M+, Asia’s first global museum of contemporary visual culture in the West Kowloon Cultural District in Hong Kong, announces the appointment of Russell Storer as the Senior Curator and Head of Curatorial Affairs of M+. His appointment will be effective from 11 March 2024.

Storer will occupy a crucial key role in M+’s Curatorial team and its senior leadership. He will support Doryun Chong, Deputy Director, Curatorial and Chief Curator, M+, to lead and shape the curatorial strategies and work plans in the museum’s core content areas including collection, exhibitions, and research as well as oversee and coordinate M+’s three main disciplinary areas, namely, Design and Architecture, Moving Image, and Visual Art.

Storer has held curatorial positions in major art institutions in the Asia-Pacific region. He joined National Gallery Singapore as Senior Curator in 2014, became Deputy Director (Curatorial & Collections) in 2016, and was appointed as Director (Curatorial, Research & Exhibitions) in 2021. In April 2022, he became the Head Curator, International Art at the National Gallery of Australia in Canberra. Prior to his leadership roles at National Gallery Singapore and the National Gallery of Australia, he contributed to the curatorial direction, collections development, and exhibition programmes at the Museum of Contemporary Art (2001-2008) and Queensland Art Gallery (2008-2014) in Australia, particularly in the areas of contemporary Asian and Pacific Art. His research and curation focus are on visual art in the Asia Pacific. Storer has a Master of Arts in Art History and Theory from the Power Institute, University of Sydney.

Suhanya Raffel, Museum Director, M+, says, ‘We are pleased to welcome Russell Storer, who has an extensive and highly recognised research background in Asian art. As Asia’s first global museum of contemporary visual culture, M+’s work will be greatly enriched by Storer’s invaluable experience, expertise and international networks. He will play a vital role in developing the overarching strategies in curation and research for M+’s programmes and deepen our interaction with visitors and the arts community.’

Doryun Chong, Deputy Director, Curatorial and Chief Curator, M+, says, ‘I am thrilled that Russell Storer will join M+ at this crucial juncture of M+’s development, following its very successful opening in 2021. We are more than ever in need of a seasoned museum professional with rich international experience, who can help fulfil our responsibility as the international gateway museum for the whole region. Storer’s extensive knowledge and commitment to Asia are exactly what we need for the Curatorial team and the museum at large.’

Russell Storer says, ‘I am excited to join M+’s exceptional international team to bring a compelling programme of world-leading exhibitions to audiences in Hong Kong and from across the globe. I look forward to participating in Hong Kong’s thriving art scene and working closely with all M+ colleagues to showcase the breadth and depth of the M+ Collections, with their unique focus on twentieth- and twenty-first-century visual culture.’

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.