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I’m half-Chinese, half-Austrian. I was born in London and moved to Hong Kong when I was ten.
I never felt connected to the Chinese side of myself. That’s why I studied Chinese and Chinese History for my Bachelor’s Degree.
My greatest frustration in life is not being able to speak Cantonese.
I have six brothers and sisters, but we have different parents. I’m in the middle, so I’m related to everybody.
Ronald Arculli is my great-stepfather. I’m lucky, because I’m very close to my father, and am very lucky to have a second father. I lived with him and my mother since I was ten. I have a very good relationship with him. When I decided to open the Asia Art Archive, he was very supportive. He’s been a great role model in my life.
He has this joke: “If I hadn’t become a lawyer or politician, I would be a horse trainer or art dealer. Claire chose the path of art, but not-for-profit!”
In Hong Kong, it’s difficult for parents to understand why you would want to setup a not-for-profit company.
I started ballet classes practically as soon as I could walk. I guess I wanted to be a ballerina back then.
My daughter is 11 months old. Yes, I’d love it if she became an artist.
I set up a club to find the last unicorn when I was in primary school. My friends had to pay me a pound to join, and we spent our class breaks going around our school to look for the traces of the last unicorn. The idea was, when we found it, we’d save it.
It’s difficult to believe in fantasy as an adult. But art allows me to relive my fantasies.
History is what connects us all. It has multiple voices. The Asia Art Archive is just one part of history.
Put 20 people on any committee and there will be many moments of frustration. But that was the beauty of the West Kowloon committee: 20 people from different backgrounds, with different voices.
Hong Kong people think that art is a luxury.
The most common misunderstanding of the local art scene is that we don’t have any artists. That’s rubbish. We have great artists.
Generosity, individuality and modesty are the qualities I admire the most. By “modesty,” I mean people who are absolutely brilliant, and that have every right in the world to be egomaniacs, but aren’t.
My one guilty pleasure is shopping, because I have a husband! But I have a baby now, so I should be saving money for her university and not spending it on bags and shoes.
If I could change one thing in Hong Kong, it’d be the quality of art education children receive.
The Hong Kong art scene is still conservative. The risk-taking quality is missing. The exhibitions in Hong Kong do not reflect the level of risk-taking that is in the world today.
My dream museum is almost impossible for Asia to achieve. It would be an open, flexible organization that has very strongly curatorial-focused exhibitions, presented to international standards, and reaches out to the public.


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Executive Director of Asia Art Archive Claire Hsu

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Claire Hsu is co-founder and Executive Director of the Asia Art Archive, the world’s first public resource for contemporary Asian art. She is also a government-appointed member of the Museum Advisory Group for the West Kowloon Cultural District.
