Is the museum boom in China delivering LV bags of architecture?

China is experiencing a museum boom of epic proportions. With unlimited capital, rapid land acquisition and a taste for architectural statements, it has become a playground for global architects to design some bizarre and beautiful creations. But some say the rapid development of the sector is delivering museums that have advanced beyond current museum practice. Labelled the 'Louis Vuitton bags of architecture", they are seen as flagship stores of culture by urban planners and city branders with the potential to introduce the Bilbao effect - the rejuvination of a city through museum building.

In a recent interview with Randian, the author of New Museums in China, Clare Jacobsen, talks about the new museums and whether they can become something more than LV bags of architecture. Read more...

China's largest private art museum opens in Shanghai

Less than a year after the Long Museum was founded in Pudong by the collector couple Liu Yiqian and Wang Wei, another Long Museum opened last weekend on the other side of the river in the Xuhui Riverside Development Area of Shanghai. Spanning over 33,000 square meters, including 16,000 square meters of exhibition space, it is the largest privately owned museum in China and will also house Dream Centre, the animation culture and entertainment complex scheduled to open in 2017.

China has embarked upon a massive programme of museum development, but the development of projects to drive them (and appointment of curatorial staff) is lagging behind. However, the Long Museum has learned from the experience of other museums and has settled on a curatorial approach to programming. Rather than appointing curators, the museum invites well-known domestic and foreign curators to work with an in-house academic department set up to help them develop their concepts into exhibitions.

In an interview with Randian, Managing Director Huang Jian talks about the Long Museum's operations, collections, exhibitions and educational programmes. Read more...
Image: Shanghai's new Long Museum, exterior and interior

LEAP looks at the "museumification" of China

China is undergoing a "museumification" with an average of over 100 museums built across the country every year. The current issue of LEAP looks at whether the speed and scale of this construction might mark a new chapter in the history of global museum development. It also sets out to identify problems with the state of the museum in China and potential solutions. As a final touch artist Cao Fei addresses some of these issues in her satirical work of short fiction Secret Tales from the Museum.