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2026 Venice Biennale’s Hong Kong show gets new organiser, with Museum of Art replacing M+

Hong Kong Museum of Art, put in charge of arranging exhibition at world’s oldest art biennial in place of M+ museum, invites proposals

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Detail from the Hong Kong exhibition at the 2015 Venice Biennale, featuring the art of Tsang Kin-Wah. The city’s M+ museum, which has organised Hong Kong’s exhibitions in Venice since 2013, has been replaced by the Hong Kong Museum of Art. Photo: SCMP
Enid Tsui

The Hong Kong Museum of Art (HKMOA) has confirmed it has taken over preparations for the city’s exhibition at the 2026 Venice Biennale.

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M+, Hong Kong’s museum of visual culture in the West Kowloon Cultural District, had been in charge of the city’s exhibition at the high-profile international art event since 2013.

Rather than focus the exhibition on the work of a single artist, which has been the case since 2009, the next Hong Kong exhibition in Venice will feature the work of several artists selected from a long list containing over 200 names.

The list includes artists who in the past five years have received commissions from Hong Kong government-run museums or offices for new works, and artists nominated by other bodies. Nominations were sought from tertiary institutions, the West Kowloon Cultural District Authority and the Hong Kong Arts Development Council. In the event, the authority did not nominate anyone.
I anticipate that the exhibition can promote Chinese traditional culture and Hong Kong’s own special characteristics
Frankie Yeung, Hong Kong Arts Development Council vice-chairman

The decision to replace M+ with the HKMOA was made by the council, whose members are appointed by the government and is the official presenter of the biennial exhibitions in Venice; it rents the building used to house the city’s contribution. The change, while not officially confirmed until now, has been widely discussed in the city’s art community since invitations for nominations were sent out in January.

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Johnson Chang Tsong-zung, curator of the inaugural Hong Kong pavilion in Venice in 2001 and director of Hanart TZ Gallery, supports the council’s decision.
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