Exploring M+: Asia's First Global Museum Of Contemporary Visual Culture

July 25, 2023

I still can't believe we visited this museum last year in May, but haven't made a single post about it until April this year. You probably have read some of the contemporary art exhibitions held in this museum that I shared recently. The overwhelming photos I took during my visit to this museum rested for a year in my gallery as I lost my desire to write about them, especially when I started traveling to other places. But I thought they rested long enough and since I need to declutter some photos, I have to pin them to Pinmapple.

It was during the height of the pandemic when we visited this place so wearing masks protocol was strictly mandated even when taking photos, especially since it's a place where the public gather. Our initial plan of climbing a mountain was ruined by the weather so our attention was directed to exploring this museum.

For today's blog, I'll give you a guide to M+: Asia's First Global Museum of Contemporary Visual Culture.

Situated within the Cultural District premise in West Kowloon is the M+ Museum which was only opened to the public in November 2021. Given that it is situated in one of the world's ambitious projects - West Kowloon Cultural District - people put high expectations on this museum which was truly worth visiting based on my personal experience. No wonder why it received almost a hundred thousand online reservations prior to its opening.

General Admission

The Admission was free during its first year, and I was one of those who has given an opportunity to explore the global museum for free after online reservation. It ended last November 2022 and it now has a standard admission fee of HKD 160 (which is a pain in the ass for me), and concession worth HKD 60 for kids 7 to 11 years old, senior citizens of 60 years old and above, and visitors with disabilities. Meanwhile, those who purchased the M+ memberships can have unlimited access to all galleries.

_{Entrance Hall}

_{Information Desk}

For general admission, some spots can be accessed for free including the basement, roof garden, and Mediatheque (interactive media room). The standard admission will allow the visitors to enter the main galleries, but not those with special exhibitions that have different admission fees. Tickets can be purchased over the ticketing counter at the museum itself or designated online ticketing shops. Prior to visiting, you can visit its website click here to check the visiting hours, general admission ticket prices, and special exhibitions.

This digital installation shows the names of the artists, councils, donors, benefactors, patrons, and those behind the success of M+. This is just one of the attractions at the reception hall. Advertisements about special exhibitions are also played here.

_{M+ Donor Wall}

There are lockers provided on both the basement and first floors so visitors could keep their bags and other items so it'll be a hassle-free exploration at the museum.

_Lockers

Architectural Design

This world-class modern museum was designed by Herzog & de Meuron who won the place in the architectural competition for M+ against five more companies. It's a massive 65,000 square meters in size and more than 17,000 square meters of it is for exhibitions. There are 33 galleries in this museum so one day is needed to explore all galleries and immerse yourself in this world-class museum.

_Atrium

_{Main Gallery Hall}

_{Candid shot from the main gallery hall where the Atrium and the Found Space can be seen below}

_{The view of the Cultural district can be seen from these distinct windows from one of the galleries}

I returned to the museum one weekend to capture the whole building design. This is M+ Museum, but the exterior design is like an inverted T. What if they made it an inverted M? lol. Of course, it'll be harder.

Found Space

Found Space is on the B2 floor. This is where the main exhibitions are displayed.

_{Death of a Nerve Art Exhibition}

_{Round Table Side-by-side Art Exhibition}

You can check more about the Found Space in my separate post about it here.

Main Galleries

There are elevators and escalators to give visitors easy access to all parts of the museum. The main galleries are located on the 2nd floor. You can only pass through this area after the staff checked your reservation QR code or admission ticket.

As you get to the 2nd floor, you'll be greeted by this spacious gallery hall with different doors on all sides leading to the main art galleries - South Gallery, West Gallery, Focus Gallery, Sigg Gallery, and others. The main galleries house the 33 sub-galleries. There are benches provided for visitors to rest. Comfort rooms are also available on the side. So this museum is definitely a convenient and relaxing place to spend the weekend with family and friends while admiring the different artworks of renowned artists from all parts of the world.

Since it was a year ago when I visited the place, my photo gallery is a mess, so I was uncertain already which were taken from certain art galleries, lol. So I'll just randomly display different art photos here. I also noticed that most were taken with me on it, so bear with me, and pardon me for my appearance in different photos, lol.

