Hong Kong Museum of Art

Hong Kong's premier art museum on the Tsim Sha Tsui waterfront. Strong Chinese painting and contemporary HK art collections.

The Hong Kong Museum of Art sits on the Tsim Sha Tsui waterfront, occupying a building first opened in 1991 that was extensively renovated and reopened in November 2019 with significantly expanded exhibition space and a new exterior design. The renovation added upper floors with harbour-facing windows that frame the view across to Hong Kong Island — a view that functions both as background for the contemporary art displayed nearby and as a reminder that the museum's location is itself part of one of the most photographed urban waterfronts in Asia.

The permanent collection divides into several distinct strengths. The Chinese painting and calligraphy holdings are the foundation, with significant Song, Yuan, Ming, and Qing works supplemented by strong 20th-century Chinese painting. The Wu Guanzhong collection — a comprehensive group of works by the artist who synthesised Western modernism and Chinese ink-painting traditions — was donated by Wu Guanzhong himself before his death in 2010 and represents the largest single-artist collection in the museum. The Hong Kong contemporary art section documents the territory's visual culture across the colonial and post-handover periods.

Additional galleries cover Cantonese decorative arts (ceramics, enamelwork, lacquerwork) and historical views of Hong Kong and the China coast — a category that includes both Western oil paintings and Chinese export paintings made for the European market, providing a layered record of how Hong Kong looked to outsiders across two centuries. Entry is free for permanent collection galleries; ticketed special exhibitions are held in a dedicated space. The museum is on the southern side of Tsim Sha Tsui, within walking distance of the Star Ferry terminal and the Cultural Centre.