Australian deputy museum director tipped for top M+ role in Hong Kong
If confirmed, Suhanya Raffel would take over at the helm of the visual culture museum, replacing Swede Lars Nittve
One of Australia’s top art gallery directors looks set to take over the helm at Hong Kong’s hotly anticipated museum of visual culture months after the shock departure of its former director.
Suhanya Raffel, deputy director of Sydney’s flagship public gallery, is reported to be taking over M+, according to the Australian press, though a spokesman for the West Kowloon Cultural District Authority (WKCDA) would not confirm the appointment.
“We will not comment on the appointment until the Board of WKCDA has made a formal decision,” he said on Saturday night following the report in The Australian newspaper.
Raffel, of the Art Gallery of New South Wales, would be the first woman to hold a senior artistic position with the authority. Chief Secretary Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor chairs the board.
Former director Lars Nittve, who laid the groundwork for the museum, left in January, citing frustration with delays in developing the project, which is now scheduled to open in 2019.
However, there was some criticism about having a non-local in charge of the city’s biggest publicly funded museum project.
“She is someone without any experience in Hong Kong or any apparent knowledge of Hong Kong’s art history. M+ will continue to have nothing to do with Hong Kong,” said Mathias Woo Yan-wai, co-artistic director of Zuni Icosahedron and one of the fiercest critics of M+.
“Having someone who doesn’t know Hong Kong or the Chinese language come here is like asking someone who is colour blind to choose the art,” he said.
But a respected local curator who requested anonymity said Raffel would make a good choice.
“Sydney has a very large Asian population and Raffel used to run the Asia Pacific Triennial, which involves so many Asian artists, including from mainland China and Hong Kong. It is also exciting that they have picked a woman,” she said.
Meg Maggio, owner of Pekin Fine Arts in Beijing and Hong Kong, was also full of praise.
“She has a good knowledge of Chinese artists and has worked with many. And she is coming from a very good art museum. Let’s hope she can navigate the Hong Kong arts administration system well,” she said.
