Lars Nittve: why I’m quitting Hong Kong arts hub role
Swede who’s executive director of future M+ museum of contemporary art says latest construction delay was last straw; he will remain a consultant to project
The authority was overjoyed when Nittve, founding director of the Tate Modern museum in London, agreed in 2010 to come to Hong Kong. Under his leadership, M+ is shaping up to be a radical celebration of visual culture that aims to reinvent the definition of a museum. It has been described as the most ambitious museum project since the Centre Pompidou opened in Paris nearly 40 years ago.
There have been efforts to play down his decision to not renew his contract in August, four years before the museum’s scheduled opening.
When asked for their reactions, individuals ranging from the head of a public arts body to a senior curator at M+ all said Nittve’s announcement was widely anticipated, and that it would not derail the project.
When the opening date of M+ was 2017, it was possible to stay for that. But now that it’s going to be 2019, I really cannot commit to another four years
The latter is something that Nittve himself is keen to stress. In an interview, he points out that he is not really leaving. His current contract, which expires on January 9, 2016, will be replaced by a new one that will see him showing up for work as a consultant for one week each month in Tsim Sha Tsui. “I will be doing this for at least a year, maybe longer,” he says. “M+ is a team effort but it is also very much my brainchild. I’ve been here five-and-a-half years. I want it to have a happy ending,” he says.