Inside Hong Kong’s Most Talked-About Museum Shows

As Art Basel Hong Kong takes center stage this week, the city is humming with more than just buzzy sales and glamorous soirées—its institutions are offering a rich slate of exhibitions that deserve equal attention. From meditative installations rooted in Chinese medicine to a centennial retrospective of Hoo Mojong, these shows offer deeper engagement with the cultural landscape beyond the fair.

Here are the must-see museum shows to explore while you’re in town.

Wing Po So: “Take Turns”
Para Site, through May 25

To most Hong Kongers, traditional Chinese herbal medicine is an essential part of their daily lives. But to artist Wing Po So, this centuries-old practice has an extra layer of meaning. Born into a family of Chinese medicine doctors and raised in a family-run Chinese medicine shop, her upbringing deeply shaped her artistic practice, which explores form, materiality, metaphysics, and relationality through the lens of the knowledge she absorbed from that environment. In “Take Turns” at Para Site, Hong Kong’s leading independent non-profit art space, So has created new installations using old drawers recovered from traditional Chinese pharmacies in the city that have ceased to operate. By reconfiguring these worn wooden structures and filling them with new objects, they form a new ecosystem that invite audience to meditate on these “sites of transformative healing.”

Alicja Kwade: “Pretopia”
Tai Kwun Contemporary, through April 6

“Pretopia” is the Berlin-based international art star Alicja Kwade’s institutional solo debut in Hong Kong, and Tai Kwun—a heritage site comprising the former Central Police Station, Victoria Prison, and Central Magistracy—is a fitting venue. Known for her conceptual sculptures and installations that explore perceptions of reality using contrasting materials like heavy stones and delicate clock hands, Kwade presents nine seminal works alongside a newly commissioned, site-specific installation created in response to the historic compound’s colonial past. Her new work, , commissioned by Tai Kwun and housed in the site’s Prison Yard, reflects the passage of time in prison, a subject matter that has been studied by scholars. The exhibition’s title, inspired by the word “utopia” carved into historic stones found in the site’s storage, reflects Kwade’s interpretation of the present moment. “It’s not about a utopian place that already exists,” she explained in a video interview, but about humanity’s ongoing effort to reach that ideal.

“Picasso for Asia—A Conversation”
M+, through July 13

For anyone in Hong Kong during the art week, this exhibition is a rare opportunity to experience the works of Pablo Picasso. Featuring over 60 masterpieces on loan from the Musée national Picasso in Paris—home to the world’s largest and most significant collection of Picasso’s works—this show is a must-see. 

Titled “Picasso for Asia—A Conversation,” this exhibition is part of M+’s Hong Kong Jockey Club Series and marks the first major showcase of Picasso’s work Hong Kong in over a decade. The exhibition sparks cross-cultural and intergenerational dialogue by placing his works in conversation with over eighty pieces from M+’s collection. These include works by more than 20 Asian and Asian-diasporic artists, spanning from the early 20th century to the present day. Alongside Picasso’s iconic pieces, you will encounter works by artists such as Isamu Noguchi, Luis Chan, Gu Dexin, Nalini Malani, Tanaami Keiichi, and Haegue Yang.

A highlight of the exhibition is Taiwanese American artist Lee Mingwei’s Guernica in Sand, a large-scale installation and performance presented in The Studio at the museum. In this thought-provoking work, Lee recreates Picasso’s iconic Guernica using sand—a medium often associated with impermanence and transformation. By rendering the scenes of violence from Guernica in this ephemeral material, Lee invites viewers to reflect on the nature of chaos and the creative potential of change.

However, not everyone is a fan of this blockbuster show. Some exhibition goers and critics raised eyebrows at the curatorial direction, saying that the “dialogue” was arbitrary and unnecessary. One visitor was quoted saying: “Why am I seeing Zeng Fanzhi as soon as I step into the gallery but not Picasso? It is very strange.”

“Objects of Play: Hoo Mojong Centennial Retrospective”
Asia Society Hong Kong Center, March 26 through July 6

Recognized as one of the most prominent Chinese female artists, Hoo Mojong has emerged as a pivotal figure in 20th-century Asian Modernism. Her work stands as a testament to her role in bridging Eastern and Western artistic traditions and this retrospective offers a deep dive into her remarkable life and career.

Born in Shanghai, Hoo left the city in her early twenties and spent years living and working in places like Taipei, Brazil, and Spain—experiences that brought a rich blend of cultural influences to her art. She eventually settled in Paris, where she painted for 37 years before returning to China in 1996. Back home, her distinctive focus on the human body and whimsical everyday objects earned her wide recognition from institutions across the country.

The exhibition offers a comprehensive look at Hoo’s artistic evolution, featuring nearly 100 works spanning different phases of her career. It showcases how she skillfully blends Chinese and Western artistic traditions while exploring the deeper spiritual and emotional dimensions of everyday life.

“Lining Revealed: A Journey Through Folk Wisdom and Contemporary Vision”
Center for Heritage, Arts, and Textile, through July 13

Hong Kong’s Center for Heritage, Arts, and Textile (CHAT), housed in the former cotton-spinning mills of Nan Fung Textiles in Tsuen Wan, has long been a space where history and contemporary creativity intersect. Known for its unique programming, the institution bridges the innovative legacy of Hong Kong’s textile industry with fresh artistic dialogues. “Lining Revealed: A Journey Through Folk Wisdom and Contemporary Vision,” curated by in-house curator Wang Weiwei, delves into the enduring synergies between traditional folk crafts and contemporary art. Showcasing a rich variety of folk crafts—including handwoven and silkscreen-printed Chinese fabrics, traditional Indonesian weavings, and intricate Central Asian ornamental motifs—the exhibition brings together the works of 13 artists from across Asia who reinterpret, preserve, and transform textile traditions, weaving new narratives that connect past and present.

Source: Exhibition - news.artnet.com