Hong Kong’s West Kowloon Cultural District will be an asset to the community
Bernard Chan says the cultural district may seem modest when compared with the flashy Louvre Abu Dhabi, and it has had its share of controversies. Nevertheless, it is poised to be a positive addition to life in Hong Kong
The competition among cities to offer world-class cultural attractions grew hotter a week ago, with the opening of the Louvre Abu Dhabi Museum, delayed for five years because of the oil price slump.
It seems the Abu Dhabi side is paying around US$525 million for the right to use the Louvre name for 30 years. Include management, other services and loans from the collections of the Louvre and other French museums, and the cost reaches US$1 billion.
That does not include the building, designed by Jean Nouvel. It features a 180-metre wide lattice dome with 23 permanent galleries, and even has parking for luxury yachts. That cost another US$705 million or so.
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But that isn’t the whole story. The Abu Dhabi Louvre is just one part of a US$18 billion, 2.4 sq km cultural district planned to house six museums.
Abu Dhabi’s ambitions make Hong Kong’s West Kowloon Cultural District look quite modest. As a member of the West Kowloon Cultural District Authority Board, I am very aware of the controversies surrounding our flagship cultural projects. We have had criticism of the costs, design and whole concept of facilities like the M+ museum of contemporary art and the Xiqu opera theatre. The criticism increased massively with the announcement that we would be hosting a branch of the Beijing Palace Museum.
A gold chalice inlaid with gemstones on display at the “Hall of Mental Cultivation of The Palace Museum – Imperial Residence of Eight Emperors” exhibition, at the Heritage Museum in Sha Tin, in June. The Hong Kong Palace Museum will house exhibits usually only seen in the Forbidden City. Photo: Dickson Lee
As the West Kowloon complex starts to take shape, the controversy seems out of proportion. When the final costs are added up, it will obviously be far cheaper than some other international cultural projects. And we certainly do not need to pay to use the Palace Museum name or to borrow and display exhibits from the collection in the Forbidden City.
