Storm over M+: is Beijing targeting the Hong Kong museum, or is it just politicians looking to score points?

Critics have attacked landmark museum for years, but national security law is their new weapon

Observers disagree over Beijing’s hand in criticism of art works that ‘spread hatred towards China’

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The recent furore surrounding the new M+ museum has raised questions as to whether Hong Kong’s art scene is under siege. Illustration: Henry Wong

Published: 8:00am, 6 Apr 2021Updated: 11:44am, 7 Apr 2021

This is the first of a two-part special examining the debate around the flagship of the Kowloon arts hub and what it means for Hong Kong. The second report can be found here.

Former Hong Kong lawmaker Sin Chung-kai remembers the elation that greeted the news that M+, a unique new museum expected to open by the end of the year, would be the permanent home of one of the world’s most extensive collections of Chinese modern art.

More than 1,500 works by over 300 contemporary artists, from a collection amassed by Swiss art collector Uli Sigg, would form the core of the star attraction at the West Kowloon Cultural District (WKCD).

Sin recalled that the name of Ai Weiwei, China’s best-known dissident artist, was brought up specifically during a WKCD Authority board discussion, but nobody raised concerns that his artworks – part of the Sigg Collection – might besmirch the reputation of the nation.

The M+ museum has found itself at the centre of a political feud over some of its artworks in recent weeks. Photo: AFP

“At that time, the ‘one country, two systems’ principle was seen to uphold the differences between Hong Kong and the mainland. So there was no problem displaying something that could not be exhibited in the mainland,” he said.

That was in 2012, when Sin was on the board alongside then Secretary for Development Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor, now Hong Kong’s chief executive.