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Vivienne Chow

Operators of private museums have urged the government to provide more recognition and support to develop the sector and help the city become a genuine arts hub.
They want a museum council to be set up to formulate policies and in the long run develop new tourist attractions.
Yeung Chun-tong, director of the newly established Sun Museum in Kwun Tong, which aims to promote a better understanding of Chinese art and culture, said such a council could set policies and offer grants to support private museums.
“A museum council can offer grant schemes like the Arts Development Council does now. The grants can be in a form of matching grants to help cover the costs of exhibitions,” Yeung said.
“The government should show support, and offering grants to private museums will be crucial.”
Chloe Suen, chair of the Simon Suen Foundation, which backs the Sun Museum, said although Hong Kong had a vibrant art market, it was not yet a genuine hub.
“To make the city a real arts hub, we need more private museums,” said Suen, whose family has been a long-time collector of Chinese works of art. “If we can have 20 to 30 private museums in the coming five to 10 years, Hong Kong will be a real arts hub. We hope more collectors can join us.”
Yeung said private museums set up by individuals to showcase private collections for the public good had a long history in the West.
The growth of private museums on mainland China, now numbering over 1,000, was also astonishing, he said. Yeung said private museums offered an outlet for Hong Kong collectors to show their work to public.
READ MORE: First private photography museum opens in historic Happy Valley building
Douglas So, who founded F11, a private museum dedicated to photography in a historic building in Happy Valley, also felt more could be done to encourage the establishment of private museums.
“If the government can make available land suitable for building museums for bidding, it will be a good start,” So said.
“A good mix of public and private museums will result in a more interesting diversity of cultural offerings, and tourists visiting Hong Kong will have more choices to see attractions that are unique to Hong Kong,” said So, adding that he was looking for a new space to expand his museum.

A number of private museums founded by individual collectors have been established over the past three years. Liang Yi Museum, which opened in Hollywood Road last year, showcases Chinese antique furniture collected by tycoon Peter Fung Yiu-fai as well as other artworks.
The Imperial Museum in St John’s Building, Central, founded by Chinese-language telecoms pioneer Paul Kan Man-lok, features a range of historic relics and works of art, including agarwood art pieces
The government did once seek a mechanism to work with private museums. In a Legco paper dated 2008, the Home Affairs Bureau said: “We see the need to formulate, in the longer term, a proper framework and mechanism for supporting the development of private museums in Hong Kong.”
But the idea came to nothing.
Oscar Ho Hing-kay, associate professor of practice in cultural management at Chinese University, said more private individuals might be encouraged to set up their own museums if the government had a mechanism offering advice and support.
But Ho feared private museums risked opening themselves up to government interference and he felt their biggest advantage was being independent.
“I don’t see Hong Kong needs more rules to dictate the operations of private museums,” he said.


Operators of private museums seek more support to boost Hong Kong’s status as an arts hub

Yeung Chun-tong, Director of Sun Museum (Left) and Chloe Suen, Chair of Simon Suen Foundation (Right), pose for a picture at Sun Museum in Kwun Tong. 11NOV15

HK celebrities & tycoons support ban of illegal ivory trade at LOVE IS WILD exhibition launch by Project C:CHANGE. Dr Allan Zeman calls on the government to ban illegal ivory trade completely. Liang Yi Museum, Sheung Wan. 11NOV15

New private museum - F11 Photographic museum at Happy Valley. 16SEP14

Yeung Chun-tong (left), director of the Sun Museum, and Chloe Suen, chair of the Simon Suen Foundation. Photo: Edmond So

News

A museum council to formulate policies to develop the sector is one idea, but a cultural critic fears a loss of independence if government starts offering financial support 
