), known lovingly as Madame Song. The skilled artist, fashion icon, revered entrepreneur, and cultural ambassador shaped China’s luminous art, fashion, film, and music landscape beginning in the 1980s through to the early 2000s. Over 320 precious and awe-inspiring objects are on display, including artworks, designer garments, costumes, film footage, monumental tapestry installations, and archival treasures. Immersive public programs and vibrant special merchandise such as colorful fabric fans, chic lipsticks, and a scintillating biography offered by the museum with Thames & Hudson (brimming with 250 little seen images, and contributions from close family and distinguished friends) beguiles all ages.
“M+ Sigg Collection: Another Story”
September 22, 2023 – ongoing
Installation view of “M+ Sigg Collection: Another Story,” 2023, photo by Lok Cheng, courtesy of M+, Hong Kong.
The much-anticipated second presentation of the M+ Sigg Collection, following the compelling first show “M+ Sigg Collection: From Revolution to Globalisation,” collages past and new outlooks on the contemporary Chinese art scene. Ranging from the 1990s to the present, perceptive artists dive into the nuances of both the region’s ardent cultural traditions and swift consumerist evolutions. More than 120 works are presented throughout four distinct categories: Sensory Overload, Facing Uncertainty, Hidden Disruption, and Ambivalent States. Facing Uncertainty centers on vanishing aspects of history and heritage, while Ambivalent States spotlights the burgeoning creative freedom of the 1990s and 2000s, making way for whimsical and forward-thinking innovations.
“China’s rapid transformation into a more open and international society during the 1990s offered Chinese artists unprecedented opportunity to experiment with contemporary artistic ideas and trends while grappling with the challenges and uncertainties associated with the times they were living in,” stated Doryun Chong, Deputy Director, Curatorial and Chief Curator, M+. M+ Sigg Collection: Another Story offers a thoughtful reading of the wholesale social and cultural transformation reflected in contemporary Chinese art, highlighting the multifaceted and intertwined relationships between art, individuals, and history.”
“The Hong Kong Jockey Club Series: Noir & Blanc—A Story of Photography”
March 16 – July 1, 2024
Yau Leung, “Two Women (Gloucester Road),” 1961, © Photo Pictorial Publishers Ltd., courtesy of M+, Hong Kong.
Opening this year’s French May Arts Festival is the museum’s inaugural exhibition devoted to the art of photography. Co-presented by the Festival and M+ alongside Bibliothèque nationale de France (BnF), with sponsorship by The Hong Kong Jockey Club Charities Trust, the bountiful show unites over 250 singular works derived from BnF’s expansive collection, as well as more than 30 pieces from M+ Collections. The many shades of black and white photography spark riveting intriguing dialogue on reality, fantasy, and memory. Upwards of 170 esteemed photographers, from Man Ray, to Diane Arbus, to Henri Cartier-Bresson are honored beside cherished Asian artists including Ho Fan, Chang Chao-Tang, Yau Leung, and Ishimoto Yasuhiro.
‘The forms and tones of monochrome photography have the power to capture reality and unveil surreal abstractions,” said Chong. “In the face of the oversaturation of color and digital photography in the commercial sphere and social media spaces, black-and-white photography remains compelling with its powerful and evocative poetry of contrasts. Alternately nostalgic, intense, introspective, and avant-garde, the works displayed in The Hong Kong Jockey Club Series: Noir & Blanc—A Story of Photography capture beautiful interpretations of the world and highlight the thread of artistic experimentation running through the practices of masters from around the world.”
Movana Chen’s Knitting Conversations
February 17, 2024 – ongoing
Installation view of “Movana Chen: Knitting Conversations,” 2024, © Movana Chen, photo by Wilson Lam, courtesy of M+, Hong Kong.
Visionary artist Movana Chen debuted the captivating installation Knitting Conversations at M+ this winter, immersing visitors in a visceral and textural work of collective art. First exhibited in 2013, Chen invited the public to bring their favorite books to the show, which energized the artist to transform them into a kind of yarn which was then weaved into a spellbinding mutual work. Gaining over 300 international collaborators, the remarkable creative traveled from Amsterdam to London, to Seoul, to Toronto, and many cities in between, before the exhibition found the end of its pilgrimage in Los Angeles. The resulting transcendent 16-meter artwork was unveiled for the first time in Hong Kong, fusing the emotions, cultures, languages, and memories of a shimmering landscape of inspired individuals.
“Apichatpong Weerasethakul: Primitive”
March 8, 2024 – ongoing
Installation view of “Apichatpong Weerasethakul: Primitive,” 2024 photo by Dan Leung, courtesy of M+, Hong Kong.
Thai artist and filmmaker Apichatpong Weerasethakul debuts Primitive (2009) in Hong Kong, a vibrant multi-channel video installation along with two short films and a book. Filmed close to the artist’s birthplace of Khon Kaen in Thailand, the lively installation is an emotional journey with a crew of teenagers, placing their intimate talks, songs, and dreams front and center. Personal and collective histories of violence, ghostly encounters, and soulful explorations are framed in mystical and colorful portraits. Single-channel works A Letter to Uncle Boonmee (2009) and Phantoms of Nabua (2009) bookend the central piece, unraveling in hallucinatory stories, military reenactments, and fantastical hypotheticals.
Yang Fudong’s “Sparrow on the Sea”
March 22, 2024 – June 9, 2024
Yang Fudong, “Sparrow on the Sea,” 2024 Co-commissioned by M+ and Art Basel, presented by UBS, 2024, © Yang Fudong, courtesy of the artist.
Co-commissioned by Art Basel, illustrious Chinese artist and filmmaker Yang Fudong offers ravishing new artistry with the “architectural film” Sparrow on the Sea. In cinematic black and white, sculptural moving images of human figures, architecture, and landscapes are collaged with a dreamlike soundtrack, soaring through Hong Kong’s tranquil seaside villages and electric cityscape. Invoking the tender and opulent qualities of classic Hong Kong cinema from the 1970s through to the 90s, Yang intermeshes fleeting moments and enduring emotions, culminating in a poetic masterpiece.
“Known and respected worldwide for his highly refined and sensuous moving image works, Yang’s films often deliberately suspend and confuse time, collapsing the past and the present,” explained Chong. “His works also delve into the structures and forms of identities found within myths, personal memories, and life experiences, offering a unique visual interpretation of the subject from multiple cultural perspectives.”
