HKMoA receives its 2,000,000th visitor (with photos)
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The Hong Kong Museum of Art (HKMoA) of the Leisure and Cultural Services Department has been popular among the local public and tourists. The number of visitors has reached a new high since its reopening after a major renovation in 2019 and the HKMoA welcomed its 2,000,000th visitor today (August 12).
To mark this extraordinary moment, the HKMoA arranged some special souvenirs which were presented by the Secretary for Culture, Sports and Tourism, Mr Kevin Yeung, and an exclusive and guided tour by the Museum Director of the HKMoA, Dr Maria Mok, for the 2,000,000th visitor. The 2,000,000th visitor is Mrs Koyanagi from Tokyo, Japan. She has been to Hong Kong many times with her husband. The couple revisits Hong Kong again three years after the pandemic. This is their first visit to the HKMoA. They both love art and are particularly interested in Chinese calligraphy.
Established in 1962, the HKMoA is the first public art museum in Hong Kong and the custodian of an art collection of over 18,800 sets of items. By curating a wide world of contrasts, from old to new, Chinese to Western, local to international, with a Hong Kong viewpoint, the museum aspires to refreshing ways of looking at tradition and making art relevant to everyone, creating new experiences and understanding. The HKMoA was reopened to the public on November 30, 2019, after a major renovation and expansion since 2015. The expanded museum with modern architectural features has become one of Hong Kong’s cultural landmarks and a popular tourist attraction. It is listed as one of the world’s top 100 most popular art museums in 2021 by “The Art Newspaper”.
The HKMoA has a rich collection that represents the artistic legacy of Hong Kong and beyond. Over the years, the museum has received multiple precious donations from private collectors, reflecting that the mission of the HKMoA as a cultural guardian is well recognised by local collectors and artists. The museum has received over 1,500 donations since its reopening in 2019. In addition to the four core collections namely Modern and Hong Kong Art, Chinese Antiquities, Chinese Painting and Calligraphy, and China Trade Art, the HKMoA collaborates with overseas renowned museums, bringing world-class art collections to Hong Kong for the appreciation of local residents and tourists. Examples of highly acclaimed exhibitions included “The Hong Kong Jockey Club Series: Botticelli and His Times – Masterworks from the Uffizi”, “Mythologies: Surrealism and Beyond – Masterpieces from Centre Pompidou”, “The Hong Kong Jockey Club Series: The Road to the Baroque – Masterpieces from the Capodimonte Museum” and “The Hong Kong Jockey Club Series: Joan Miró – The Poetry of Everyday Life”.
The museum’s attendance has scaled new heights since the easing of the epidemic and the resumption of travel. The HKMoA welcomed over 8,500 visitors on April 30, during the first Labour Day Golden Week after the pandemic. The highest single-day attendance was recorded again on July 1, the HKSAR Establishment Day, with over 16,000 visitors in a single day.
In the past few years, the HKMoA’s new identity and branding image has received recognition from the public and different sectors. Apart from receiving the Silver Award in the assorted promotional item category and the Bronze Award in the logo category at the HKDA Global Design Award 2021 organised by the Hong Kong Designers Association, the museum, out of 104 public cultural spaces spanning 16 cities in Guangdong, Hong Kong and Macao, and coming in with around 450,000 votes, won The Most vibrant Public Cultural Space Award in 2022 organised by the Public Culture and Sports Development Center Futian Shenzhen. On public service, the HKMoA was awarded the Meritorious Award of Excellence in Team Collaboration (General Service) in the Civil Service Outstanding Service Award Scheme 2022.
The HKMoA will continue to spare no efforts in fulfilling its mission, serving as a bridge between Chinese and Western cultures to facilitate Hong Kong’s fulfilment of its positioning as an East-meets-West centre for international cultural exchanges under the National 14th Five-Year Plan. For details of the HKMoA’s new exhibitions, please visit the museum’s website at hk.art.museum/en/web/ma/home.html, Instagram at www.instagram.com/hkmoa/ and Facebook at www.facebook.com/hkmoa/.