March 4, 2015; South China Morning Post
Hong Kong’s Leisure and Cultural Services Department has announced plans to convert a bus into a mobile museum for local communities to experience. Department director Michelle Li Mei-sheung explained how the “Art Buseum” idea was an expansion of the trending food truck concept.
Sign up for our free newsletters
Subscribe to NPQ's newsletters to have our top stories delivered directly to your inbox.
By signing up, you agree to our privacy policy and terms of use, and to receive messages from NPQ and our partners.
Michelle Li Mei-sheung told the South China Morning Post, “We hope to target schools first…and enter deep into the community to promote art appreciation in the remoter parts of town.” The department is still discussing details on cost, design, and budget for the modified bus, but plans to visit its first school in September of this year. Schools will then be able to make reservations for the bus to visit their community, which could provide poorer communities with arts and cultural experiences that their local schools may not be able to afford otherwise.
There are plans to have annual themes for the mobile museum. This year’s theme is “Transformation,” and will feature local artists’ works ranging in style from classical to contemporary. The theme also relates to Hong Kong’s plans to transform their own museums over the next year.
NPQ has been following this trend of creative mobile services being brought into communities, and covered a similar crowdfunding initiative led by a local theater in Kentucky with plans to refurbish buses as mobile arts spaces. Across the globe, this idea of bringing mobile art directly to communities outside of institutional museums is catching on.—Aine Creedon
