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Arthur de Villepin On Bridging Cultures with Villa Haw Par and a New Curatorial Project in Milan

The dealer is building a cross-cultural platform that puts artistic creation, exchange and relationships ahead of expansion for its own sake.

Built in 1935 in Tai Hang, Hong Kong , Haw Par Mansion was commissioned by Aw Boon Haw, the Burmese-Chinese entrepreneur known as the “Tiger Balm King,” as a family residence. Its name combined his own with that of his brother, Aw Boon Par, with whom he inherited and expanded the family’s pharmaceutical business, growing it from a small herbal shop in Rangoon into an international empire. Aw later became an influential newspaper proprietor and philanthropist, funding schools, hospitals, orphanages and disaster relief across Asia. Today, the mansion is one of the few surviving examples of the Chinese Renaissance style that blends Chinese and Western forms rather than faithfully following either tradition. Flying eaves, red columns, moon gates and green glazed-tile roofs are harmoniously integrated with more Western domestic architectural features, including porches, bay windows and fireplaces. Inside, stunning Italian stained and painted glass filters the light while gilded moldings, carved ornament and murals incorporate Indian and Burmese influences, reflecting the Aw family’s transnational world.

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Sara Mao, a respected art professional who spent two decades at Christie’s, led Observer on a tour of the property during Art Basel Hong Kong, explaining that the mansion’s next chapter will return it to the city as a space for art and culture. Already restored, it operated from 2019 to 2022 as a center for music education and cross-cultural exchange, but after the controlling organization closed, the government spent a long time searching for a new operator. Eventually, the Foundation for Art and Culture was entrusted by the Hong Kong government to operate the site on a nonprofit, self-financing basis. Chairing it is art curator and gallerist Arthur de Villepin, who has stepped up to shape and support the heritage building’s next chapter as Villa Haw Par.

The son of former French prime minister and foreign minister Dominique de Villepin, with whom he co-founded the Villepin gallery, Arthur de Villepin is deeply attuned to art’s social and civic impact, as well as to the diplomatic role that culture and cultural heritage can play in connecting communities across borders. Inspired by institutions such as Villa Medici and Villa Albertine, Villa Haw Par is being developed as a platform for artistic creation, cultural dialogue and international exchange, linking Hong Kong with the Greater Bay Area, the wider Asia-Pacific region and beyond. Its guiding principle, as Mao, who will serve as executive director, put it, is........

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