Courtesy of M+ and William and Lavina Lim
Hong Kong’s contemporary art museum M+ has announced a major donation from Hong Kong architect, artist and collector William Lim and his wife Lavina Lim. The donation includes 90 artworks by 53 artists – among which 26 are from Hong Kong and include the likes of painters Yeung Tong Lung and Au Hoi Lam, and multimedia artists Lam Tung Pang, Tang Kwok-hin, Nicole Wong and Morgan Wong, as well as works by Lim himself. Works by international artists include Lee Bul’s Untitled Sculpture W6-2 (2010) and Haegue Yang’s Underwater Ventilation (2011).
The Lims began their collection in the 2000s and displayed the works in their studio in an industrial building in Wong Chuk Hang under the title ‘Living Collection’, referring to its documentation of developing Hong Kong art practices during a period in which the city’s art scene began to flourish and local artists gained international recognition.
In a statement, William Lim explains: ‘I consider the donation a time capsule where artworks by Hong Kong artists can be preserved and assume an important role in the future history of the city… More people will be able to discover art created by some very exceptional artists, and learn more about Hong Kong contemporary art.’
Director of M+ Suhanya Raffel and deputy director Doryun Chong highlighted the importance of the donation to the museum, for which Hong Kong visual culture has been a core area of acquisition, saying that it ‘deepens and broadens M+’s holdings in Hong Kong art’.
M+, under the management of West Kowloon Cultural District Authority (WKCDA), was originally scheduled to open in 2017, but following several delays, the firing of its main contractor in 2018, the appearance of a giant sinkhole, and the resignation of its CEO Duncan Pescod (who was accused for the delaying factors by pro-Beijing politician and WKCDA board member Chris Ip Ngo-tung) in November this year, the museum is now set to open in autumn 2021. On 1 December, WKCDA announced the appointment of Betty Fung Ching Suk-yee, an aide to the embattled Hong Kong chief executive Carrie Lim, as acting CEO.
The ‘Living Collection’ will be on public display following the opening of M+.
