William and Lavina Lim Illuminate The Living Collection at M+ Museum in Hong Kong

During a vibrant Hong Kong Art Month, Whitewall had the unique opportunity to speak with distinguished architect William Lim and his wife, visionary interior designer Lavina Lim. The spirited duo’s journey of art collecting began with thoughtfully acquiring distinctive travel keepsakes and Chinese antiques. During the early 2000s they voyaged into a new realm of contemporary art, and over 20 years time have gathered 90 artworks by 53 Hong Kong-based creatives. 

This singular assemblage of 21st century Hong Kong art now thrives within the revered M+ museum. Situated within the West Kowloon Cultural District, the global haven of contemporary visual culture boasts a soulful M+ Lounge, and this is where the Lim’s “Living Collection” has found its sacred home. A dynamic juxtaposition of captivating furniture, found objects, innovative design, and fine art, guests are encouraged to relish in the collection’s beauty and intrigue. 

Whitewall sat down with Willam and Lavina Lim to speak about their impactful donation to the M+ art museum, the scintillating Hong Kong art landscape, and evolving the way in which people approach living with art. 

WHITEWALL: Can you share how your journey as collectors began and how it has evolved over the years?

WILLIAM AND LAVINA LIM: I always think buying art is a way to record a place—a memory. Whenever we travel, we actually love to go visit a gallery, or even souvenir shops, looking for something that’s made locally by local artists. We’ve been doing that for probably 20 or 30 years.

“I always think buying art is a way to record a place—a memory,”

William and Lavina Lim

I think around 2003 is when we started to look more closely at the art in our region, and particularly in Hong Kong, because we feel that’s a good way to support the local artists and the art scene. At that time, there was really not much interest in Hong Kong art.

There were probably less than a handful of galleries that were working with Hong Kong artists. A lot of artists actually did art as a side job, as a weekend hobby, and a few of them might just have rented a small space—800 square feet—shared by four people. They would go there and do art as a by-product of their life. 

We thought at that time that it could be interesting. I think it’s encouraging to have someone collecting their works. I felt that eventually these works would become meaningful when people discovered them. 

WW: Do you remember the first piece of your art collection? 

WLM: It’s with M+ now. Wilson Shieh. One of our first pieces by a Hong Kong artist. It’s part of the collection.

Envisioning The Living Collection at M+ Museum in Hong Kong 

WW: As long-time supporters of M+, when did you start envisioning this reality? 

WLM: I think it was about six years ago or longer when we started to realize. M+ at that time announced that their collecting strategy would be to focus on Hong Kong and Greater China, and then the region and the world. 

We had a studio in Wong Chuk Hang and people started to hear about it. There were private groups that would make appointments to come see it. We felt that the audience would be much bigger if it was in a museum like M+. At the time, M+ was under construction, I think the museum was starting to build its collection. We mentioned the idea to Suhanya Raffel, Museum Director of M+, what if we donated what was in our studio at that time to M+? We also thought that it would be nice if people got to experience it as if it were in a studio space and not in a gallery space. 

We feel that art is to be lived with, and it’s very personal when you can actually be surrounded by art. 

“We feel that art is to be lived with,”

William and Lavina Lim

Suhanya thought about it and discussed it with her team. They came back with an idea, why don’t we put it in the members lounge at M+? That was the history of the donation. Because the museum building was still under construction, we came and looked at the space, and the idea was to almost recreate our studio environment here. We had to reshape the space, and because this is a lounge it has other functions. There are actually about 70 seats for the dining. 

Then we needed more furniture, so we worked with local and Asia-based designers. We invited some of them to make and design the furniture, like Stanley Wong (also known as “anothermountainman”) for the sofa out there. Then we worked with Michael Wolf’s estate to use his images to produce these tables. If you come through the space in the lounge, there are different Hong Kong designers that have made pieces for the space. Even these lamps, they’re plastic cooking utensils made by Dennis Soap. 

