• The expanded partnership will see the launch of Pioneering Visions, a new initiative honouring visionary artists
• Building on its strong foundation of support for M+’s moving image programmes, the extended partnership will encompass exhibitions, public events, and creative storytelling
  around the M+ Collections

M+, Asia’s global museum of contemporary visual culture in the West Kowloon Cultural District (WestK) in Hong Kong, is pleased to announce the extension of its partnership with CHANEL for a further three years, with CHANEL becoming a Lead Partner of the museum.

In the first three-year partnership established in 2023, M+ and CHANEL focused on a series of projects related to moving image programming and restoration. In addition to these endeavours, CHANEL’s expanded support includes the creation of a new series, Pioneering Visions. This multifaceted series explores the transformative practices of artists and makers who are shifting the trajectories of art and global visual culture, with an emphasis on amplifying visionary artistic voices that are primarily, Hong Kong, Greater China and Asian or Asia-focused.

Presented across multiple formats and platforms, Pioneering Visions comprises exhibitions, public events, and creative activation of the M+ Collections through in-gallery and online content. The initiative includes the solo presentation Sarah Sze: Centrifuge at the M+ Focus Gallery in February 2027, alongside a new digital hub on the M+ website showcasing curated content on artists and artworks from the M+ Collections, and a public series of talks, screenings, and workshops offering new perspectives on innovative practices in art and visual culture.

Suhanya Raffel, Museum Director, M+, says, ‘Our three years of collaboration with CHANEL have significantly advanced the collection, preservation, research, and public programming of moving image at M+. Together, we have strengthened the visibility of Asian avant-garde films, expanded audiences for the moving image, and built a foundation for long-term stewardship. We are now broadening our shared vision to reflect the increasingly interdisciplinary nature of contemporary visual culture. Through expanded research and public programmes, this collaboration will provide deeper access to lesser-known stories of significant artists of our time, creating new opportunities for engagement, exchange, and discovery for audiences in Hong Kong and internationally.’

Yana Peel, President, Arts, Culture and Heritage, CHANEL, says, ‘M+ opened its doors five years ago, firmly establishing Hong Kong as a global arts hub. Its arrival heralded a new era, because M+ is so much more than a museum: it is the epicentre for dialogue within Asia and between Asia and the world. The M+ of today exceeds even the bold, original vision that was decades in conception: Its collection of contemporary Chinese art is unparalleled; the Herzog & de Meuron building is sublime; the interconnected curation of art, design, and film is exemplary. CHANEL Culture Fund was established to steward a century of cultural patronage into the future; in M+ we recognised a partner with similar long-range ambitions. As one of our earliest Art Partners in Asia, M+ set the standard for other Art Partners across the continent in recent years, from Seoul to Shanghai to Bangkok. Now, after successful programmes focused on moving image, we broaden our scope to launch Pioneering Visions. And as we become the museum’s Lead Partner, we extend our commitment to the region, the institution and its visionary leader, Suhanya Raffel – a woman who not only embraces audacious ideas, but makes them possible.’

Doryun Chong, Artistic Director and Chief Curator, M+, says, ‘At a time of profound technological, cultural, and social transformation, artists often offer perspectives that help us better understand our changing environment. The new Pioneering Visions series explores the work of artists and makers whose ideas are shaping contemporary visual culture, especially in Asia. Through exhibitions, research, public programmes, and digital storytelling, this initiative invites audiences to engage more deeply with artistic visions that offer other potential perspectives on the world than conventional narratives.’

The new digital hub dedicated to Pioneering Visions is now live on the M+ website, giving audiences at home and abroad a new way to explore and discover the M+ Collections.

CHANEL remains a dedicated supporter of M+’s moving image programmes, contributing to the development of moving image in Asia. Over the past three years, its support has included the patronage of a curatorial position for Moving Image, film restoration, collection development, and public programmes:

