Hong Kong’s long-delayed M+ museum opens, but it may not put city on the cultural tourism map given Covid-19 travel curbs and security law
- A Legislative Council presentation from July 2011 envisioned M+ as ‘a museum of its time and of its place. Hong Kong now’
- The city is very different today – not least because a national security law may determine what is put on display. Then there is quarantine for visitors
All good things come to those who wait, apparently. And so, after years of waiting, Hongkongers have been rewarded for their patience with the multibillion-dollar M+, billed as “Asia’s first global museum of contemporary visual culture”, in the West Kowloon Cultural District.
A Legislative Council PowerPoint presentation from July 2011 envisioned M+ as “a museum first and foremost for the people of Hong Kong”. One of the slides asserts: “M+ shall be a museum of its time and of its place. Hong Kong now.”
However, one imagines that most people who visit the museum will be less concerned with what is absent than with what is on show. And at first glance, it looks impressive, both architecturally and in terms of installations. It will also be free to enter for the first year, an offer that was announced in September along with the museum’s opening date, November 12. Expect M+ to be all over Instagram any day now.
What those cities have that Hong Kong lacks, though, is an organic arts ecosystem not stifled by the authorities.
They also have tourists.
For the world, and for Hong Kong too? M+ museum opens its doors
“A museum first and foremost for the people of Hong Kong” M+ may or may not be. But “a museum of its time and of its place”? Certainly. Much like Hong Kong now, it is being talked about for the wrong reasons – such as artistic omissions and administrative suppression – but let us allow visitors to judge for themselves.
Vietnam to restart international commercial flights
“The resumption plan will be over four phases, the first possibly this quarter, focusing mostly on repatriating Vietnamese stranded by the pandemic and international tourists in government-approved trips to specific destinations.”
Phu Quoc, Khanh Hoa and Quang Ninh are expected to be among those destinations, according to online newspaper VnExpress, although no details regarding which 15 sets of tourists can consider themselves welcome have yet been released.
Indonesian quarantine slashed to three days
According to a circular released by the country’s Covid-19 task force, fully vaccinated Indonesian and foreign nationals arriving from overseas have to endure only three days of self isolation upon entering. For those who have received just one dose of the vaccine that rises to five days.
“All other rules previously stated still apply,” Coconuts reported. These include health insurance with at least US$100,000 coverage, including treatment for the virus. Tourists also have to cover the cost of their own quarantine.