The Impact of M+ on the Local and International Art Landscape

WW: A bit broader, how do you see M+’s impact on the local Hong Kong art scene and also in the international appeal of Hong Kong? 

WLM: I think it definitely has created a big impact and really helped the development of the Hong Kong art ecology. We can talk about it both from a domestic viewpoint and also from an international viewpoint. Domestically, I think we have never seen museum spaces like this in Hong Kong. Also, M+ is not only a museum, but there are a lot of interactive elements. There are a lot of children and there is family participation. Kids for the first time get to be exposed to an international museum. You see a lot of school groups coming through. I think to nurture art you have to start young. 

To be able to bring students and schools through here, and they have different activities. It’s not about just looking at art, but they can interactively play with certain things. There’s a whole part of M+ where they actually have classes and workshops. I think by creating this kind of educational environment, that’s the most important part of the local scene. Of course, you also introduce to a lot of local people that art is a way of life. On weekends you actually see families coming here, they will go to the gallery and then go outside and have a picnic. I think it really changed the way people look at life and living with art. 

“I think it really changed the way people look at life and living with art,”

William and Lavina Lim

The Hong Kong Jockey Club Series: Picasso for Asia—A Conversation at M+, and the M+ Sigg Collection exhibitions, are done in such a pedagogic way and with such an educational focus. It’s really attracting a broad audience regardless of their age. 

WW: And the international impact since the opening?

WLM: I think internationally the influence is amazing. As we talk there are so many international visitors coming through the museum, people coming for conferences, for discussions. In January 2025, we had Tilda Swinton giving a talk at the museum’s Grand Stair, focusing on film restoration. It really has become a very international place. We needed an institution like this in Hong Kong, with international staff and a very international group of curators and museum management, to be able to attract people from all over the world. Especially from the museum side, from the curatorial side. Amazing artists show in spaces at M+, like Danh Vo, who is featured at B2 level. Opportunities like that had never happened in Hong Kong before. This is something that I think Hong Kong should be very proud of. 

Discovering and Championing Young and Emerging Visionaries 

WW: Your collection has always championed young and emerging artists. How do you discover new talent, and what draws you to a particular artist’s work?

WLM: We trust our instincts. We don’t really work with advisors. I think it used to be a lot easier to track artists because there were not so many, and there were not so many galleries. We could pretty much go visit every exhibition and the graduation shows in Hong Kong. But now there is just so much going on that it’s becoming more difficult to keep track. 

“We trust our instincts,”

William and Lavina Lim

I think nowadays we mainly go to galleries. A lot of them will have exhibitions of young artists that are fresh graduates. We also go to the university exhibitions. Most of these institutions will do graduation exhibitions every year. That’s where we get to see some of the very young artists. I think our instincts have been pretty good. A lot of these works here we collected when the artists were just starting out. Eventually they all became very successful in their own ways.

The Evolution of Hong Kong’s Art Ecosystem 

WW: How would you describe the evolution of Hong Kong’s art ecosystem in recent years?

WLM: It’s definitely positive in a certain way. There is a lot more international interest in Hong Kong artists, both in very conceptual artists and also in the artists that are quite commercial. I think there’s a lot of opportunity for artists to live as full time creatives, and to produce work that is commercially successful—which I think is probably cut both ways. Some artists tend to rely very much on sales, which had never happened before. Before it was that you don’t expect anyone to buy your art, it was a hobby that you do during the week.

“There is a lot more international interest in Hong Kong artists,”

William and Lavina Lim

Those works are a lot more personal, whereas now you’re really thinking of the market. But I think in a way it’s good. Artists are getting a lot more exposure. They’re getting to show on international exhibitions. They have a much better knowledge of what the art world is about. Artists need to sell their works as a way of also getting recognition. In a way, I think it’s healthy. We get to see a lot of different art. Some artists used to tell me, they have never seen a real Monet. But now you actually get to see Picasso‘s work at a local museum, and when you see the real work, it makes a big difference. 

