The Hong Kong Museum of Art was the only art museum established by the British colonial government in Hong Kong in the 1960s. Since 1997, it has continued to operate under the authority of the Department of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Government. The museum now positions itself as the leading art museum in the region which ‘connect[s] and share[s] with everyone using the language of art to foster creativity’. Its mission is to conduct cultural heritage research and make collections accessible by providing a significant platform for artistic talents both locally and globally, on the one hand, and to promote artistic appreciation and lifelong learning and vitalize the cultural lives of people through means of innovation and creativity in collaboration with the art community and all social sectors, on the other hand. The museum is located at the waterfront in Tsim Sha Tsui, a hub of international and cultural activities and the paradise of tourists. The museum is now undergoing renovation for the expansion of its exhibition spaces and an upgrade of its facilities.

This chapter examines how this official museum is institutionally regulated, how it has represented art with shifting styles of curatorial interpretation, collection development, and art display extending from the colonial to the postcolonial periods, and how the museum's publics orient themselves in the process of cultural consumption.