M+ and HSBC bring contemporary visual culture to CWB flagship branch

M+ and its lead partner HSBC are deepening their partnership through a new collaboration at HSBC Causeway Bay flagship branch and Premier Centre, presenting an innovative visual culture experience.

Coinciding with the branch's grand opening on 8 November, the collaboration introduces a curated visual culture experience that brings contemporary visual culture into an everyday public setting.

Reflecting M+ and HSBC's shared commitment to expanding access to culture, the initiative features presentations from the M+ collection alongside site-specific digital commissions, extending artistic encounters beyond the museum’s walls and into the heart of Hong Kong’s urban landscape.

The collaboration transforms an everyday commercial space into an open cultural environment, inviting diverse audiences to encounter contemporary visual culture in their daily lives. Curated around the theme of ‘Urban landscapes’, the presentation spans various floors and spaces across HSBC's Causeway Bay flagship branch. 

The showcase explores Hong Kong and Greater China through real and imagined cityscapes, reflecting the dense urban fabric, layered histories, and diverse communities that shaped Causeway Bay’s unique character, and encouraging visitors to reflect on the evolving relationships between people, place, and the city.

The presentation features M+ collection works and digital commissions spanning four decades, from 1985 to the present, demonstrating the breadth and depth of the museum’s holdings and programme. Featured artists include prominent figures in Hong Kong art such as Luis Chan, Holly Lee, and Chu Hing Wah, alongside leading artists from the Chinese Mainland, including Yue Minjun, Duan Jianyu, and Cui Jie.

Working across a wide range of mediums, from oil painting, ink, and watercolour to woodblock printing, photomontage, and digital art, these artists engage with familiar urban symbols, everyday streetscapes, and evolving city environments, from the Bauhinia flower to scenes of Wan Chai and Yau Ma Tei.

A major highlight is Zachary Lieberman’s digital commission, Atlas of Blobs, to be presented across the exterior facade and the space of the flagship branch. Originally commissioned by M+ as part of its online project series, this work brings creative coding and digital art into the urban streetscape. Lieberman is a professor at the MIT Media Lab, and one of his projects has been named among Time magazine’s best inventions of the year. 

Complementing these presentations, curated M+ merchandise can be discovered by visitors to the branch at its Reward+ Gallery, for redemption using HSBC RewardCash. This integration creates an additional point of connection with M+, extending the experience into daily lifestyle rewards and enabling visitors to discover products inspired by the museum’s collections and exhibitions. 

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HSBC has been M+'s first lead partner since November 2022. The partnership has included sponsorship of selected M+ special exhibitions, including Yayoi Kusama: 1945 to Now, Guo Pei: Fashioning Imagination, The Hong Kong Jockey Club Series: Picasso for Asia - A Conversation, Canton Modern: Art and Visual Culture, 1900s–1970s, Lee Bul: From 1998 to Now, and most recently, Myths and Monsters: The Art of Fantasy in Asia, on view at M+ until 4 April 2027. 

For the most recent M+’s special exhibition, HSBC has unveiled the "HSBC art route," a dedicated cultural transit experience connecting the HSBC Main Building in Central to M+ in West Kowloon. Reflecting HSBC’s overarching "Open to art" initiative, the project invites the public to discover Hong Kong’s rich heritage through its history, urban legends, and artistic traditions.

Departing from Central and journeying across the harbour, passengers are accompanied by an on-board guide provided in collaboration with local cultural enterprise Walk In Hong Kong. The specially decorated minibus offers an immersive way to explore Central’s history, the iconic legend of the HSBC bronze lions, and various cultural landmarks along the route.

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