Hong Kong invites museum chiefs, arts leaders from around world to summit to foster East-meets-West exchanges

Museum chiefs from Britain, France, Japan and Qatar among 1,000 participants expected at major meeting

Arts hub head hopes summit will showcase city as an East-meets-West centre for global cultural exchange

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Hong Kong’s West Kowloon Cultural District is eyeing collaborations with overseas museums. Photo: Martin Chan

Published: 10:00am, 14 Feb 2024Updated: 10:15am, 14 Feb 2024

Almost 30 overseas arts and cultural institutions are expected to sign deals with Hong Kong’s West Kowloon Cultural District Authority at a high-profile summit next month, paving the way to bring works of art and performances from around the world to the city.

About 1,000 participants have been invited to the International Cultural Summit on March 25 and 26. It will be the first international event to mark the beginning of the city’s Art Week, coinciding with Art Basel Hong Kong and other major cultural events.

Betty Fung Ching Suk-yee, CEO of the authority, said officials from 10 of the world’s top 40 museums and arts hubs would be at the summit.

Betty Fung, CEO of the West Kowloon Cultural District Authority, has said people will no longer call Hong Kong a “cultural desert” after the organisation’s drive to foster cooperation with overseas museums. Photo: Jonathan Wong

They include high-level representatives of the British Museum, France’s National Museum of the Palaces of Versailles and Trianon, Japan’s Tokyo National Museum and the Museum of Islamic Art in Doha, Qatar.

“We are very ambitious and want to make this representative. It also helps show Hong Kong as a cosmopolitan city,” she told the Post in an interview.

The summit would also showcase the city’s role as an East-meets-West centre for international cultural exchange as stipulated in China’s latest five-year plan, she added.

“To achieve this, we must bring people to Hong Kong,” she said. “The exchange could take place in the form of collaborated exhibitions, but to have a meaningful dialogue, we need their in-person presence to discuss topics of concern to everyone.”

She said the summit would discuss how arts hubs shaped a city in social and economic aspects, and what technology such as artificial intelligence and blockchain meant for the arts sector.