M+ museum's budget too low for world-class centre, experts claim

The M+ museum to be built in the West Kowloon Cultural District will cost an estimated HK$4.7 billion, but arts and culture experts said the budget was too small to create a world-class centre.

The government said yesterday the centre would suffer annual deficits of HK$300 million during the first few years of operation and would need another HK$1.2 billion for acquiring collections. It estimated admission would be kept to HK$27.50 during the first phase of M+, compared with the more than HK$100 charged by world-class museums such as the Pompidou Centre in Paris and New York's Guggenheim.

According to the Home Affairs Bureau, M+, which will focus on 20th and 21st century visual culture, covering moving images, popular culture, design and visual art, will cost HK$4.7 billion, around 20 per cent of the cultural district's total estimated budget of HK$21.6 billion. The first phase was expected to receive 1.2 million visitors and stage four 'blockbuster' exhibitions a year.

With existing museums such as the Museum of Art and the Heritage Museum charging only HK$10 (with an additional HK$10 to HK$30 for 'blockbuster' shows) Deputy Secretary for Home Affairs Esther Leung Yuet-yin said the government did not want to create a huge gap between M+ and other museums.

She said that although the interim M+ could only begin after the establishment of the West Kowloon Cultural District Authority, the museum would not start with nothing because the Leisure and Cultural Services Department's museums already had a collection of more than 900,000 items. 'A lot of private collectors have also expressed interests in collaboration,' she said.

M+ was expected to need 320 full-time staff during its first phase, and Ms Leung said around 10 per cent of them would take senior management roles.