As mentioned above there are 33 galleries in this museum with approximately 1500 artworks across the galleries made by different artists from all parts of the world. I was overwhelmed by the number of photos in my gallery which reached more than 500. I selected some that seemed to be the main artworks in the museum made by renowned artists.

Human Subjects In Art

One thing I noticed when we entered different galleries was the use of human subjects in different artworks. Different artists used different mediums in painting, and each artwork has a story to tell. The name and artist information of each painting is posted on the side so it's easy to identify who made the artwork.

These four panels consist of a huge laughing face that got my first attention which viewers can make their own interpretations. What do you think it is? As for me, this portrays how people laugh at real-life situations. It may be because of a joke we heard, laugh at our carelessness, or simply laugh at life circumstances we think couldn't be resolved. Just laugh at life problems as they said.

_{Geng Jianyi,
The Second State: Big Red Double Happiness}

Could this be about discrimination and backstabbing? Well, there are figures behind who seemed to be laughing at the main figure. But for sure, the artist has his own interpretation.

_{Fang Lijun, Untitled (1995), Courtesy Uli Sigg}

Bloodline series definitely portrays family ties. Unless the artist was inspired by something else.

_{Zhang Xiaogang, Bloodline Series—Big Family No. 17-1998}

This remains untitled even to me. Although I can see it as a group of people praising or praying, the artist certainly has a different interpretation. I wonder though why these figures have shaved heads.

_{Fang Lijun, Untitled (Serie/Köpfe)
1998}

We are bound to be connected, aren't we? Because we live in the same world and should be unified. Whatever the interpretation of the artist for this, it certainly is beyond ordinary reason.

_{Yue Minjun, Everybody Connects to Everybody,
1997}

Someone seems to be relaxing on a mat while having a picnic. This painting isn't on a paper canvas but on fabric.

_{Lee Kit, Picnic With Friends At Home}

Ink and Tattoo In Art

From the distance, I already spotted this huge panel with figures of the same subject with his face covered with ink. The last photo in the panel freaked me out as it resembles encanto or enchanted creatures told in folktale stories in our country.

_{Invisible Ink}

This Ink Art is part of Chinese ink painting and calligraphy. The one in the photo above, for instance, is not a simple tattoo but Chinese characters marked on his face. The panels show the process of marking his face from a few words to a fully covered face with ink. Meanwhile, the photo below shows a map of China tattooed on the back of whoever this person is. He can be an artist or just a subject.

_{Map China tattooed on his back}

This is another way of marking a body in China. I am uncertain about it, but it reminds me of those prisoners in movies marked with numbers on their bodies.

Fashion in Art

The following artworks and posters are under the PARCO fashion company using offset lithograph as a medium. These artworks by Yamaguchi Harumi seem to portray feelings in different seasons.

_{Yamaguchi Harumi, PARCO Spring Loves Me, 1982}

_{Poster, '1977 Summer'}

This advert portrays fashion influenced by the East and West.

_{Ishioka Eiko, Poster, Can West Wear East}

I found this one interesting. It portrays a party scene from the old century. The figures are kind of hilarious though.

_{Luis Chan, Dancing Party, 1968}

Other Visual Arts using different mediums: acrylic, ink, vinyl paint, charcoal, burlap, fabric, dried branch, oil paint, and others on canvas. There is a wide variety of artworks in different galleries, some are new, some are old, and some are inspired by daily life, tradition, culture, and innovations. While many truly looked so random to me which I didn't include here.

This artwork entitled Circus by a New York-based artist, Mark Bradford caught my attention as I initially thought that it portrays dense cities of Hong Kong because of those seemingly compressed dense buildings I can imagine in populated cities. Upon reading the information posted beside it, I was right at all because the artist created this artwork based on what he saw in HK cities - the dense urban housing and populated cities. He repeatedly layered the painting to create a unique and thought-provoking masterpiece.

_{Mark Bradford, Circus, 2014}

_{You can see up close the figures in the collage which resembles windows in residential buildings}

And more different visual arts...

Sonic Topologies: Multi-Sensory Installation

Artworks in any museum are usually untouchable. But this one needs a sense of touch and hearing to fully understand the art. Explore the city of Hong Kong through this art. How does it work?

