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Cheung Hok-hang

Veteran Chinese curator Pi Li will step down as head of art at Tai Kwun when his three-year contract expires in February 2026, the Hong Kong heritage and arts centre has confirmed.
Pi declined a request for an interview, but sources have told the Post that he is going to play a leading role in the founding of a new art museum in Shenzhen.
The 51-year-old moved to Hong Kong in 2012 to become the senior curator in charge of the Sigg Collection of Chinese art at M+ museum.
Born in Wuhan, in mainland China, Pi followed in the footsteps of his father, the well-known art historian Pi Daojian, and began his career as a scholar and curator in Beijing, later co-founding Boers-Li Gallery. He left M+ after 11 years to join Tai Kwun, succeeding Tobias Berger as the head of its contemporary art programmes.
Tai Kwun, which is operated by the Hong Kong Jockey Club, has yet to name Pi’s successor, though it adds that the search is in its “final phases”.

News of Pi’s departure follows this summer’s announcement of leadership changes at Asia Art Archive and Para Site, two other well-known non-profit art institutions in Hong Kong.
Separately, Tai Kwun has confirmed that it has cancelled this year’s edition of “Booked”, its annual art book fair launched in 2019.
The 2024 edition of the popular event, which celebrates independent publishers, highlighted the close scrutiny that cultural institutions continue to come under as they navigate the red lines imposed by the National Security Law. After the opening, Tai Kwun pulled a book by former opposition lawmaker Margaret Ng Ngoi-yee from the fair in a pre-emptive move that drew criticism from the book’s publisher.
In an email to the Post, a Tai Kwun spokesperson did not give a reason for the cancellation of the fair, stating that the institution’s programming is “constantly evolving” and that it hopes to bring back the book fair in a new form in the future.

During his tenure, Pi oversaw large-scale exhibitions by internationally recognised conceptual artists such as Bruce Nauman and On Kawara. In a 2023 interview, he said his goal was to position Tai Kwun as a key cultural destination for both Hong Kong and the wider region.
Tai Kwun’s current exhibition, “Stay Connected: Art and China since 2008”, a powerful, provocative and enlightening survey of contemporary Chinese art, is the last exhibition Pi is directly involved in at the centre.
The exhibition’s second phase is scheduled to open in February 2026, after his departure.


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Tai Kwun art head Pi Li to step down for new role in Shenzhen

Pi Li will step down as Tai Kwun’s head of art when his three-year contract expires in February 2026. The Hong Kong heritage and arts centre is yet to name his replacement. Photo: Xiaomei Chen

Pi became Tai Kwun’s head of art after working for 11 years at Hong Kong’s M+ museum. Photo: Xiaomei Chen

Pi has overseen exhibitions by artists including Bruce Nauman and On Kawara during his tenure at Tai Kwun. Photo: Xiaomei Chen

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Photos of Eileen Chang are seen at “Beyond Distance: Half a Lifelong Friendship of Eileen Chang, Stephen Soong and Mae Fong Soong”, the inaugural exhibition at the Hong Kong Metropolitan University’s Museum of Modern Chinese Literature. Photo: Hong Kong Metropolitan University

Designs for a qipao Chang sent to Mae-fong Soong in 1956 feature at the exhibition at HKMU’s Museum of Modern Chinese Literature. Photo: Museum of Modern Chinese Literature

The last letter Chang sent to the Soongs, two months before her death in 1995, features at the exhibition. Photo: Hong Kong Metropolitan University

A re-creation of the Soong family living room features at the exhibition. Photo: Hong Kong Metropolitan University

Roland Soong speaks at the opening of the Museum of Modern Chinese Literature on November 20. Photo: Museum of Modern Chinese Literature

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Tai Kwun is closing in on a successor for Pi, who leaves in February after his contract at the Hong Kong heritage and arts centre expires


Tai Kwun is closing in on a successor for Pi, who leaves in February after his contract at the Hong Kong heritage and arts centre expires.


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.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}Tai Kwun is closing in on a successor for Pi, who leaves in February after his contract at the Hong Kong heritage and arts centre expires

Tai Kwun is closing in on a successor for Pi, who leaves in February after his contract at the Hong Kong heritage and arts centre expires