A museum and so much more.

A Visit to the M+ Museum in West Kowloon.

01.09.2022 - 01.09.2022

Last week, I tried to go to the Science Museum, but found out I had to reserve a slot online to do so. When I got home, I had a go at doing just that, but it was either sold out or unavailable for the foreseeable future. This set me thinking about other places that needed a reservation for a visit, so I tried the temple with the huge Kuan Yin statue in Tai Po. That was unavailable for the whole of September. Then I tried the M+ Museum in West Kowloon. This is quite a new museum and I discovered that it is free to visit for a year from its opening date, but after that, i.e. from this November, it will cost HK$120 about £12, so I decided to get in there and book quick.

The online booking process for this museum was quick and easy and I booked myself a slot for Thursday 1st September at 12pm. The M+ Museum is a museum of modern art. It's called M+, meaning M for museum, but the plus indicates it is so much more than that. I am in two minds about modern art. I have seen plenty I like, but also lots where I think: "Hmmm, exactly how is this art?" I decided prior to my visit that I would look at M+'s website to help me decide what to look at when I was there. The website had lots of videos where the curators of the museum talked about the exhibits there. Their enthusiasm was catching and I actually found myself starting to feel quite excited about my visit.

I wanted to make sure I wasn't late for getting in, so naturally I ended up about forty minutes too early. This wasn't a problem. I've only ever been to the West Kowloon Art District once before, so I was happy to have another look round.

I started by walking along the waterfront looking at the boats. Then I quickly reached the Palace Museum. This has been open for an even shorter time than M+. I will have to make an effort to go here, too, but I have heard it is very crowded at the moment, so I may wait a bit till the novelty wears off.

Along the waterfront.

Palace Museum.

The Palace Museum and Sculpture.

Sculpture and ICC, the tallest building in Hong Kong.

I then strolled along the harbour walkway, looking at the flowers in the beautifully landscaped gardens and the views across the water. The skies grew darker and darker and when I reached the museum, it was starting to pelt down with rain.

Flowers.

Flowering tree.

Hibiscus.

Purple flowers.

Bananas.

Banana Flower.

Beautiful flowers.

Wild grass.

View of M Museum.

View of M+ Museum.

M Cafe.

M+ Cafe.

I went through all the rigmarole of sorting out my leave home safe app and my confirmation that I had reserved a visit, then I headed up the escalator to the second floor. First of all, I took some photos of the building itself as I rather liked the way it was designed.

M information centre.

M+ information centre.

Staircase.

Inside the museum.

The M Building.

The M+ Building.

Next I headed to 'The Sigg Collection: from Revolution to Globalisation.' This was an exhibition about the development of art in Communist China.

Under Chairman Mao, art was used for propaganda. There were rules about what could be depicted, how they could be depicted and even the colours that could be used. Much of the artwork from this time shows workers beaming with pride as they battle adversity to perform their laborious tasks with a joyful heart. Later some artists used images that were common in propaganda works, but added in things that shouldn't be there, like Coca-Cola bottles and other taboo Capitalist images, as a form of rebellion.

There was a painting of a yellow sun that was considered a major artistic breakthrough in its day, as before that it was only permitted to depict the sun in red. Then there were artworks showing the frustration of artists who were not allowed to express their creativity, such as a sculpture of a person with their hand covering their mouth to stop them saying what they think and a sculpture of a clenched fist to show the tension created by being rigidly controlled. There was a collection of photos of artists who met secretly in remote places and took nude photographs of each other in an attempt to throw off the constraints they felt. There was an extremely sad artwork consisting of four hangman's nooses and images of dead bodies. This was created by an artist whose friend had committed suicide. There was also a device like an old fashioned gramophone, but its purpose was that if you spin it , it tells you what colour to use or what shape to draw etc. Of course, this wasn't a real device. It was a way of saying 'I have no control over my artistic output'. Over time artists began to have a bit more freedom and to experiment with techniques that were used in other countries. Personally I found the exhibition fascinating. I spent a long time reading about all the exhibits.

The Sigg Collection.

Art and Politics Propaganda Poster.

