Asian Civilisations Museum receives $400,000 donation for research and programmes

Asian Civilisations Museum (ACM) at 1 Empress Place. PHOTO: ASIAN CIVILISATIONS MUSEUM

The Asian Civilisations Museum (ACM) has received a $400,000 donation from the Hong Leong Foundation to fund its research and programmes.

The cash donation from the charity arm of the Hong Leong Group of businesses, which includes property development and financial services, comes some two weeks ahead of the opening of the new museum wing named after the group's founder Kwek Hong Png.

The first two floors of the new wing will open to the public on Nov 14 when the museum unveils the first phase of its revamp. The third floor of the wing is slated to be ready by the first quarter of next year when the museum's second phase of revamp is due to finish.

The donation is eligible for application of the Government's Cultural Matching Grant, which provides dollar-for-dollar matching grants for cash donations to the arts and heritage sector.

The museum said in a press statement that the donation would support programmes on Asian history and culture, interactive education programmes and research to enhance its collections, special exhibitions and publications.

The museum's director Alan Chong also thanked the Hong Leong Foundation for having been "a steadfast and very generous supporter of the ACM over the past 14 years."

The foundation first donated $2.8 million to the ACM in 2001 to set up the China Gallery, which focused on art and artefacts from the Fujian province where the late Mr Kwek hails from. In 2012, the foundation contributed $5 million to add a modern wing to the museum. The latest donation brings its total donation to $8.2 million and makes it the museum's biggest cash donor.

The new 869 sq m wing is dedicated to historical Chinese art and literati culture but it also includes a contemporary art space to show commissioned art works that draw inspiration from objects and themes in the museum.

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