_{Yamazaki Tsuruko, Work, 1967}

A replica of Yamazaki's painting is installed on this table and by hovering the hand above the painting, visitors could discover different sounds of economic and social activities recorded from different parts of Hong Kong. This sound map is an artwork made by MetaObjects in collaboration with other artists which allows visitors to experience topographic exploration in Hong Kong through their senses.

Sculptures & Upholstery

I shared in my recent post about Found Space some photos of sculptures and types of furniture displayed in this museum. Here are some more distinct wood artworks and others.

_{art in pottery}

Wood miniatures that show the Law Court scene.

I initially found these statues too random, but later I realized the artistic part of this exhibition. They are made from fiber-reinforced resin, metal, wood, and paint. The artist tries to portray the embarrassing experience of rural people entering the urban parts of mainland China. This also reflects the urbanization on the mainland.

_{Liang Shuo, Urban Peasant}

Textile in Art

These two displays are Textile artworks and the process of manually making them is truly amazing. These are made by two different artists. One is shaped like a mainsail of a boat. The white textile has a video installation showing the process of making it. It's like a knotted huge rope laid on the floor with some parts spread finely like strings on the white wall.

Architecture and Designs

Aside from artworks, there are impressive architecture and designs displayed in this museum.

_{Victoria Peak Tower, HK}

_{Harbor Road Office and Hotel Tower, HK}

Moving Images and Digital Installations

There are collections of different moving images and digital installations showing different scenes, such as Hong Kong urbanization, architecture, old and new films, Chinese daily life stories, art-making processes, stuff about technology and innovations, war, and other art-related stories.

This installation shows images of people submerged under the water underneath a glass footpath. As I traversed this path, it gave me the impression that I was walking over an aquarium, and although underneath are just images, the sounds of the water and its eerie vibe made me hesitant to move freely on it. As if I would drown under water if the glass floor broke.

Mediatheque

Alongside the art galleries, this museum also has an interactive multi-media room or Mediatheque. It provides a lounge for visitors to watch different curated videos about documentaries, art-related videos, animations, behind the scene videos, and other programs.

Anyone is free to enter the multi-media room, book a sit, and watch curated videos. There are provided headphones and digital touchscreens to freely scan and choose specific videos to watch.

Museum plus (+)...

This museum isn't just for art exhibitions, it also has a learning hub center, shops, dining areas, cinemas, and even a research room. So just imagine how huge it is. From the name itself, the plus (+) stands for other stuff, special exhibitions, cultural events, and programs held by this museum.

People are visiting this place not just to explore art galleries, it also has spots to unwind on holiday. The roof garden is free to access by everyone. Meanwhile, the staircase and alfresco dining area at the back are the best spots to rest and chat with friends and families while admiring the beauty of the harbor.

In case you have missed my blogs about some special art exhibitions held in this museum, you can read them here.

• RMB City: Living In The Virtual World Of Second Life
  

• Human Cages, Refugees, and Paddling Home

• Asian Field With 200K Human Clay Figures
  

• The Letter Writing Project

• Crucified TVs: Not A Prayer In Heaven (and Simulated Suicide Project)
  
  

• Vision In Motion Visual Art Exhibition Of Nalini Malani

How to get to M+?

This museum is located in West Kowloon Cultural District and accesible via train, taxis, buses, and private cars. My most convenient way to get there is by train. Just travel to Kowloon MTR Station from any part in Hong Kong, look for the exit going to this place, then walk more or less five minutes to the cultural district. The Austin station can be alternative. There are buses going to this district but I haven't tried yet. Parking areas are provided for private cars.

There are a lot to see and visit in this district - different museums, theatre, cultural centers, dining areas and others. You can simply unwind at the Art Park, walk along the promenade, do urban camping, or simply watch the sunset.

The popular Sky Corridor and Sky100 are also located in this district.

If you will visit Hong Kong someday, you must include Cultural District in your itinerary.

That's all for today's travel blog. I felt relieved to the fact that, I finally completed and shared this blog about M+ museum photographs that have long been staying in my gallery. To declutter them after pinning to pinmapple was what I truly wanted to give more space to my phone.

Thanks for stopping by.

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(All photos are mine and AI-free (except the cover photo)

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