Traditional Images of Mao.

Not so traditional images of Mao.

Propaganda art with western images.

Propaganda image mixed with Western symbols.

An incompatible Marriage of a Chinese propaganda image and a Channel number 5 advert.

Is this about hidden images? It's a word in this direction.

But it's a tiger looked at in this direction.

This model is about Capitalism, Communism, consumerism, propaganda. You name it.

This model is about Capitalism, Communism, consumerism, propaganda.

An artist's frustration. Don't speak. Bottle up the stress.

This model was created to show the dreary sameness of politics and how the media portray them. Behind it there was an animated film of the figures in the sculpture doing unexpected things.

Video that goes with the sculpture.

The repetition of images.

This yellow sun was revolutionary, because suns had to be depicted as red.

Number box, pseudo record player and laughing image.

Box of numbers. When each row and column equals fifteen, the world will be at peace, but they are currently out of order, so the world is in chaos. A sort of Asian Pandora's box.

Spin the wheel to find which, colours, shapes and images you should use.

Laughing image. I think the point here is simply being able to depict something other than the scenes propaganda allowed.

Created by an artist whose friend saw suicide as the only way out.

Family photos. Note each one is mum, dad and usually a boy child due to the one child policy.

From the blurb attached to this one, the point is we have no idea who these people are or why they are in the picture.

I liked this but to be honest I have no idea what it represents.

I liked this but I have no idea what it represents.

Einstein weeps, because his theory of relativity ultimately led to nuclear bombs. Duchamp is contemplative. His theories changed art. Both in their way were revolutionaries.

Interesting image. What are they all looking at?

There was also a section dealing with the changes that have occurred in people's lives in the last few decades when they have seen their environment torn down and rebuilt differently, or they have been forced to leave a rural environment for an urban one

This is to show how alienated people feel having the environments they grew up in torn down and rebuilt very differently.

The sculptures here are about people coming from rural environments where they walk their pets, or go to the park to sing, but when they do this in a more urban environment, it doesn't quite fit.

The photographs here are also about people coming from rural environments where they walk their pets, or go to the park to sing, but when they do this in a more urban environment it doesn't quite fit.

Singing in the park.

When I left there, I entered 'Crucified TVs - Not a Prayer in Heaven'. This was a room that was designed to look like a chapel with a huge cross at the front and music playing. Various words flashed across the cross such as ' forced me to my knees' or 'I ran out onto the street in my underwear." The idea here was to show how we are constantly bombarded with bad news from the media, from friends, from the world around us and that sometimes it can get overwhelming. I watched the changing words and images for a while before heading off to the next exhibition.

Crucified TVs.

Ever changing Cross..

Ever changing Cross.

The next one was also excellent. It was called 'Things, Spaces, Interactions' and was basically about designing everyday goods such as furniture, clothes or even buildings. One of the curators was very friendly and talked to people about the items they were viewing. For me he pointed out a collection of ten metal chairs which were all different from each other yet slotted together to form a whole, a sort of metaphor for people who are different getting on together. There were several more items of furniture in this exhibition that I really liked. There was also a display about the origins of emojis and various items, electrical and otherwise, which have become obsolete due to ever advancing technology. One room had been converted into a lifesize model of a sushi bar.

Things, Spaces, Interactions.

Ten very different chairs that fit together as one.

Couch and Mickey Mouse Carpet.

Chair.

I love this chair's feet.

Flower chair, I want one.

Chair and lamp.

Lampshades.

Indonesian batik.

Mao dress.

Clothes made of Thai silk.

Parts from the dismantled 1970 World Exposition Tower in Osaka.

Panel from the dismantled 1970 World Exposition Tower in Osaka.

Mural showing a variety of architectural projects linking past and present.

Detail of Mural.

Multipurpose piece of furniture..

Design exhibit.

Sushi bar.

Competition for children to design the perfect building.

Some of the things the children came up with.

Japanese technology that was cutting edge in its time.

Japanese technology.

Obsolete technology.

Old fashioned radios.

I used to have a typewriter like this.

The origins of emojis.

