M+, Asia’s global museum of contemporary visual culture in the West Kowloon Cultural District (WestK) in Hong Kong, is pleased to announce that M+ Sigg Collection: Inner Worlds, the third exhibition of the M+ Sigg Collection, is now open to the public in the Sigg Galleries. Launched on Friday, 22 August 2025, the exhibition invites viewers to explore a new perspective on Chinese contemporary art.

Building on the groundbreaking exhibitions M+ Sigg Collection: From Revolution to Globalisation (2021–2023) and M+ Sigg Collection: Another Story (2023–2025), M+ Sigg Collection: Inner Worlds continues the evolving narrative of the most comprehensive collection of Chinese contemporary art in the world. This new exhibition shifts the focus inwards, tracing artists’ emotional journeys amid profound social transformation.

From the mid-1990s to the 2010s, China’s rapid globalisation and economic growth reshaped people’s attitudes and values. Art from this period reflects these societal transformations as well as the artists’ lived experiences of change. During this time, Chinese artists also became regular participants in international exhibitions and an active part of global art conversations.

M+ Sigg Collection: Inner Worlds looks at the art of this period through the lens of emotional expression. Featuring thirty-eight artists, including Chen Guangwu, Chu Yun, Duan Jianyu, Fang Lijun, Hu Xiaoyuan, Liang Yuanwei, Liu Wei, Liu Ye, Qiu Shihua, Shang Yang, Wang Jin, Yangjiang Group, Yue Minjun and Zhao Bandi, the exhibition is structured by the emotions conveyed by the artworks: joy, sadness, calm, anxiety, doubt, and wonder. These works encapsulate the artists’ responses to a changing nation while inspiring emotional resonance in its audience.

Each section introduces key artists and ideas that present new perspectives on recent Chinese art, moving beyond established narratives:

• How does culture shape our emotions?

This section explores how culture influences our emotions. Conveying their feelings through symbols and objects, the featured artists use unconventional techniques to rework traditional Chinese cultural elements, such as architectural features, landscape imagery, brush painting, and xuan paper. Their works bridge the gaps between past and present, transforming cultural symbols into tools for personal expression.

• What is wonder?

The following section shows scenes where imagination and reality collide. Confronted with changes in society and their personal lives, these artists create strange and enchanting realms through fictional narratives. Their works evoke a sense of wonder, inviting the audience into a space of fantasy.

• Can anxiety be a source of creativity?

These works capture the artists’ anxieties related to societal changes and the emotional highs and lows of life. By confronting these feelings, the artists transform their anxieties into a creative force, making art that resonates with their audiences.

• Can sadness be beautiful?

Here, melancholy becomes a source of inspiration. Through refined forms and restrained gestures, the featured works convey a subtle sense of sadness and loneliness rooted in the artists’ emotional turmoil and self-reflection.

• What is true joy?

The artworks in this section feature vibrant colours, seemingly brimming with joy. However, these cheerful faces mask concerns about consumer culture and how it shapes our lifestyles and identities. Using popular and folk images, the artists expose the troubling undercurrents of a materialistic society. Their works reveal how the joys of consumerism became intertwined with China’s revolutionary idealism and its values.

• Is there power in doubt?

Artists in this section question systems of power through ambivalent images and unconventional mediums. Through humour and parody, they highlight the absurdities of everyday life, using doubt as a tool to reflect on human experiences.

• What does calm look like?

Featuring blurry, ethereal images and words broken down into lines and strokes, these artworks show how some artists use introspection in their practice to portray their internal landscapes and cultivate a peaceful, detached relationship with the world.

• What emotions do you see?

Within this section, artists use the human figure to express emotions through exaggerated faces and postures. Some evoke strong feelings, while others are more complex, inviting viewers to look beyond appearances and consider their psychological depths.

M+ Sigg Collection: Inner Worlds is co-curated by Dr Wu Mo, Sigg Curator, M+, and Dr Uli Sigg, supported by Ariadne Long, Associate Curator, Visual Art, M+.

