Is it a new tradition for museums and art galleries not to close on Monday? It can't just look beautiful. Open | Time | Museum

This summer, many museums across the country are struggling to secure a ticket. In response to the surging passenger flow, many museums have not only extended their visit time, added night clubs, and increased reservation numbers, but also changed the international practice of closing on Mondays, including the Capital Museum and Shaanxi History Museum, and other museums and art galleries.

The Notice on Strengthening the Opening Service of Museums in Summer and Other Holidays issued by the National Cutural Heritage Administration clearly stated that "key venues and popular venues should meet the needs of the public to visit to a greater extent through appropriate extension of opening hours and other ways according to the actual situation."

The key to breaking the international tradition of closing on Monday is to meet the demand for visitors and improve the quality of their visits. In the view of some visitors, cultural and museum venues should take advantage of the cultural and museum fever to increase their opening efforts and attract more people to enter the museum. But in the eyes of some industry insiders, the visiting needs faced by each venue are not the same, and adjustments should be made according to specific situations. "If there is not enough good content, extending the opening will actually be a waste of resources."

Is it not closed or staggered?

"It's too difficult to make appointments with popular museums." During the recent summer vacation, Fang Lei, a citizen working in administrative work at a foreign company, brought his two children to a "Central Plains Tour". However, several attempts to make appointments with the Shaanxi History Museum failed, and there were "a lot of tourists" visiting several museums. He really hopes that the museum can further extend its visit time. "One more open day, one more opportunity." According to previously released data, the highest daily passenger flow of the Shaanxi History Museum can reach 12000 people.

This summer, the Shaanxi History Museum has adjusted its opening hours several times to cope with the surging passenger flow: starting from July 16th, the closing time on Sundays has been extended from 18:00 to 20:00; On August 11th, it was announced that a "no closure on Mondays" measure would be implemented during the summer vacation.

The Shaanxi History Museum is not the only cultural and museum venue that breaks conventions. Several museums across the country, including the Beijing Capital Museum, Shenyang Palace Museum, and Nanjing Six Dynasties Museum, have implemented a policy of not closing on Mondays. Internationally, the British Museum has implemented a policy of not closing on Mondays.

In Shanghai, there are also multiple cultural and museum venues that are open all week. The Pudong Art Museum, backed by a tall building in Lujiazui and overlooking the Bund across the river, is open from Monday to Sunday until 21:00; The Dongyi Art Museum and Jiushi Art Museum located on the Bund, a landmark in Shanghai, have also been open all week. Starting from August 14th, the Jiushi Art Museum will also extend its daily closing time to 21:00, with an opening time of up to 11 hours per day.

The exhibition held by Pudong Art Museum

"Extending the opening hours is a necessity." In Fang Lei's view, facing the high enthusiasm for visiting, the maximum capacity of the venue is almost unchanged, and extending the visiting time is almost the only way.

However, even in the face of the current wave of foot traffic, popular cultural and museum venues such as the Palace Museum, National Museum, Shanghai Museum, and Henan Museum still maintain a one day closure policy.

Some cultural and museum venues have adjusted their closing days. Starting from July 31st this year, Hangzhou, Zhejiang Province adjusted the opening hours of 52 municipal state-owned museums in the city from a unified "closed on Monday" to staggered opening: some venues will no longer be closed, while others will be closed on Monday and Tuesday at staggered times, allowing citizens and tourists to visit museums every day.

Many famous cultural and museum venues internationally have not changed their weekly closing rhythm due to high foot traffic. Last year, it was rated by overseas media as the "most popular museum among tourists in the world". The Louvre closes every Tuesday, while the Metropolitan Museum closes every Wednesday.

The most popular Louvre in the world still maintains a weekly one-day closure rhythm

Some industry insiders also indicate that closing the museum does not mean closing. "On closed day, it is necessary to maintain the venue and equipment, and there are many daily tasks to handle. It is also necessary to provide necessary rest time for security and service personnel." Zhang Xu, who works at a museum, said that closed day also provides flexible time for the museum.

