Built 24 years ago the Hong Kong Museum of Art has found it difficult lately to cater to modern exhibition needs, which meant last year a 7m exhibit had to be shown at the Hong Kong Cultural Centre.
The ceilings of the galleries will be raised to between 5m-9m and the exhibition area will be increased from 7,000 sq m to more than 10,000 sq m. In the past five years visitor figures to the art museum have increased from 300,000 to 400,000 and these figures are expected to rise when the renovation is complete.
During the museum’s temporary closure its 16,000 artworks – mostly from Hong Kong and mainland China – will go on display in various cultural venues such as the Central Library in Causeway Bay and the Heritage Discovery Centre in Kowloon Park.
The museum will close on 3 August and is expected to reopen in mid-2018.
