After a prolonged transition in leadership, Hong Kong’s Para Site has appointed British Swedish curator and writer James Taylor-Foster as its new executive director. He succeeds Billy Tang, who departed in May 2025. During the interim period, the organization was helmed by deputy director Junni Chen.

Taylor-Foster will relocate to Hong Kong this summer to take up the position, concluding an eight-year tenure at ArkDes and Moderna Museet in Stockholm, where he served as curator of contemporary architecture and design (2018–26). Though new to the region, he first visited Hong Kong in 2025 to curate “WEIRD SENSATION FEELS GOOD: The World of ASMR” at GATE33 Gallery, a project organized in collaboration with ArkDes and London’s Design Museum. 

Trained as an architect, Taylor-Foster’s curatorial practice bridges contemporary art, design, and digital culture. In the announcement, he emphasized his commitment to deepening public engagement and accessibility at Para Site, describing the institution as “one of a kind,” with its artist-founded origins and ties to local and regional creative communities continuing to define “its soul.” 

Alan Lo, Para Site’s board chair, added: “[Taylor-Foster] brings a rare combination of curatorial imagination and institutional stewardship. His practice is rooted in the contemporary yet firmly focused on the future: how institutions can shift their centers to stay alive and relevant, how culture moves across borders and disciplines. This is precisely the thinking that Para Site needs as it enters its next chapter.”

Taylor-Foster’s appointment coincides with the organization’s 30th anniversary in 2026, which will be marked by a year-long program of exhibitions, performances, public events, and residencies, and possibly a relocation.

Yuqian Fan is an editorial assistant at ArtAsiaPacific.