theartnewspaper, 15 December 2005
World’s top museums compete for Hong Kong development
Cultural consultancy attracts Guggenheim, Pompidou, Royal Academy and Musée d’Orsay among others
By Jason Edward Kaufman

[image] Getting on famously: the Pompidou’s president Bruno Racine and the Guggenheim’s director Thomas Krens decided to bury their differences (Racine had likened the Guggenheim to ‘a Coca Cola factory’) and work together on the Foster-designed West Kowloon Cult

NEW YORK. Top international museums are circling around one of the world’s biggest cultural contracts: the multi-billion-dollar West Kowloon Cultural District (WKCD). Last month it emerged that two former rivals—the Guggenheim and the Pompidou Centre—have joined forces to increase their chances of securing the lucrative deal. It also appears that other museums angling to get in the frame include the Art Institute of Chicago and Asia Society in New York, the Royal Academy of Art and the Victoria and Albert Museum in London, the Musée d’Orsay and Musée Guimet in Paris, and the Royal Ontario Museum in Toronto.

The WKCD masterplan, designed by the British architect Sir Norman Foster and adopted by the Hong Kong government in 2002, envisions a mixed-use commercial, residential, and cultural district partly covered by a huge canopy on the 100-acre waterfront site across Victoria Harbour from Hong Kong Island.
The WKCD masterplan, designed by the British architect Sir Norman Foster and adopted by the Hong Kong government in 2002, envisions a mixed-use commercial, residential, and cultural district partly covered by a huge canopy on the 100-acre waterfront site across Victoria Harbour from Hong Kong Island.

Last autumn the government shortlisted three developers: World City Culture Park, Sunny Development, and Dynamic Star International. But in response to public concerns, the government has decided to abolish its “single-developer” approach by giving at least half to one developer and allowing the others to bid for the remainder. In October it also abruptly changed the criteria announcing that the winner of the main bid will now be required to stump up a whopping HK$30 billion ($3.87 billion) to create a trust fund to operate the project’s planned cultural facilities.

The developers now considering the deal have partnered with cultural organisations to consult on their bids. Sunny Development has not announced its consultants, but World City has formed an international advisory council that includes the Art Institute of Chicago and Asia Society in New York, the Royal Academy of Art and the V&A, Musée d’Orsay and Musée Guimet, and the Royal Ontario Museum, as well as the Bureau of Cultural Relics of Henan Province and the Ge Hua Cultural Development Agency in Beijing, plus a number of performing arts presenters. A World City spokesman says that these organisations would create institutions governed by the Hong Kong authorities.

Dynamic Star has enlisted the Centre Pompidou of Paris and the Guggenheim Foundation in New York to consult on its bid. The two museums had been working independently with the companies that merged to form Dynamic Star, but rather than pursue competing proposals, they opted in late October to join forces on a proposal for a complex to be designed by Lord Foster.

In a statement, Guggenheim director Thomas Krens and Pompidou president Bruno Racine say they “intend to work closely with Hong Kong cultural partners and may also bring other major institutions into the project.” The Guggenheim usually demands a large fee to build and manage satellite museums such as the Guggenheim Bilbao, but details of the financing remain unclear. “It’s a 50-50 joint venture,” says Mr Krens.

The agreement follows a public spat that occurred when the Guggenheim and Pompidou were still competing against one another. Last December, Pompidou museum director Alfred Pacquement told the South China Morning Post that he would never partner with the Guggenheim which he likened to “a Coca-Cola factory”—although they regularly work together on exhibitions. His chief curator Alain Sayag added that “the Pompidou and Guggenheim are on different levels: we’re world class, they’re second-class; we’re national, they’re small and private; we’re European, they’re American.” He added that “US culture in Hong Kong is too strong and we need to have a presence in Asia to counterbalance the American influence.”

Mr Racine telephoned Mr Krens to apologise for the “misunderstanding” and Mr Krens replied rebutting the criticisms, expressing confidence in “the integrity of the Pompidou’s staff”, and proposing that the two museums collaborate. Mr Racine concurred and won the support of the French government.

While the Guggenheim has experience negotiating overseas partnerships—it operates branches in Venice, Bilbao, and Berlin, as well in Las Vegas—the Pompidou has yet to expand abroad. Both have expressed interest in establishing museums in Asia and have explored projects in Beijing, Shanghai, and in Singapore, where each has partnered with a developer to build a museum in proposed casino-resorts as part of the government’s Marina Bay project.

The Guggenheim proposal in Singapore, by architect Zaha Hadid, is in partnership with the Sands, owner of the Venetian Resort in Las Vegas where the Guggenheim operates a museum. Meanwhile, the Pompidou proposal for a building by Daniel Libeskind is in consultation with Harrah’s, another Las Vegas casino. The Singapore government is expected to select a developer shortly. The Guggenheim nearly signed a contract to build a satellite in Taichung, Taiwan, but last year political opposition scuttled the project. Shortly after, in January, the Guggenheim’s chairman, Peter Lewis resigned at what he considered the folly of Thomas Krens’s expansionist ambitions.

The French government is decentralising the national collections based in Paris—the Louvre will open a branch in Lens in 2009, and Pompidou is planning to unveil a branch in Metz in 2008—but overseas development is a new step.

Even if Dynamic Star is not selected, the Guggenheim/ Pompidou proposal may move forward because the HK government will choose elements from any of the bids in its final plan to “turn Hong Kong into an international cultural metropolis”.

http://www.theartnewspaper.com/article01.asp?id=108

 

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