Hong Kong must build on M+ museum opening to fulfil its cultural potential
- The opening of M+ was a success, but more must be done to translate Hong Kong’s unique culture into soft power for the city and the country
- The city is uniquely positioned to articulate another side to China’s story, one that complements the cultural vision projected by the mainland
Given Hong Kong’s new-found positioning, as per the 14th five-year plan, as a cultural nexus for China and the world, M+ certainly plays a critical role in a possible, albeit challenging, path to the revival of the city’s fortunes. It is by no means enough, though.
More action is needed to channel Hong Kong’s unique culture and cultivate a new dimension to the city’s soft power in the region and beyond. More must be done in transforming Hong Kong’s arts and cultural scene into one that is truly egalitarian, inclusive and representative of the rich ideological and social currents undergirding the city.
First, we need a sustainable space for aspiring local artists and musicians to create art without fear of socioeconomic barriers that preclude them from pursuing their dreams.
Local hip-hop artists, aspiring Chinese opera singers, modernist, minimalist painters, realist photographers and sketchers who fuse landscape and portrait styles – together they make dynamic, groundbreaking art that would enrich our city. Yet, they have been cut out because of a lack of sophisticated art market infrastructure and subsidies from the government and private sector alike.
Independent artists lack the space and networks to disseminate their works and promote awareness and understanding of their aesthetic world views.
Where have we ended up? A superficially heterogeneous, fundamentally monotonic cultural scene trending towards one single note. That strikes me as suboptimal, given the administration’s purview of championing our status as a regional art hub and Hongkongers’ quality of life.
From a standpoint of cultural policy, it is imperative that our administration devotes more resources to championing Cantonese culture and language. Rather than any undue political undertones or connotations, it must do so with the intent of maintaining a vital aspect of what makes Hong Kong so appealing to visitors, including many from the mainland who grew up consuming Cantonese films and listening to Canto-pop icons.
How museums arose in Asia and the man who lent them impetus in Hong Kong
Hong Kong’s value – to its people, the country and the rest of the world – is that it offers an alternative version of “China’s story”, one that is more cosmopolitan, progressive and draws upon the best of both East and West. We are uniquely positioned to articulate a different side to the country’s story, one that complements the cultural vision projected by the mainland.
Hong Kong has always been more culturally autonomous and eclectic than the rest of the country, and this is a strength of ours. Our political establishment would benefit from recognising this fact and acting accordingly.
Hong Kong should seek to fill gaps and explore spheres of art untapped in the mainland, not merely replicate and mimic art from elsewhere. We should cultivate sufficient cultural confidence and both feel pride for and see room to organically evolve our own culture, not just wall it off.
I am proud of being a Hongkonger. I would be even prouder if this was a city that fully loves and respects what its artists from all walks of life have to offer.
Brian Y.S. Wong is a DPhil in Politics candidate at Balliol College, Oxford, a Rhodes Scholar (Hong Kong 2020) and the founding editor-in-chief of the Oxford Political Review