Hong Kong is most fascinating city on earth for Tobias Berger, arts curator
10-year veteran of city's arts scene left M+ museum for leading role in Central Police Station revitalisation. He sees it filling 'the missing link in our arts ecosystem'
If you've been to a gallery, museum or art event in Hong Kong the past decade, you're most likely to have spotted curator Tobias Berger.
He's known for his jovial demeanour and candid views on the city's cultural development, and, of course, his love affair with the visual - he is as likely to be seen peering at a Picasso as at protest art. "I love to see new things. I'm very curious to see what's going on and the most important thing about being a curator is that you have to go out and see exhibitions - so I see all the shows in galleries and non-profit spaces in Hong Kong."
Born in Germany, Berger has been a fixture on the Asia-Pacific contemporary arts scene for more than a decade. He was previously the executive director of Para Site Hong Kong and recently left his position as curator of the future M+ Museum for Visual Culture for a possibly even more coveted position: the head of art for the Central Police Station revitalisation project.
The project aims to give new life to the former police station, Central Magistracy and Victoria Prison that adjoin Hollywood Road in Central. Architectural giants Herzog de Meuron (who built the Bird's Nest stadium in Beijing), Rocco Design Architects and Purcell are involved.
There is nowhere that is like [Hong Kong} artistically and civically. I took [this] job ... because it gave me the chance to stay and work in Hong Kong
The management of heritage sites in Hong Kong can arouse strong emotions; some have been revamped in ways that have caused widespread anger, while others have been left to rot, their history lost. There are high expectations for the police station project, which is intended to "transform the unique cluster of historically significant buildings in Hong Kong into a centre for heritage, contemporary arts and leisure for the public to enjoy" and for which there are few precedents.
