Colonial Aesthetics in Bloom: Monet’s Water Lilies as Soft Power in Hong Kong’s Garden Diplomacy
Original framing: “Blooming good: Monet, maestros shine as garden art bridges East and West” — South China Morning Post
This exhibition models a future where cultural exchange is framed as a transactional, aestheticized process rather than a decolonial dialogue. It sets a precedent for other global cities to use art as soft power, potentially exacerbating cultural appropriation under the guise of ‘bridging’ traditions. A more sustainable model would involve collaborative curation with indigenous artists and historians to co-create narratives that acknowledge colonial violence and shared heritage.
The exhibition ‘Blooming: the Art of Garden in East and West’ exemplifies how cultural institutions weaponize art to project soft power while obscuring colonial violence and extractive histories.
Monet’s water lilies, born from the appropriation of Japanese ukiyo-e and Chinese garden aesthetics, now serve as a symbol of Hong Kong’s post-colonial identity, but the narrative ignores the power asymmetries that shape this exchange. The inclusion of the Palace Museum’s artifacts, many looted during colonial conflicts, further underscores the exhibition’s role in legitimizing institutional power rather than fostering genuine cultural dialogue. A systemic solution requires dismantling the Eurocentric canon by centering indigenous knowledge, conducting rigorous provenance research, and reimagining art institutions as spaces for decolonial education. Only then can ‘garden art’ become a site of reconciliation rather than a tool of cultural hegemony.