M+’s Courtyard Galleries named as Cissy Pui-Lai Pao and Shinichiro Watari Galleries

M+, Asia’s first global museum of contemporary visual culture in the West Kowloon Cultural District (WKCD or the District), announces the naming of its Courtyard Galleries as Cissy Pui-Lai Pao and Shinichiro Watari Galleries as from today in recognition of the generous donation of Cissy Pao and her husband Shinichiro Watari towards the long-term development of M+.

Suhanya Raffel, Museum Director, M+, says, ‘We are deeply grateful for Mr and Mrs Pao-Watari’s generosity. Their donation is a recognition of M+’s achievements in delivering a world-class programme of exhibitions since its opening in November 2021. M+ will continue to present expertly curated exhibitions and programmes here at Asia’s first global museum of contemporary visual culture.’

Cissy Pao and Shinichiro Watari are art enthusiasts and supporters of art and culture organisations over the years. ‘We are delighted to be honoured by the West Kowloon Cultural District Authority (WKCDA) for this naming opportunity. It is our hope that our donation will strengthen the position of the WKCD and M+ as a vibrant cultural quarter in Asia and benefit Hong Kong's arts scene,’ say Mr and Mrs Pao-Watari.

Support from the private sector, including individuals, foundations or corporations, is crucial to the development of the District. WKCDA looks forward to engaging more stakeholders and arts and culture lovers in pursuit of its vision and mission of developing the District into an integrated arts and culture hub through providing world-class facilities and best quality culture and entertainment programmes for Hong Kong people and visitors from around the world.

WKCDA has established a set of donation and sponsorship policy and guidelines embedding the best management and governance practices to ensure any naming arrangements are in line with its vision and values. The naming of the Courtyard Galleries has been approved by the Board of the WKCDA.

Remarks

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.