Last night the Asia Society launched its first major branch outside the United States, when it opened the Asia Society Hong Kong Center on the site of a former explosive magazine in the Admiralty district of Hong Kong.

Architects Tod Williams and Billie Tsein were chosen to transform the site — previously used by the British military to make and house explosives and munitions and which has lain fallow since the 1980s — into a cultural and heritage museum to rival the Asia Society’s famous Park Avenue digs.  With 10 centers already across Asia and the United States, the Asia Society has grown considerably in the 56 years since it was founded by John D. Rockerfeller III in 1956 as a non-profit educational institution to promote Asian cultural heritage in the United States.  The museum space in Hong Kong will be the first of two to open this year with another to open in Houston, Texas in April.

The Asia Society Hong Kong Center building is an architectural anomaly amidst its towering neighbors. Very much accenting the horizontal, the museum lies surrounded by lush green vegetation in the heart of the city. It is a substantial addition to the cultural fabric of the region, especially in a city that is notoriously lacking in established art museums.  

The museum’s curatorial program opens with the exhibition “Transforming Minds: Buddhism in Art,” a pan-Asian look at the Buddhist influence in art that places superb works from the Asia Society’s permanent collection side by side with contemporary works from artists such as Zhang Huan, Mariko Mori and Michael Joo.

ARTINFO HK spoke with Asia Society director Melissa Chiu, who was also the lead curator of the opening exhibition,  ahead of the opening of the Asia Society Hong Kong Center.

You have used the architects Tod Williams and Billie Tsien, can you tell me about the process of choosing the right architects for the project? 

There was an architectural design competition. They were chosen because they had the best way of conceiving of the campus, and it really is a campus, because there are actually three heritage buildings in one building and it is also on a sharp incline and there were a lot of natural elements to consider as well. 

It is an extraordinary site, especially for Hong Kong. 

Yes, It is important to the sense of heritage here in Hong Kong. When we were first given the site there was not a great community awareness of it. In the process of us restoring the place people began to take notice.

What was it about Williams and Tsien’s design that attracted you to them? 

With Billy and Tod’s design I think it was that their view of a campus that was able to unite the buildings. That piece of land has a complex structure in regards to flow.  Also the design has changed somewhat from the original. It has been an incredibly complex site and it is a great tribute to them and their ability to really pull it off. 

Is seems like there has been a slight shift, in the traditional sense of what Asia Society’s role is about as a result of being based in Hong Kong. Is there now a shift from teaching people about Asia into having a mutual relationship going back and forth? 

Yes, I think that is exactly it. We actually changed our mission recently to reflect this. Fifty years ago when Mr John Rockefeller III founded the Asia Society he believed that Asia would in time become very important and he thought Americans needed to know about Asia. That was in the post war period when most people when they thought of Asia thought of World War II and poverty. 

Now we have a completely changed scenario where China is the country with the second largest economy in the world. We know that the twenty first century will be a time of not one-country-dominance but a shared future. So we are preparing Americans for a shared future. 

How has the response been from your American contemporaries? 

I think most of my American museum colleagues are very envious. Having a presence here in Hong Kong really allows us to focus on a global program. I think what we are really looking at in the next few years is an idea of true exchange and reciprocity. I think that by having a presence here in Hong Kong that enables that to happen. 

You were the head curator of the opening exhibition “Transforming Minds: Buddhism in Art.” Can you tell me a bit about putting it together?

I think the criteria for us, being the inaugural show, was about really trying to encapsulate what Asia Society’s strengths are and what our contribution can be to Hong Kong life. On one hand, I think more then anything the exhibition is pan-Asian. Hong Kong audiences are used to seeing a lot of Chinese art, especially on the traditional side, but here we have traditional Buddhist iconography, great works of art, and those that span about 10 different countries. Then on the other hand, we have selected artists whose works speak to Buddhism in different ways. It doesn’t necessarily mean that they are practicing Buddhists but it means that they have created works that are about Buddhist iconography or Buddhist practice and Buddhism sensibilities. Each of them has made their own kind of statement if you like. 

Are you pleased with how it has turned out? 

I think it is a very rare example of a kind of conversation between the past and the present. I think we often see shows of antiquity and we often see shows of experimental, especially contemporary art but rarely do we ever see a real conversation between the two that shows new ideas about the past and I think that is what the show really does. 

“Transforming Minds: Buddhism in Art" runs through May 20 at the Asia Society Hong Kong Center.

To contact the writer of this story, write to Madeleine O'Dea at modea[at]artinfo.com