Introduction

What is Conservation For?

First of all, what is the significance of preserving cultural heritage? In the world today, there is growing recognition of the diversity of human cultural activities and the importance of documenting and preserving all forms of cultural heritage within their contexts. In the field of architecture, the scope of protection has expanded from individual buildings to include groups of traditional buildings and landscapes. There is also what we might call “ heritage of tragedy,” such as the Atomic Bomb Dome in Hiroshima, which serves to remind us of tragic incidents caused by humanity. UNESCO’s Memory of the World program aims to safeguard and disseminate historical records, and intangible cultural heritage, such as performing arts, traditions, social customs, rituals, festivals, traditional crafts, and cultural spaces are also considered important targets of protection.

In the domain of modern and contemporary art, preserving artworks for posterity in the best possible condition is a global issue. Many works of modern and contemporary art are produced using industrial materials, which means that the degradation of these materials, and proper methods of restoring them, are not well known and are under research. There are also new media such as film that did not exist until modern times, as well as monumentally sized pieces requiring especially high ceilings and works that artists produced without intending for them to be preserved. For these reasons, this field calls for the ongoing accumulation of specialized experience and study. Under these circumstances, the opportunity to participate in NCAR’s visit to M+, the museum in Hong Kong, was a truly valuable experience for me.

M+: A Museum of Massive Scale

M+ opened in November 2021 in Hong Kong’s West Kowloon Cultural District, with a focus on modern and contemporary visual arts. It boasts one of the largest floor areas and collection sizes among art museums in Asia. The West Kowloon Cultural District overlooking Victoria Harbour is a cultural and educational zone with theaters, art museums, restaurants, and shops situated on lush parkland. M+ comprises approximately 30 galleries as well as a Moving Image Center (comprising the Cinema, Grand Stair, and Mediatheque) where visitors can enjoy film screenings. The museum also includes educational facilities, an archive, a rooftop garden, a gift shop, a lounge for museum members, restaurants, cafés and more. The massive LED screen on the M+ facade, visible from across Victoria Harbour, has become a landmark in the night view of Hong Kong.

M+ seen from the other side of Victoria Harbor. The screen shows a display for Kusama Yayoi’s exhibition.

The M+ collection comprises approximately 8,000 items, with a focus on visual arts, design, architecture, and film of the 20th and 21st centuries. The museum has a comprehensive collection of works from Hong Kong, as well as extensive holdings of art from Asia and the rest of the world, without restriction to specific media, and takes a thematic approach to exhibitions. Its captivating displays are underpinned by top-class behind-the-scenes facilities and an international team of experts. The museum ensures that this team includes an ample number of specialists including curators, conservators, registrars, photographers, installation specialists and others.

Glass-Walled Ground Floor of Conservation Facility

Next to the building housing the M+ galleries is the seven-story Conservation and Storage Facility (CSF).

Front exterior view of M+. The human figure on the screen at the top is part of displayed video content.

At Other Museums Worldwide

M+’s Conservation and Storage Facility was designed with input from conservation experts to ensure a safe environment for preserving art, and to provide conservators with a practical and user-friendly structure. Looking across the world, other modern art museums such as The Museum of Modern Art, New York and the Centre Pompidou in Paris have played pioneering roles as conservation facilities specializing in contemporary art, and the newly constructed M+ is poised to stand alongside these institutions as an equal.

There is also a growing global trend toward establishing new museum storage facilities in suburbs, and having these facilities function as conservation centers as well. For example, the Louvre Museum has a conservation center dedicated to storage, research, and conservation in Liévin close to its annex in Lens in northern France. The Centre Pompidou plans to construct a facility for conservation and production of artworks in Massy, also in northern France. In Asia, the National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art in South Korea has established a national collection center, with storage and a conservation workshop visible to the public, in Cheongju in central South Korea.

In Closing

For works of art, utilization and preservation are two sides of one coin. Visiting M+’s exhibition and conservation facilities was a highly meaningful opportunity to learn about the latest developments in both utilization and conservation of art. I believe the insights and experience gained from this visit will be highly beneficial when applied to future activities at the National Center for Art Research.

(All photographs by author)