M+ Academy M+學苑

This programme is designed as a structured learning journey:

• Before Arrival: Participants develop a personal institutional case study rooted in their own organisational context, join an online orientation session, and receive preparatory materials. This phase establishes a shared foundation for the cohort while inviting early reflection on the leadership challenges and opportunities each participant might face.
• The Week at M+: The week in Hong Kong opens with a welcome reception and a tour of M+. Participants will take part in expert-led sessions on the core dimensions of museum-making, alongside discussions and workshops addressing urgent topics, strategic questions, and institutional change. Curated visits and evening events within Hong Kong’s cultural community extend the learning experience beyond the museum.
• After the Programme: The exchange continues through follow-up discussions, peer connection, and access to an active alumni network. A certificate of completion is awarded at the conclusion of the programme.

2026 Cohort | Key Information

Date: 9–13 November 2026 (5 days); welcome dinner on 8 November 2026

Location: M+, West Kowloon Cultural District, Hong Kong

Language: English

Cohort size: 10–15 participants

Programme fee: USD 5,000*

*Travel and accommodation are not included in the fee but at participants’ own expense. M+ Academy can provide recommendations and access to hotel partners offering preferential rates.

Fellowship support may be offered to selected institutions requiring financial assistance. Send us a message at [email protected] to learn more

➜ Timetable

An immersion in the core dimensions of museum-making through site visits, briefings, and dialogue with M+ departments and invited experts. These sessions provide a 360-degree view of museum-making at the highest level, spanning governance, strategy, organisational culture, change management, and institutional identity. Discussion-led and scenario-based, they invite participants to examine how institutions are shaped, led, and transformed.

• Exhibition & Curatorial Practice: From concept to installation and marketing: exhibition planning, commissioning, interpretation, logistics, budgets, new media, and cross-departmental workflows
• Collections & Conservation: Prevention, documentation, digitisation, environmental challenges, emergency preparedness, and special needs in contemporary or thematic contexts
• Audience Engagement & Learning: Inclusive design, research and evaluation, public programming strategies, and regionally relevant solutions to community needs
• Leadership & Strategy: Goal setting, decision-making, people management, planning, culturally-informed response, repatriation, decolonisation, and cross-cultural leadership
• Fundraising, Commerce, & Partnerships: Building regional networks and partnerships, public-private collaborations, long-term peer communities, raised and earned revenue, and communication

Afternoon workshops and in-depth discussions facilitated by M+ leadership and invited specialists, addressing major challenges shaping the field. These sessions are designed to create space for pressing strategic conversations—on new institutional models, leadership in politically adverse contexts, next-generation audiences and supporters, AI and digital practice, and financial sustainability without compromising mission.

Topics, prioritised per cohort, reflect regional and participant needs, such as:

1. Adapting the Museum Model
2. New Developments in Digital Practice and AI
3. Institutions and Governments: Programming and Infrastructure
4. Cultivating Next-Gen Audiences, Supporters, and Leaders
5. Building a Talent Pipeline for Asian Institutions
6. Confronting Climate Change
7. Museums in a Changing Society: Demography and Culture
8. Art, Health, and Wellness: New Opportunities for Museums
9. Financial Sustainability and New Economic Models

Get exclusive access to Hong Kong’s cultural community—via studio visits, private conversations, and curated evenings—opening opportunities to build contacts and community.

Evening activities are organised in partnership with Hong Kong institutions, with programme details to be tailored each year in response to participant interest and current needs in the field.

Raffel was the President of CIMAM, the International Committee for Museums and Collections of Modern Art (2023–2025), and she has served on the CIMAM Board since 2016. She is also a member of the Bizot Group (2021–ongoing) and a trustee of the Geoffrey Bawa Trust and the Lunuganga Trust, Sri Lanka (1994–ongoing). She is a member of the scientific committee for the Fondazione per l’Arte Moderna e Contemporanea CRT, Turin, Italy (2023–ongoing); the International Advisory Committee of the Mori Art Museum, Tokyo, Japan (2023–ongoing); and the Royal Board of Trustees of the Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofía, Madrid, Spain (2024–ongoing) and is on the International Advisory Council of Istanbul Modern, Istanbul, Turkey (2025–ongoing). She was awarded the title of Chevalier of the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres by the French government in 2020 and the Sydney University Alumni Achievement Award for Cultural Contribution in 2022.

In addition to his business responsibilities, Mr Witt is a Trustee of the Asian Cultural Council, serving also as a Director of Asia Cultural Council's Hong Kong Foundation. He is a Member of the HKUST Business Advisory Council, the University of Toronto's Asia International Leadership Council and the Asia Business Leaders Advisory Council of the Asia Pacific Foundation of Canada. He chairs the Voting Members Committee of the Hong Kong Riding for the Disabled Association. He is a former Chairman of the Canadian Chamber of Commerce in Hong Kong.

Born in Ottawa, Canada, Mr Witt has an MBA, with Distinction, from INSEAD and is a Canadian Chartered Professional Accountant with an undergraduate degree from the University of Toronto (Trinity College).