Chanel Becomes Lead Partner For Hong Kong's M+ Museum

(MENAFN- USA Art News) Chanel has expanded its partnership with Hong Kong's M+ museum, becoming its lead partner for the next three years. The agreement broadens the French luxury house's support beyond film to include exhibitions, artist programs, and various other projects.

The luxury brand has previously supported the contemporary visual culture museum, located in Hong Kong's West Kowloon Cultural District, since 2023. Prior to this new deal, the collaboration primarily focused on experimental cinema, film restoration, and the development of the museum's moving-image collection. The expanded partnership, announced on Wednesday, will now encompass a wider array of the museum's activities.

A core element of the new agreement is“Pioneering Visions,” an initiative designed to highlight artists who have significantly influenced contemporary art and visual culture, particularly those from Hong Kong, mainland China, and across Asia. The first exhibition under this program will be Sarah Sze: Centrifuge, a solo presentation scheduled to open at the museum's M+ Focus Gallery in February 2027. The initiative will also feature artist talks, screenings, workshops, and an online platform showcasing works from the museum's collection. The financial terms of this expanded partnership were not disclosed.

For Chanel, this agreement represents a further step in its increasing engagement with major cultural institutions through the Chanel Culture Fund. This fund also provides support for programs at the British Film Institute, Berlin's Hamburger Bahnhof, and the Venice Biennale. Yana Peel, Chanel's president of arts, culture, and heritage, stated that M+ was one of the company's earliest institutional arts partners in Asia and lauded the museum's role in establishing Hong Kong as an international cultural center. Peel remarked,“Now, after successful programmes focused on moving image, we are broadening our scope.” She added,“M+ is so much more than a museum: it is the epicenter for dialogue within Asia and between Asia and the world.”

The partnership has already yielded tangible results. Since 2023, Chanel has supported the restoration of nine Hong Kong feature films, which have been presented at over 130 screenings worldwide. The museum has also acquired 60 experimental moving-image works, with approximately half originating from Hong Kong. Chanel has also supported a senior curatorial position dedicated to moving images and the museum's Asian Avant-Garde Film Festival, which has attracted more than 10,300 participants across three editions since 2024. These initiatives will continue under the new agreement. All nine restored films are set to screen at M+ in November, while an additional six films from across Asia are scheduled for release through the restoration program in 2027.

M+ director Suhanya Raffel said in a statement that the expanded partnership would enable the museum to move beyond its initial focus on cinema and explore connections between various artistic disciplines. This announcement precedes M+'s fifth anniversary, as the museum opened in 2021. Designed by Herzog & de Meuron, the waterfront museum houses over 9,000 works encompassing contemporary art, design, architecture, and moving image, including the M+ Sigg Collection of Chinese contemporary art.

We previously reported:

The Chanel Culture Fund's second Arts & Culture Magazine volume, featuring Cindy Sherman on its cover, launches October 23, coinciding with Art Basel Paris.

Source: ARTnews

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