The Peninsula Hotels transforms flagship with new art commissions

The Peninsula Hotels has unveiled the commissioned works for the 2026 edition of its ‘Art in Resonance’ programme, set to launch during Arts Month in March.

This year’s lineup features Hong Kong contemporary artist Angel Hui, Tokyo-based Indonesian ceramicist Albert Yonathan Setyawan in partnership with the Victoria and Albert Museum (V&A), and Hong Kong-based architect-artist William Lim. 

Targeting art enthusiasts, travellers to Hong Kong and hotel admirers, the exhibition will showcase ambitious new works across the hotel group’s flagship property, offering guests, art lovers, and visitors the chance to encounter art in surprising and uplifting ways—while reaffirming The Peninsula’s longstanding commitment to cultural patronage.

Recently selected to represent Hong Kong at the 61st Venice Biennale, Hui’s piece Swimming in Light will greet visitors on the hotel’s façade, awning, and iconic Rolls-Royces, inviting visitors into a world of colour and delight. Her works centre on transforming every day, ordinary objects into moments of quiet wonder.

This signature motif turns The Verandah’s windows on the first floor into shimmering pools, where colour, reflection and movement come together in a gentle choreography, which can be viewed from the outside and from within. At the entrance to The Verandah, artwork installations bring a playful, contemporary energy to the hotel's interior, inviting guests to wander through seas of light and shadow and to embark on a poetic journey.

In partnership with the V&A, Setyawan’s Metamorphic Modulation is presented in The Lobby within a purpose-built structure that encloses viewers in a contemplative shell. Albert’s practice investigates the transitory nature of existence through ritualistic repetition, the artwork centres on two key forms in nature: one evoking a leaf and the other a flower.

Each ceramic piece is hand-modelled in clay, slip-cast in red terracotta, and left unglazed to celebrate the raw texture and colour of the material — what the artist passionately calls “baked earth.” The work plays with shadow, casting a layered effect that blurs the boundary between sculpture and wall, and invites guests to experience the piece from different vantage points as it shifts in appearance.

A third immersive installation awaits at The Verandah Café, where Lim, in collaboration with Tai Ping, transforms the space into a whimsical, live-in environment inspired by Lim’s oil painting A Bright Future. The intervention combines a large-scale hand-tufted wall tapestry with a seamless checker-patterned floor carpet, crafted by Tai Ping artisans, to fashion a surreal experience that makes visitors feel as if they were stepping directly into the canvas.

The painting, part of Lim’s Journey series, depicts a boy gazing into a crystal ball, imagining a world where fish leap across the sky and the moon hangs low, a hopeful meditation on perspective, symbolism and the meeting of reality and imagination. The installation brings the painting to life through symbolic motifs and decorative objects, offering a sanctuary where visitors are invited to inhabit a future bright with possibility.

The Peninsula Hong Kong will bring ‘Art in Resonance’ to life through curated dining and hospitality experiences, with artistic culinary creations inspired by the artworks. At The Lobby, guests can enjoy The Peninsula Art in Resonance Afternoon Tea, where pastry creations playfully echo the three featured artworks, accompanied by refined finger sandwiches and signature pastries.

“We are proud to continue our partnership with the V&A. This collaboration represents our shared vision to present world-class, immersive, and intentional art experiences that transcend borders and resonate with audiences around the world,” said Benjamin Vuchot, chief executive officer, The Hongkong and Shanghai Hotels. “As ‘Art in Resonance’ evolves and grows, it brings extraordinary works by some of the world’s most visionary contemporary artists to our hotels, creating unexpected, inspiring, and genuine encounters for guests and our local communities.”

The Peninsula Hong Kong first partnered with London’s Victoria and Albert Museum (V&A) last January to launch a series of contemporary art installations in the city, supporting emerging and mid-career artists.

The Peninsula’s “Art in resonance” commission-based art programme, was introduced in 2019 to highlight important emerging and mid-career artists by providing them with funding, curatorial support and logistical capabilities to produce significant new public artworks.

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