HONG KONG.- M+, Asia's global museum of contemporary visual culture in the West Kowloon Cultural District (WestK) in Hong Kong, collaborates with The Kowloon Motor Bus Company (1933) Limited (KMB) to bring the popular Special Exhibition Design Ah! Experience the Wonder of Everyday Design beyond the museum and onto the streets of Kowloon. From now through November 2026, three Design Ah!-themed KMB Tour HK CITY CHARM HK1 Open-top Buses, featuring graphics that celebrates everyday actions will accompany the public throughout the bus journey. In addition, a bespoke exhibition-inspired audio guide created for the KMB Tour HK Open-top Bus Route CITY CHARM HK1 invites passengers to experience Hong Kong through the lens of design and discover neighbourhoods at selected bus stops where everyday design elements highlighted in the exhibition can be found.
Currently on view at the M+ Main Hall Gallery until 10 January 2027, Design Ah! Experience the Wonder of Everyday Design is an interactive, family-friendly Special Exhibition that explores how design shapes everyday actions such as walking, eating, and sitting. Through hands-on games, participatory installations, and immersive audiovisual environments, visitors are encouraged to look closely, experiment, and learn through play.
One of the exhibition stations Dessin Ah!, an interactive drawing installation centred on a classic KMB double-decker bus model, Leyland Victory MK II, visitors are invited to sketch the object from different viewpoints before their drawings are scanned and combined to create a 360-degree animation projection. For generations of Hong Kong people, the bus's iconic red-and-cream livery evokes shared memories of daily journeys and city life. Building on this exploration of a familiar element of Hong Kong's urban landscape, M+ and KMB have extended the exhibition experience beyond the museum and into the city itself.
Three specially designed buses inspired by Design Ah! exhibition are now operating on the KMB Tour HK Open-top Bus Route CITY CHARM HK1. Two buses feature bespoke Design Ah!-themed liveries, while the third draws inspiration from Very Hong Kong, the M+ Retail merchandise series celebrating local culture and visual identity.
The Open-top Bus CITY CHARM HK1 Daytime Tour travels through the West Kowloon Cultural District, Yau Tsim Mong, Wong Tai Sin Temple and Kowloon City, offering passengers a unique perspective on some of Hong Kong's most vibrant neighbourhoods. By night, passengers can enjoy the dazzling views of Victoria Harbour, Temple Street, the Fruit Market and Ladies Market on the Nighttime Tour. Together, the three themed buses transform familiar city journeys through vibrant visuals rooted in everyday experiences, urban scenes, and local culture. Inside the buses, playful graphics highlighting actions such as tap, listen, up, down, walk, hold, sit, invite passengers to discover the often-overlooked design woven into daily life. Through these visual prompts, ordinary bus rides become opportunities to observe, connect with, and appreciate the thoughtfully designed environments that shape the city.
As part of the collaboration, M+ further connects the exhibition with neighbourhoods across Kowloon through a specially curated audio guide developed by the M+ Learning and Interpretation team. Available onboard the CITY CHARM HK1 open-top buses, the audio experience invites passengers to observe how design influences everyday encounters and urban experiences throughout the city. The tailored audio content is available at six selected stops, including M+, Shanghai Street and Temple Street Night Market, Nelson Street in Mong Kok, and Pei Ho Street during Daytime Tour (10:0017:00), and M+, Nelson Street in Mong Kok, and Mong Kok Station during Nighttime Tour (17:3023:00).
A curated selection of KMB merchandise is also available at the M+ Shop, translating recognisable elements of Hong Kongs bus culture into a range of collectibles. Highlights include discontinued 1:76 KMB bus models Leyland Olympian 12M (RT.80X) and 1:43 KMB bus models Leyland Olympian 11M (RT.70), stop bell-inspired keychain with two sound effects, crossbody bags, caps, socks, a KMB-themed Rummikub set, cups, and a KMB bus stop-shaped drawing board. For more details, please visit M+ Shop.