The top art exhibitions and shows in Hong Kong this month

For the first time, HKU’s University Museum and Art Gallery is pairing Swiss and Chinese paper cuttings together, setting up side by side to highlight what makes each tradition so special. The Swiss works, drawn from the collection of Interlaken collectors Elsbeth and Niklaus Wyss, mostly use black paper to capture slices of Alpine life with fine, eye-catching details. On the Chinese side, red paper is often used to depict different themes and subjects like tigers, peacocks, opera masks, or pagodas – each carrying deep symbolic meanings. Both approaches are all about storytelling, pulling from Swiss village scenes or Chinese folklore to offer the audience a chance to appreciate how two cultures turn the same craft into something uniquely their own.

Pakistani-American artist Shahzia Sikander presents her latest commissioned work at M+ Façade, exploring the historical traces of power and trade and their entanglement through a cinematic tableau of hand-painted animations. ‘3 to 12 Nautical Miles’ follows the maritime trail that linked the British East India Company, Mughal-era India, and Qing-dynasty China, examining the connections between empires and complex dynamics.

Sikander’s practice brings the art of miniature painting to the big screen, allowing the medium to communicate to audiences on a different scale. Painted gestures, objects, and symbols are magnified through animation, revealing the nuanced history of the region. On March 26, the artist herself will lead a free illustrated lecture about the artwork at 5pm.

M+ in West Kowloon Cultural District is honouring the late Ryuichi Sakamoto with a museum-wide programme from now until July. Comprising a site-specific installation, moving image works, a listening experience, and film, ‘Seeing Sound, Hearing Time’ celebrates the enduring legacy of the Japanese composer, producer, and artist.

‘Async–Immersion’ presents a three-dimensional, audio-visual representation of Sakamoto’s personal album, combining sonic experience with optical immersion. Nam June Paik’s ‘All Star Video’ explores Sakamoto’s influences and creative encounters, while ‘Vinyl Sessions with Music by Ryuichi Sakamoto’ allows visitors to engage with his compositions, alongside reflections on his work from three Hong Kong-based sound artists. Additionally, ‘Ryuichi Sakamoto: Music in Film’ will screen two films to allow for an intimate look into Sakamoto’s life, profound artistry, and innovative creative process.

Lane Crawford continues its celebration of exquisite craftsmanship with ‘HUNDRED – A Curation of Ceramics by 50 Hands’. Building on the success of the previous ‘HUNDRED’ series from 2023, which focused on chairs, this ceramics edition showcases the collaborative curation efforts of American ceramics expert Robert Yellin and local artist Leo Wong. 

Open to visitors at Lane Crawford Pacific Place, the shoppable exhibition features 100 handcrafted ceramic pieces from 29 artists, showcasing timeless artistry through 21 ceramic techniques, including neriage, kinrade, inlay, shigaraki-yaki, and more. Don’t miss highlight pieces such as the Tanba Vase, the Vase Celadon, and the White Drip Glaze Vase, each one a collector’s item that preserves skills passed down through generations.

M+ and Leeum Museum of Art are teaming up to present a comprehensive exhibition featuring the groundbreaking works of influential South Korean contemporary artist Lee Bul. More than 200 pieces will be shown, spanning the artist’s career from the late 1990s to the present to trace the evolution of Lee’s artistic approach. Split into three sections, ‘Lee Bul: From 1998 to Now’ interrogates ideas of utopian and dystopian existence, the relationship between body and technology, and Lee’s creative process.

M+ Cinema will also screen a number of Lee’s performance works during the exhibition period. ‘Lee Bul: From 1998 to Now’ opens on March 14 and will be commemorated with a talk at the Grand Stair; Lee herself will be present to speak about her artistic vision.

Tucked inside Oi! Glassie, Hong Kong artist Chan Wai‑lap presents Jeremy’s Bathhouse – a dreamy, ceramic bathhouse as an extension of his ongoing ‘Swimming’ series. Inspired by love, connection, different bathing cultures, and the 2016 viral story of Jeremy, the left-spiral snail, the exhibition features a heart-shaped pool installation made with more than 1,200 handcrafted ceramic tiles designed by Chan.

Visitors will also find a set of shower cubicles lined with casts of real soap bars that Chan has collected from bathhouses around the world, and every so often, timed release of mist drifts through, softening the edges and shifting the whole atmosphere from crisp clarity to a dreamy haze.

In a landmark collaboration between the Hong Kong Palace Museum (HKPM) and the Supreme Council of Antiquities (SCA) of Egypt, 250 treasures and relics from the land of the Pharaohs will be on display in Hong Kong for nine and a half months. Named ‘Ancient Egypt Unveiled’, this exhibition is the largest, most comprehensive, and longest-running display of ancient Egyptian artefacts Hong Kong has ever seen, displaying archaeological finds loaned straight from Egypt, many of which are being shown outside of their home country for the very first time.

Some of our favourite highlights include a set of canopic jars used to store internal organs in the mummification and burial process; statues of the female pharaoh Hatshepsut and Rameses II; painted coffins of wood and stone; a Book of the Dead papyrus scroll; and even an ancient Egyptian toilet seat.

Swing by the gift shop to find a wide range of Egypt-related merch, including an adorable series of blind box plushies created by HKPM which depict pharaohs, canopic jars, mummies, and more.

Focusing on non-solid media, multi-disciplinary artist Zheng Jing’s first solo show in Hong Kong uses water, sound, air, and light to transform several warehouses into a surreal world that invites viewers to wander through.

In Warehouse 1, visitors will feel as though they are submerged beneath Victoria Harbour, with mirrored installations that let you look up at wave movements through the manipulation of light. There’s also a giant vessel featuring a video projection of a human figure endlessly diving, plus a suspended cube from which light beams are projected outward in multiple directions. Stepping out onto the lawn, visitors will also discover five golden sculptures modelled after Taihu stones, placed in an elemental cycle of ‘breathing’ to allow energy and spirits to flow through continuously.