Building a show

Photo Provided to China Daily

There is former dean of the University of Hong Kong's Faculty of Architecture Eric Lye's winning scheme for the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, which never got built. There are snapshots of abandoned construction sites all over China, filtered through the camera lens of Stanley Wong, Hong Kong's "anothermountainman". And there is a model of The Peak Tower by Fitch & Chung as it was originally constructed in the early 1970s.

"As curators, we use our personal voices to tell a story," says Seoul-born, US-educated Chong.

"We do it in discourse with other professionals and always without arrogance. Although we are specialists, our story may not always be true. We can revise. We want the best works for M+, but those decisions will always be subjective."

Nittve, who's from Sweden, says: "Museums today have steadily growing audiences. Despite living our lives in a mediated format, it seems that people are looking for the real thing: one-to-one experiences. They want the here and now."

He believes that Hong Kong's colonial legacy may have something to do with its lack of great public cultural institutions - or its citizens' perception that museums are boring and stuffy. "The argument that people don't want to pay to see things that they don't know about may be an argument for free admission to M+," Nittve says.

"Hong Kong people have a healthy curiosity toward contemporary culture. I think that this city is ready - and maybe even a little impatient - for a museum like ours."