Suhanya Raffel, Museum Director, M+, emphasises the significance of the exhibition, noting, ‘As a cornerstone of our museum’s permanent holdings, the M+ Sigg Collection has been the foundation for three compelling exhibitions since our opening in 2021. M+ Sigg Collection: Inner Worlds offers new insights into this destination collection, illuminating Chinese contemporary art through new and resonant perspectives. This presentation surfaces the emotional and intellectual depth of Chinese contemporary art, evoking thoughtful reflection, dialogue, and a deeper understanding of a transformative chapter in modern Chinese history.’

Dr Wu Mo, Sigg Curator, M+, elaborates on the curatorial approach, saying, ‘M+ Sigg Collection: Inner Worlds examines a critical period when Chinese artists were increasingly engaged with global art dialogues while processing unprecedented changes in their immediate environments. It shows how emotions became both subject matter and creative methodology for these artists. They developed distinctive visual vocabularies to articulate complex feelings, from wonder to anxiety, from sadness to contemplation. By organising the works through emotional resonance rather than chronology or medium, the exhibition provides an intimate view of this vital period and its lasting significance.’

The M+ Sigg Collection is the most comprehensive collection of Chinese contemporary art in the world. The unrivalled holdings of more than 1,500 artworks were systematically built with an institutional perspective to encapsulate the full scope of visual culture production of Chinese contemporary artists. It chronicles the development of Chinese art over four decades, from 1972 to 2012. This collection represents the most culturally dynamic period in the history of contemporary China and encompasses a broad range of styles and mediums, including painting, printmaking, sculpture, performance, photography, and digital art.

Ticketing arrangements

Visitors can access all M+ galleries, including M+ Sigg Collection: Inner Worlds and the Special Exhibition Canton Modern: Art and Visual Culture, 1900s–1970s, with a single-price admission ticket. Tickets are HKD 190 for adults and HKD 100 for visitors eligible for concessions*. Kid and Adult Combo Tickets are also available for HKD 250 for one adult and one child or HKD 400 for two adults and one child. M+ tickets are available for online purchase via the M+ website, WestK website, WestK App, Cityline, China Travel Service (Hong Kong) Limited, Fliggy, Klook, KKday, and Trip.com. For details, please refer to the M+ website.

*Concession tickets are available for full-time students, children ages seven to eleven, senior citizens ages sixty and above, persons with disabilities and one companion, and Comprehensive Social Security Assistance (CSSA) recipients.

M+ Membership

M+ annual membership and patron membership offer an exclusive experience of contemporary visual culture for visitors of all ages and backgrounds. M+ Members can enjoy unlimited admission to all M+ exhibitions by presenting their valid membership card upon entry. They can also enjoy access to the exclusive M+ Lounge, M+ Private Viewings, priority ticket purchasing, and much more. The annual fee for individual membership is HKD 600, and dual membership is HKD 1,000. Young Member and Senior Member are available at half price. Family Membership is available with an annual fee of HKD 1,200. Meanwhile, M+ Patrons enjoy unlimited admission to all exhibitions with up to three guests per visit. M+ Members and Patrons can attend exclusive previews to exhibitions prior to public opening, while Patrons receive personal invitations to private events and fifty per cent discounts on additional exhibition tickets. For more information, please visit the M+ website.

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 and 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. It spans a total floor area of 65,000 square metres, featuring thirty-three galleries alongside a Learning Hub, Moving Image Centre, Research Centre, and Roof Garden, among 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 that includes objects from regions across Asia and beyond. A highlight is the M+ Sigg Collection, one of the world’s most comprehensive collections of Chinese contemporary 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 the Xiqu Centre and Freespace, the eleven-hectare Art Park with a waterfront promenade, and the upcoming WestK Performing Arts Centre.

Hosting over 1,000 exhibitions, performances, programmes, and events each year, WestK provides a vital platform for both emerging and established artists. WestK welcomes more than ten million visitors each year, 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.