M+, Asia’s first global museum of contemporary visual culture in the West Kowloon Cultural District in Hong Kong, will join forces with ‘Shall We Talk’, an initiative by the Advisory Committee on Mental Health (Committee) to broaden the conversation on mental health, by launching ‘Shall We Talk at M+’, a new programme encouraging young people to speak openly about and seek appropriate support for their mental well-being if necessary through a series of learning activities.

Community well-being is at the heart of M+’s mission and the initiative ‘Shall We Talk’ shares the museum’s vision to promote mental health and self-discovery through experiences of art. The partnership ‘Shall We Talk at M+’ is built on a common cause between M+ and the Committee and the power of art to enhance mental well-being.

Yayoi Kusama is a visionary artist of our time with a unique, transformative artistic philosophy. Throughout her life, she has communicated her struggles with mental health to the world and spread messages of healing through her art. By sharing the iconic artist’s ground-breaking career and the depth and healing power of her art, M+ and ‘Shall We Talk’ hope to inspire new perspectives on life among students.

‘Shall We Talk at M+’ will provide ten thousand complimentary admission tickets to Yayoi Kusama: 1945 to Now to students from local tertiary institutions, including universities and other higher education institutions, for redemption from Tuesday to Sunday between 17 March to 14 May 2023 during M+’s opening hours. The free tickets are given on a first-come, first-served basis. Eligible students can show their valid full-time student card at the Information Desk on the ground floor of M+ to redeem a ticket. No pre-registration is needed.

Apart from free access to the exhibition, M+ will also organise free guided tours and free expressive art therapy workshops for tertiary students to join, and a public talk open to the general public. This partnership serves as a platform to explore creativity and self-expression through different activities for self-discovery, foster the strength of self-healing and promote mental well-being in the community.

Suhanya Raffel, Museum Director, M+, says, ‘At M+ we care about the community. That is why besides presenting world-class exhibitions, we focus on curating a diverse range of inspiring and engaging public programmes to promote health and well-being to the community. We are grateful for the support from “Shall We Talk” and we truly hope that this partnership will enable the city’s future young leaders to not only embrace the artworks created by Yayoi Kusama, but be inspired by the heart-warming stories of the artist to find strength to navigate life’s challenges through art.’

Wong Yan-lung, Chairman of the Advisory Committee on Mental Health, says, ‘Lack of understanding on mental health leads to stigma. Discrimination and fear of discrimination deter opening up and help-seeking. I am greatly delighted to see the cooperation between “Shall We Talk” and M+ to promote public education on mental health and to reduce stigma through this Special Exhibition Yayoi Kusama: 1945 to Now. I have no doubt the 10,000 students and many others visiting the exhibition will derive great benefit beyond the artistic appeal. The Advisory Committee on Mental Health and “Shall We Talk” will continue to work with other stakeholders to make Hong Kong an even more mental health friendly society.’

Yayoi Kusama: 1945 to Now is the largest retrospective of renowned artist Yayoi Kusama in Asia outside Japan, featuring more than 200 works from major collections from museums and private collections in Asia, Europe, and the United States, the M+ Collection, as well as from the artist’s own collection. Co-curated by Doryun Chong, Deputy Director, Curatorial and Chief Curator, M+, and Mika Yoshitake, independent curator, the exhibition introduces a new interpretative approach to Kusama’s over seven-decade career and invites viewers to discover the transformative power of art. The retrospective highlights the core aesthetic elements of Kusama’s work and foregrounds her recurring philosophical questions about life and death and her longing for interconnectedness. The exhibition explores how Kusama has become a global cultural icon who creates vital and influential work to this day.

About M+

M+ is a museum 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. In Hong Kong’s West Kowloon Cultural District, it is one of the largest museums of modern and contemporary visual culture in the world, with a bold ambition to establish ourselves as one of the world’s leading cultural institutions. M+ is a new kind of museum that reflects our unique time and place, a museum that builds on Hong Kong’s historic balance of the local and the international to define a distinctive and innovative voice for Asia’s twenty-first century.

About the West Kowloon Cultural District

The West Kowloon Cultural District is one of the largest and most ambitious cultural projects in the world. Its vision is to create a vibrant new cultural quarter for Hong Kong on forty hectares of reclaimed land located alongside Victoria Harbour. With a varied mix of theatres, performance spaces, and museums, the West Kowloon Cultural District will produce and host world-class exhibitions, performances, and cultural events, providing twenty-three hectares of public open space, including a two-kilometre waterfront promenade.

About ‘Shall We Talk’

Jointly organised by the Advisory Committee on Mental Health and the Department of Health, the ‘Shall We Talk’ initiative was officially launched in July 2020 with an aim to promote mental health and eliminate stigmatisation towards persons with mental health needs, in order to build a mental health friendly community.