west kowloon cultural district authority appoints suhanya raffel director of M+ museum

M+ museum director suhanya raffel appointed by west kowloon cultural district authority

west kowloon cultural district authority (WKCDA) has announced the appointment of suhanya raffel as executive director of M+ museum. scheduled to open in 2019, hong kong’s M+ will be one of the largest museums of modern art and contemporary visual culture in the world. the project forms part the west kowloon cultural district’s vision to create a vibrant new cultural quarter for the city, with a complex of theaters, performance spaces, alongside M+. WKCDA will produce and host exhibitions, performances, and cultural events, as well as provide 23 hectares of public open space and two kilometers of waterfront promenade.

the completion of ‘M+ pavilion’ marks the first permanent venue for exhibitions and events in the emerging art hub
see more about the project by VPANG architects, tynnon chow, and lisa cheung on designboom here

raffel — currently the deputy director and director of collections of the art gallery of new south wales in australia — is a museum specialist with years of experience in collection, exhibition, research and programming. her reputation includes high-level scholarship in the field of contemporary asian art — a strong asset for the M+ vision and mission. raffel will be responsible for the curatorial and collection development, management and fundraising, as well as shaping the strategies and policies as the WKCDA‘s M+ museum comes into fruition. effective on november 1, 2016, the appointment sees raffel lead the acquisition of artworks, design and architecture, and moving image pieces for the museum’s expanding collection.

the winning design of M+ museum by herzog & de meuron
read more about the scheme on designboom here 

‘ms raffel is an expert in asian contemporary art, and has over 30 years of professional experience in museum management,’ noted carrie lam, chairman of the board of the WKCDA. ‘she brings with her a wealth of museum management experience in the areas of curatorship, exhibitions and collection development. her capable leadership, professionalism and vision inspire our confidence in the successful opening of a world-class m+ museum in just three years’ time.’

herzog & de meuron’s M+ museum under construction
see more about the project’s progress on designboom here 

currently under construction, M+ is designed by herzog & de meuron. while spaces will be dedicated to the exhibition of art, design, architecture and the moving image, the archetypal white cube will be bolstered by reconfigurable halls, which will distinguish and structure the sequence of the internal areas. integrated screening rooms and an industrial space have been conceived to grow with the programmatic complexity of the museum.

model of MAD architects’ ‘beijing 2050’, an acquisition for ‘building M+: the museum and architecture collection’
see more about the acquired models, drawings, installations, photographs, and videos on designboom here