• Sponsorship of a curatorial position for Moving Image at M+ since 2023, currently held by Silke Schmickl, CHANEL Senior Curator, Head of Moving Image, who leads the development of the museum’s moving image collection, commissions, and film and curatorial programmes.
• M+ Restored, a film restoration initiative preserving Hong Kong’s cinematic heritage, which has to date restored nine feature-length films highlighting the creative experimentation and technical innovation of Hong Kong New Wave cinema. These titles have since premiered at major film festivals and reached audiences in Hong Kong and around the world through more than 130 screenings. All nine films will return to M+ Cinema for the M+ Restored Festival in November 2026. A new cycle of M+ Restored titles will also be released in 2027, presenting six visionary films from across Asia.
• Asian Avant-Garde Film Collection, a collection dedicated to the acquisition, preservation, digitisation, and celebration of Asian experimental film. Among the sixty recently acquired moving image works, approximately half originate from Hong Kong. M+ has digitised these works for presentation at AAGFF and public viewing at the M+ Mediatheque, with wider selections from the collection now touring festivals and cultural venues worldwide.
• The three successful editions of the Asian Avant-Garde Film Festival (AAGFF) between 2024 and 2026 hosted 55 public programmes including screenings, performances, and artist presentations in total, engaging more than 10,300 participants. Together with the Avant-Garde Now series, it has featured more than two hundred artists to date, the festival will continue to introduce and celebrate experimental moving image practices and Asian avant-garde filmmaking through M+’s distinctive lens of visual culture.

About Pioneering Visions

Pioneering Visions, an initiative supported by CHANEL, explores the transformative practices of artists and makers shifting the trajectories of art and global visual culture. The project comprises exhibitions, public programmes, and creative storytelling from the M+ Collections, accessible within the galleries and online through a new digital content hub. From innovative aesthetics, concepts, and techniques to the questioning of established norms and the shaping of artistic discourse, this series highlights visionaries who break new ground with works that remain ever relevant. Pioneering Visions underscores M+’s commitment to accessibility, understanding, and discovery while creating fresh opportunities for engagement and exchange with audiences in Hong Kong and worldwide.

About M+

M+ is Asia’s global museum of contemporary visual culture. Located in Hong Kong’s West Kowloon Cultural District (WestK), it is dedicated to collecting, exhibiting, and interpreting visual art, design, architecture, moving image, and Hong Kong visual culture of the twentieth and twenty-first centuries. The landmark M+ building on Hong Kong’s Victoria Harbourfront was designed by the world-renowned architectural firm Herzog & de Meuron in partnership with TFP Farrells and Arup. With a total floor area of 65,000 square metres, it includes thirty-three galleries spanning 17,000 square metres alongside a Learning Hub, Moving Image Centre, Research Centre, Roof Garden, and other event and programming spaces. The M+ Facade is one of the largest LED screens in the world, showcasing commissioned artworks on the Hong Kong skyline every evening. The museum stewards a multidisciplinary permanent collection of more than 9,000 works, primarily from Hong Kong, the Chinese Mainland, and across Asia. A highlight is the M+ Sigg Collection, which is one of the world’s most comprehensive collections of Chinese contemporary visual art. Today, M+ is a nexus for researching and presenting contemporary visual culture, inspiring thought and curiosity.

About the West Kowloon Cultural District (WestK)

WestK is one of the largest and most ambitious cultural hubs in the world and Hong Kong’s new cultural tourism landmark, spanning forty hectares alongside Victoria Harbour. WestK comprises a mix of landmark arts and cultural facilities, including world-class museums M+ and the Hong Kong Palace Museum, intricately designed performing arts venues such as the Xiqu Centre, Freespace and the WestK Performing Arts Centre to be opened in 2027, as well as the eleven-hectare Art Park with a waterfront promenade.

Hosting over one thousand exhibitions, performances, programmes, and events each year, WestK provides a vital platform for both emerging and established artists. WestK welcomes more than seventeen million visitors in 2025, evolving as the international cultural brand of Hong Kong and strengthening the city’s strategic role as an East-meets-West centre for international cultural exchange.

About CHANEL Culture Fund

The CHANEL Culture Fund fosters a vibrant network of creators and innovators to advance the ideas that shape culture worldwide. Core programmes include CHANEL’s Art Partners, institutions whose leaders are supported in the development of groundbreaking, long-term initiatives that bring transformation to the cultural landscape. The CHANEL Next Prize celebrates artists and accelerates their future successes through access to resources and mentorship. And the podcast CHANEL Connects amplifies the voices of thought leaders across disciplines, generations, and geographies—tackling the defining issues of our time.

From driving artistic innovation with technology at CalArts in Southern California to catalysing creative freedom at scale at Hamburger Bahnhof in Berlin, from championing game-changing artists at the Venice Biennale to celebrating the brightest directors at the British Film Institute, the CHANEL Culture Fund extends a century of commitment to the arts and champions creative audacity for a better future.