Hong Kong forges ties with global arts bodies seeking to ‘reinvent’ themselves through exhibitions, collaboration

Arts leaders from around the world earlier attend International Cultural Summit, where 21 memorandums of understanding on exchanges and cooperation signed

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An aerial view of the West Kowloon Cultural District. Future international collaborations may include virtual or in-person professional workshops on conservation. Photo: Sam Tsang

Published: 8:30am, 2 Apr 2024Updated: 9:21am, 2 Apr 2024

International collaborations in the art world offer a pathway for questioning assumptions and add to the pool of knowledge, top global institutions have said after striking deals with Hong Kong’s West Kowloon Cultural District that pave the way for future exhibitions and exchanges of expertise.

The city’s arts hub hosted 6,000 guests at the three-day International Cultural Summit, which brought together museum leaders, curators and performing arts organisations from around the world last month. They signed 21 memorandums of understanding (MOUs) and discussed concerns at the forefront of the industry.

The Musee National Picasso-Paris from France will be one of the first institutions to bring its collections to Hong Kong following the summit. About 60 masterpieces by the painter Pablo Picasso will be juxtaposed against the collections of the M+ museum featuring Asian and Asian-diasporic artists in an exhibition opening in March next year.

“We signed the MOU with M+ because our two institutions share the aspiration to develop new, more inclusive forms of partnership … based on a genuine exchange of knowledge, skills and expertise on both sides,” said Cecile Debray, president of the French museum.

“International collaborations enable us not only to stimulate the cultural scene abroad, but also to diversify our viewpoints within our own institutions. It is a way to challenge and renew oneself, [which] the Musee National Picasso-Paris makes a priority.”

Sitting alongside works at the M+, Picasso’s pieces can be examined from an Asian contemporary perspective that “decentres the Western point of view”, with Debray calling it “an unprecedented project that allows a fresh interpretation of Picasso’s well-known oeuvre”.