Friday Beyond Spotlights - Ms Suhanya Raffel, the woman behind and beyond the spotlights

Friday Beyond Spotlights is an all-new and all-star English talk show aired every Friday at 8:30 pm on Hong Kong International Business Channel (#76). The light-hearted and informative programme, hosted by Mr Patrick Tsang On-yip and Mr Nick Chan Hiu-fung, invites leading minds and game changers in Hong Kong to share their views and insights on topical issues, and their experience in grasping opportunities and tackling challenges.

The seventh episode of ‘Friday Beyond Spotlights’ features Ms Suhanya Raffel, Museum Director of M+. She reflects on how Hong Kong is no longer a ‘cultural desert’ as it is increasingly establishing itself as a major contender in the global arts and culture scene. She also shares some of the joys and challenges of directing Asia’s first global museum of contemporary visual culture.

Anything but a ‘cultural desert’

With the exponential growth of cultural activity in Hong Kong, Raffel declares that the days of Hong Kong as a ‘cultural desert’ are long gone. “We are now a major contender in the international art landscape, and our art market is one of the strongest in the world.” In 2020, Hong Kong overtook London as the second-biggest contemporary art auction market globally. In 2021, the opening of M+, Hong Kong’s new museum of visual culture, has further cemented the city’s foothold in the world of arts and culture. “For the first time, we have an institution that rivals the major arts establishments in Europe, North America, and the UK,” she adds.  

Raffel believes Hong Kong is the optimal place for promoting international arts and cultural exchange. “The city has always been open to the arts, the flow of ideas, and the movement of things. This has provided us with an incredible market that is establishing itself and an incredible collector base,” she explains. Combined with a free port, strong copyright laws, free flow of capital, and the lack of capital gains tax, Hong Kong offers an inclusive and welcoming environment for artists and art connoisseurs around the world. “And with Hong Kong being part of the Greater Bay Area, the city is an amazing crucible for so much to happen,” she emphasises.

Given Hong Kong’s fertile ground for arts and culture, Raffel encourages the younger generation of artists to pursue their creative dreams with passion, focus, and self-belief. As she asserts, “Just do it!”

Museum and more

As a museum director, Raffel has leveraged the aforementioned strengths of Hong Kong to establish M+ as Asia’s first global museum of contemporary visual culture. Hong Kong’s multicultural nature, for example, has enabled the incorporation of cross-disciplinary interests within museum collections. “We are called M+, which stands for museum and more, to reflect the diversity of subjects we showcase, ranging from visual arts and design, to ink art and moving images,” she elucidates. M+ has also benefitted from Hong Kong’s vast art market and a HK$1 billion initial grant for collection development from the Hong Kong government. “As a result, we are able to amass a substantial collection of almost 8,000 objects and 50,000 archives on contemporary and modern visual culture from the mid-20th century onwards,” she continues.

At the same time, Hong Kong’s openness to new ideas is conducive to the integration of digital art into the museum collections. “We are very interested in acquiring digital art, including those minted with nonfungible tokens (NFT),” she states. “Right now, we are actively exploring this new digital landscape, and we are on the cutting edge in this part of the world regarding the acquisition and transaction of NFT art.”

When managing collections, Raffel highlights the importance of protecting intellectual property rights. “Since we are dealing with contemporary material, we have to continually negotiate intellectual property rights with holders of the artwork regarding any kind of publishing, including merchandising.”

Valuing generosity and hospitality

For Raffel, generosity and hospitality are central to both her personal and professional life. One of the items she holds close to her heart is a little matchbox toy car that belonged to her youngest son. “He gave it to me when he was four years old. It was his most precious toy, yet gifting it came so naturally for him,” she recalls. “I hope I can always remember that gesture of generosity and demonstrate hospitality in my daily interactions.”

In her work, Raffel emphasises how the generosity of collectors is crucial to enhancing the breadth and depth of M+’s Collections, as well as enriching Hong Kong’s arts and cultural scene. “I discuss with artists and collectors about donations, because it is by gifting that you build legacy into the museum for our communities,” she explains. “Generosity is part of being human, and the pleasure of giving is as intense as the pleasure of receiving.”

Rethinking through art

When asked about her favourite artwork at M+, Raffel replies that she treasures all of them, but shares three artworks that she finds particularly thought-provoking. One of them is Gary Chang’s Domestic Transformer, as it provides her with a unique perspective on Hong Kong’s tight living spaces. She also enjoys Antony Gormley’s Asian Field as it examines what it means to be an artist and explores the nature of humanity. Chen Zhen’s Round Table – Side by Side is another interesting artwork that allows Raffel to ponder the concepts of unity, shared values, hospitality, and exchange.

Raffel finds inspiration and new ideas through art, and hopes visitors too can benefit from the diverse perspectives offered at M+. “This exchange of ideas is an important part of coming into the M+ institution,” she notes. “Hence, we wish to offer visitors a new avenue of thinking and learning through our extensive art collections.”

To watch the video, visit Friday Everyday YouTube Channel – Friday Beyond Spotlights Ep.7 l Suhanya Raffel.

Part 1: https://youtu.be/Uvn1PeXAucY

Part 2: https://youtu.be/f6fJNn71MPE