Hong Kong’s K11 Musea Unveils Art Collection
By Evelyn Goh
On August 26, Hong Kong’s new ten-story mall K11 Musea unveiled its art collection, curated by collector and K11 brand founder Adrian Cheng. Billed as a “cultural-retail destination,” K11 Musea is the culmination of a decade-long collaboration with 100 international and local artists, designers, and architecture firms, including New York-headquartered Kohn Pedersen Fox Associates, the Rotterdam-based OMA, and Hong Kong’s LAAB. Part of the USD 2.6 billion Victoria Dockside development in Tsim Sha Tsui, the 107,000-square-meter K11 Musea complex will feature a rotating display of contemporary and site-specific artworks alongside other specially commissioned pieces.
According to the press release, the art collection is “aesthetically inspired by the city’s waterfront culture.” Exhibits include multimedia artist Samson Young’s site-specific mini-golf course installation Big Big Company (Mini Golf) (2019) on the third floor of K11 Musea. Cheng Ran’s film Always I Trust (2014), based on a series of anonymous spam emails the artist received, and Zhang Enli’s immersive installation Parrots of Five Colours (2019), featuring bronze sculptures of the birds representing different planets, are shown on the second level. Stationed in the outdoor vicinity is Erwin Wurm’s Hot Dog Bus (2018), a mobile food truck converted from a vintage Volkswagen Microbus. Later this year, Elmgreen & Dragset will erect their large-scale sculpture Van Gogh’s Ear (2016), resembling an upright standing swimming pool.
Aside from restaurants and retail spaces, including the largest Asian branch of the New York Museum of Modern Art’s Design Store, the mall has spaces for talks, performances, and exhibitions. Korakrit Arunanondchai’s ticketed presentation “Painting with History in a Room Filled with People with Funny Names 3,” featuring paintings, videos, and mannequins, is on view until October. Discounts are available for members of the Artist Klub, a tiered scheme with free and paid packages.
On his plans to turn the development into the “Silicon Valley of Culture,” Adrian Cheng remarked: “K11 Musea is beyond a cultural landmark, it is the centrepiece of Victoria Dockside that will inspire global millennials, and facilitate a broader discussion on the interconnectedness of creativity, culture and innovation.”
K11 Musea is part of a portfolio that includes K11 Artus serviced apartments, also located in Victoria Dockside. Leases for the 287 units are offered for up to HKD 167 (USD 21.30) per square foot per month (adding up to a monthly rent of between USD 7,265 and USD 40,790 based on unit sizes)—33 percent more than the HKD 126 (USD 16.10) per square foot charged at the Four Seasons Hotel, Hong Kong, as the South China Morning Post reports.
Evelyn Goh is an editorial intern of ArtAsiaPacific.
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