Collector donates Chinese art worth HK$1.3b to city

Hong Kong's freedom of expression influenced a Swiss collector's decision to hand Chinese artworks valued at HK$1.3 billion - including some by mainland dissident Ai Weiwei - to Hong Kong's future museum of contemporary art.

In a deal signed between Dr Uli Sigg and the West Kowloon Cultural District Authority yesterday, the veteran collector donated 1,463 Chinese contemporary works to the permanent collection of M+, which is due to open by 2017.

Dr Lars Nittve, executive director of M+, said Sigg's contribution would comprise a third of the museum's collection of about 4,000 pieces and would set the ball rolling for future acquisitions.

Sigg's collection includes work by 310 artists from the 1990s to the 2000s. Auctioneer Sotheby's has estimated their value at HK$1.3 billion.

In a part-gift, part-purchase agreement, Sigg also sold 47 Chinese contemporary artworks from the 1970s to the 1980s to M+ for HK$177 million. The purchase is the museum's first.

Sigg, who has been collecting Chinese contemporary artworks for three decades, said he chose to donate the collection to M+ because the museum would be in Hong Kong. The city, he said, was part of China but not subject to the same restrictions as the mainland.

'There is concern from [mainland] authorities of how China is represented in contemporary art. It may not be how they want to be perceived,' Sigg said yesterday.