Having looked at all these things with intense interest, I must admit I was tiring. There's only so much art you can take in. Nonetheless, I thought I would take a quick look at some more exhibitions. The next one was called 'The Dream of the Museum.' I didn't read about the exhibits in depth. I noticed two works by Yoko Ono: one was a board that she had invited people to hammer nails into, the other was called 'Trust'. It was basically a chess set where all the pieces were white so you had to trust yourself and your partner to tell the truth about who owned each piece. It was a bit weird, but then I did say, Yoko Ono. There was also several hammer and sickle images created by Andy Warhol after he visited a Communist country and saw that image everywhere.

Yoko Ono's board, hammer and nails.

'Trust' by Yoko Ono where all the chess pieces are the same colour.

Andy Warhol Hammer and Sickle.

The hammer and sickle Andy Warhol drew from.

There was just one more gallery on the second floor, so I thought I may as well go in, even though I was starting to feel a little art drunk. The exhibition here was called 'Indivduals, Networks, Expressions'. There was an elderly Chinese couple wandering around who made me laugh. Although I could not understand what they were saying, it seemed the lady was interested in all the exhibits, while the man got frustrated and angry with the ones he did not like. I didn't feel like that at this exhibition, but I have at exhibitions in the past, so I knew how he felt. There was a room aiming at showing what it felt like to be suddenly immersed in another culture. There were words on the wall in fake languages and recordings of people speaking gibberish to make sure you had no idea what was going on. There was also a model of a cage. One rather strange artist had asked his friend to lock him in there for a year, like he was an exhibit in a zoo. This seemed a bit above and beyond the call of duty, I thought. Another strange exhibit was piles of black business cards placed face down on top of each other. This was entitled 'Monument to people we have conveniently forgotten. I hate you' and was made up of business cards of people the artist had never bothered to contact. There were several booths people were encouraged to go in and write a letter to someone important to them. I didn't do this.

'Individuals, Networks, Expressions'

People exploring the exhibits.

This couple got quite animated as they wandered around.

Here people were encouraged to view exhibits from different angles.

I think this was based on traditional Indonesian art techniques.

No idea what this is, but it looks nice.

This was about ways to enjoy art. You can look at it. You are allowed to feel the different textures of this one and as you touch it, it makes noises.

This is to show how isolated people can feel when they understand nothing around them.

The artist here depicts himself as a Chinese tourist in the USA, not fitting in.

This artist asked his friend to lock him up in a cage for a year for art. Can't say I understand that.

The black objects are discarded business cards.

Cages and candles.

Taking a rest and enjoying the view.

Showing how Bonsai are tightly controlled in their growth.

Booths where you can write a letter to someone.

I decided I would just visit the roof garden then go. There was a sign up saying to go to the roof garden first return to the ground floor then take the lift from there, so I headed to the ground floor. I had thought there were no exhibitions down there, but it turned out there was one. It was called 'Hong Kong: Here and Beyond.' I knew I would really not be doing it justice but I popped in for a quick look. There was a kind of house on a raft that some artist used to live in on Victoria Harbour. He spent his time fishing or hitting golf balls into the water as a protest against Hong Kong's high property rents. There was also a small Hong Kong flat that an architect had lived in. He had maximised the space by having a pulldown bed and a pull out wardrobe etc. Everything in his flat was made of metal. There was a film near the exit with lots of images presented as a kind of giant kaleidoscope. This took me back to my childhood.

The artist lived on this boat to protest the high cost of housing.

I read she wanted to merge beauty queen with Queen Elizabeth II. Not sure why.

Kaleidoscope.

After that I finally made it to the roof. The skies were dark, a storm was on its way in. I looked at the harbour views and at the views over a nearby construction site.

Up on the roof.

Views from the roof garden.

View over the Palace Museum.

Construction site.

It began to pour, so I went back inside, had a quick look in the gift shop then headed home.

Museum Shop.

I would have to say that I thoroughly enjoyed my visit to this museum. I got in for free, but I think it would definitely also be worth paying for. In all I spent around four hours here.

On the way back to the train in the pouring rain, I passed a man-made waterfall.