M+ museum hong kong: aric chen appointed curator of design and architecture

aric chen, M+’s appointed design and architecture curator

aric chen has been appointed the curator of design and architecture of M+ which is part of the west kowloon cultural district (WKCD) authority’s in hong kong, one of the largest arts and cultural projects in the world comprised of 17 arts venues of which foster + partners is responsible for the masterplan. see designboom’s coverage of the WKDC development here.

as the current creative director of beijing design week, and founding co-creative director of 100% design shanghai, chen has organized a number of exhibitions and mounted project at design miami; the center for architecture in new york; experimentadesign in amsterdam; saint-etienne international design biennale in france, and the design museum holon in israel, and will expanding team and board of M+ on november 1st, 2012.

WEST KOWLOON CULTURAL DISTRICT AUTHORITY ANNOUNCES ARCHITECTURAL COMPETITION FOR M+ see additional info and download pdf here.

the future M+ museum which is set to open in 2017 will span approximately 60,000 square meters. 17,000 square metres will be dedicated to exhibition space, 15,000 metres for conservation and storage, and will also house an education centre, archive library and bookstore, screening facility, artist-in-residence studios and outdoor spaces. the institution will stand as a meeting point for visual culture in hong kong, presenting 20th and 21st century art, design, architecture and the moving image from a distinctly hong kong perspective, with special focuses on other regions of china, asia and the rest of the world. this past june M+ acquired 1,463 artworks of chinese contemporary art from dr. uli sigg of switzerland, considered to be the world’s leading collector in this field. overall, its collection will reflect the cultural, economic, social and technological shifts which have taken place in the region and will be home to the first major architecture and design collection in asia.

from left to right: M+ executive director dr. lars nittve, dr. uli sigg and WKCDA CEO mr. michael lynch image courtesy of the WKCDA

executive director of M+ dr. lars nittve, says of the appointment: ‘aric has both a very specialist knowledge of design and architecture in asia, and an experienced understanding of its international context. he will be an invaluable addition to the team at M+, working with us to realise the museum’s ambitions to promote, explore and document design from asia, one of the fastest–growing creative regions in the world.’

M+ will provide a platform for design and architectural experimentation, ‘contributing to a broader discussion of those subjects in the context of an increasingly multi-polar world’. its multidisciplinary approach to visual culture will be strongly rooted in the tradition of cultural production in asia, that has historically drawn little distinction between creative disciplines. an invitation for architectural practices to submit their proposals in a design competition for the new M+ will be announced later this year.

aerial view of the west kowloon cultural district image via