M+ GALA: THE FIRST ASIA MUSEUM GALA

After the Met Gala, The Academy Museum Gala, Petersen Automotive Museum Gala and LACMA Art + Film Gala, the museums entered the competition for both sponsorship and invitation, accompanied by the Galas. M+ Gala: The first Asia Museum Gala by Asia's first global museum. Such special events organized by the museums are significant and effective for the donors and sponsorship relations of the museums, for the functioning and activities of the museum throughout the year. As a result, museums appear as institutions that have updated themselves with non-for-profit instead of non-profit in the definition. As museologists, we find it correct to update this definition. Museums are institutions that are expected to meet many needs for their collections, the way they are acquired, their preservation and maintenance as well as their management. It is not possible for them to continue without a sponsor like us... see? For this reason, their donations and membership programs are as important as the guests at the Galas. According to the data of 2022, the Met Museum was the pioneer of this dynamic with US$17.4 million -until the M+ Gala-. The first Asia museum gala: M+ Gala. We can say that an important title and a new page have been opened for Museology. Now, it has taken the lead with HK$17.5 million, according to the statement made by M+ officials on November 18th. Not bad at all for the first premiere. The second blow to the Met Museum after the photos of Hailey and Selena at the LACMA Gala came from the M+ Gala. Do you think a change will be made in terms of the date of the Met Gala, maybe they will find a solution by renovating the Met Bathroom, who knows? Photograph: M+ Facebook Page
Adrian Cheng, photograph by Prnewswire
Well, if you were Adrian Cheng, who was the Chief Executive Officer of New World Development Company Limited and the Founder and Chairman of K11 Group, chairs the first Asia museum gala M+ Gala, which has the vision of becoming Asia's first 'global' museum... which artist would you consider for the opening exhibition that will run parallel to the Gala? It should have a global identity, be of Asian origin, be well-known artist... Let us give you a clue, who do you think is the first female artist who succeeds in reflecting the dynamism of Asian culture and is one of the most well-known artists around the world? That's correct: Yayoi Kusama. Yayoi Kusama is a 'global' artist in the collections of the most important museums around the world. You can see his name and works in the collections of Louisiana Museum of Modern Art, Musée des Beaux-Arts, Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, The Broad... and many other important museums. In other words, there was an artist selection in parallel with the mission of the museum. We heard that you say M+ Museum originated in Hong Kong, and Yayoi Kusama is from Matsumoto. If the M+ Museum gets the Facade Panel a little bigger, it's only a matter of time before Showreels will appear from Kagoshima. We suppose you wouldn't have any objections now? We think they were overwhelmed by the criticism of climate activists and needed to add the following detail to their official website about the facade: "M+ is a proud participant in the Hong Kong Environment and Ecology Bureau's 'Charter on External Lighting'. In order to minimise light nuisance and energy wastage, we switch off the M+ Facade after 23:00 every night." Whether this explanation will be satisfactory, we will see in the process.

The selection of sponsors and media relations must be done correctly for success in such global oriented Galas. For example, photographs to be served to the press should be elite, yes elite. It should be ready to be shared on Instagram, and guests should fall in love with themselves all over again when they see their photos. That's why working with magazine teams is always recommended to start with a 1-0 lead. It is enough to look at those who have a magazine sponsorship at museum galas, those who have brand sponsorship, and the photos circulating on social media. In the global order, your number of likes, number of followers, yes these are important. For example, Met Gala sponsor 'Vogue', M+ Gala sponsor 'Tatler Asia'. The support of the press is important for the global Gala identity of the museum. At least as important as generous donors. Good for the media relations, for sure, but considering the M+ Museum, at least from the point of view of museologists, instead of sponsoring the magazine for M+ Gala, we think about the Facade which has become the symbol of the museum, should have cooperated with a technology giant brand. Maybe already thought about it... But for the M+ Gala, for example, Xiaomi brand, Hon Hai Precision Industry Co. or Huawei sponsorship would be worthy too. However, this was the first Gala, we are sure that the brainstorming for the upcoming Galas has started. As museologists, we have to think, of course, for the positive progress of the museum.

'Yayoi Kusama: 1945 to Now' exhibition awaits its visitors between 12 November 2022 - 14 May 2023. Let's not just focus on the Yayoi Kusama exhibition and skip the others too. Other exhibitions in line with the museum's mission caught our attention, for example: From Revolution to Globalisation. The focus of the exhibition is China from the early 1970s to the present. The exhibition can be visited until 12 November 2022-23 July 2023. Another exhibition, Hong Kong: Here and Beyond, runs until 12 Nov 2021-11 Jun 2023. The collection of the museum is gathered under four main headings: M+ Collection, M+ Sigg Collection, M+ Library Special Collection, M+ Collection Archives. Although it is difficult to mention the whole collection here one by one, we hope you visit the museum ASAP.

For further information please visit: mplus.org.hk/en/
We had an article about M+ before, you can find it here.