Because of the development of the art scene, and with Art Basel and everything, the artists get a lot more exposure and are able to see a lot more which helps their development. In a way it’s also the end of the age of innocence and more of a coming of age of professional artists to Hong Kong. 

The Intersection of Architecture and Contemporary Art 

WW: As both an architect and collector, how do you see the intersection between architecture and contemporary art in your collection and projects, as well as throughout Hong Kong?

WLM: It’s definitely developed a lot. It influenced the way we collect and the way we see things visually. I’m an architect, she (Lavina) is an interior designer. You can see our collection is very form-driven, and a lot of it is structural influence. 

“You can see our collection is very form-driven, and a lot of it is structural influence,”

William and Lavina Lim

One of my projects is in H Queen’s, which is where a lot of the galleries are. That was conceived about 10 years ago, and it’s been open for six years. At that time, there were really no real great spaces for art galleries. A lot of international galleries came here and searched for spaces for a long time, and they couldn’t find them. Eventually that’s what inspired us to construct this building, which was completed about seven years ago. Since then, the city has gone through a lot of changes. There are more developers that want to work with artists, and use art and culture as a way to promote their project.

I think the Hong Kong Government and the Mainland China Government have a vision that Hong Kong should become a cultural hub. That has helped a lot of developers, supporting art and bringing art into their projects, like K11. It brought a lot of galleries and auction houses, like Sotheby’s, Christie’s, Phillips, and moved their headquarters into Hong Kong. They invited important architects to help them develop their spaces. Hong Kong in a way has become a much richer architectural city as the development of art progresses. 

Global Changes for Artists, Collectors, Galleries, and Institutions

WW: How have you seen an evolution, since COVID particularly, in the way everything changed globally? Have you seen an evolution in the reality of day-to-day lives for collectors, artists, institutions, and galleries? 

WLM: I think Hong Kong is very much affected by the world economy. As COVID goes into the post-COVID era, and with the geopolitics in the world, there’s more uncertainty everywhere—which I think has an effect on art. But good art is developed under stressed economic or political situations, right? In a way, this is an interesting time for all of us. It’s a testing time.

“Good art is developed under stressed economic or political situations,”

William and Lavina Lim

I’m also an artist. It’s a slower economy for art, internationally, which could be a problem. But I think it also makes artists create better work, not necessarily for commercial purposes. I used to think, of course, good artists’ works should be sold out. But now I start to think, maybe not. Those are commercial artists. Maybe a good artist doesn’t really have to worry about selling or not. 

New Acquisitions and Meaningful Advice for Young Collectors 

WW: What are some recent acquisitions or upcoming projects that are exciting to you both? Whether in design, architecture, or in purchasing new works that you’ve seen or that you will be purchasing this week at the fair?

WLM: We are very interested in the older generation of artists who have influenced this generation. Our collection has developed a certain breadth. Now we actually are going back to look at what shaped this generation of artists. We’re very interested in more senior Hong Kong artists like Chu Hing Wah, who is in his 90s, still painting, and has influenced a lot of the younger generation. 

“We are very interested in the older generation of artists who have influenced this generation,”

William and Lavina Lim

Last year we spotted an artist at the fair. Living in Brazil as a Brazilian-Chinese artist, he passed away. His name is Chen-kong Fang and has a piece in the Picasso show. We were very impressed with such a Chinese artist living overseas and producing work. We’re also very interested in the work of Martin Wong who passed away. He lived in the US. Works like that informed the development of Chinese contemporary artists and artists of Greater China.

WW: What advice would you give to young collectors for building meaningful collections today?

WLM: To sort of risk it, go with the passion. When I start looking at art, there are some artworks that speak to me. There’s a connection between the person and the artist. I would definitely encourage young people to just go with their passion. Also, don’t do it for money. 

WW: What would be an unmissable place in Hong Kong right now, outside of M+, for you?

WLM: Tai Kwun is probably not to be missed. If you have a short visit, that really encapsulates what the cultural development in Hong Kong has been in the last few years.