Some special jobs require flexible adjustments during closed days. On April 24th this year, the Shanghai Museum welcomed 40 students with hearing impairments, intellectual disabilities, and cerebral palsy from the Pudong New Area Special Education School on its closing day. At that time, the Shanghai Museum was holding the "From Botticelli to Van Gogh - National Gallery of Fine Arts Collection Exhibition", with night clubs open every day. However, "these children are highly susceptible to environmental influences and require special arrangements."

Wenbo fever or check-in fever?

"Shaanxi History Museum was already in high demand a few years ago, and this summer's peak tourism season has made this phenomenon even more prominent." Mr. Wu, who is engaged in the tourism industry, said that many tourists go to ancient capitals such as Xi'an and Luoyang for tourism. Museums themselves are important tourist destinations, "not only cultural and museum enthusiasts, but also tourism enthusiasts. Not all museums will experience such a situation, and it is not necessary to demand 'not closing on Mondays' as a new convention."

Mr. Wu found that among the museums that were opened at different times in Hangzhou, the cultural and museum venues that were opened every day were mainly distributed in the West Lake scenic area and the main urban area, and the scale was relatively small, mostly old residences and sites. "Usually, visitors visit during tourism to add a sense of historical significance." However, the Hangzhou Museum and the China Grand Canal Museum still maintain a one-day closure rhythm every week. "There is a difference between cultural heritage and tourism. The former focuses more on exploring historical and cultural heritage, while the latter has a greater willingness to visit, appreciate, and check in."

Fang Lei candidly stated that taking children to visit museums is more about letting them know and experience specific cultural relics. "Children want to take photos with national treasures.". Zhang Xu also stated that in previous exhibitions, many viewers came for one or two world-renowned works. "Many people are not interested in the thought process and historical evolution reflected in the exhibition," he said

The Shaanxi History Museum has always been a popular cultural and museum venue during the summer vacation

When Mr. Ji, a colleague of Fang Lei, went on a trip to Sichuan, he made several comparisons and removed the itinerary of the Sanxingdui Museum. On the one hand, the new museum has too many visitors, and on the other hand, he has seen the Sanxingdui exhibition at the Fengxian Museum and heard that the Shanghai Museum will also cooperate with the Sanxingdui Museum for exhibitions.

Zhang Xu suggests that cultural and museum venues should strengthen curation, and through the exchange and exhibition of cultural relics and artworks under the same theme, more visitors can experience the charm of national treasures without having to rush to popular venues, and have a more systematic understanding of historical knowledge.

Cultural and museum enthusiast Ye Min once accompanied his family and friends to visit the Shanghai Museum during the summer vacation. As soon as he entered, he found that the original audio-visual room was already full of suitcases, with many parent-child tourists and groups of students among the visitors. Sometimes when she wants to introduce the details of cultural relics to her peers, some children sneak up to the front of the exhibition booth, and some tourists discuss the value of cultural relics, "it's just nonsense."

"Cancelling the closure on Monday may allow tens of thousands of people to have the opportunity to visit, but is it really helpful for improving the visiting experience?" She suggests that museums further analyze the big data of the visiting group and provide targeted services, "such as providing professional guides on weekdays to attract visitors with certain historical knowledge, and providing more booking convenience and collective explanations for parent-child tourists during the summer, diverting different visitors."

Meeting needs or guiding interests?

Zhang Xu noticed that some cultural and museum venues have announced the cancellation of their "Monday closing day". The solution is for employees to start work early and postpone work every day. "If it takes a few days, a summer vacation, or a special exhibition, we may be able to persevere, but what should we do in the long run?" An art museum staff member explained that breaking the tradition of closing on Monday, security, cleaning, and other staff members need to work overtime or add staff. "We need to strictly adhere to the annual budget for these expenses, and it is difficult to have flexibility. It is not possible to rely solely on awareness and dedication."

Some staff members who actively implement the policy of "not closing on Mondays" at cultural and museum venues have stated that the results have not been as expected. Mr. Li, who works at an art museum, told reporters that because the museum is close to popular scenic spots, it does not close on Mondays during the summer vacation and extends its opening hours. However, the number of visitors has not significantly increased, and the number of visitors during the extended period is not many. "Especially in the hour before the museum closes, sometimes only a few tourists sit and play with their phones."

The Zhejiang Museum of Nature, located in Hangzhou, opened the first state-owned museum in China that is open 24 hours a day in June last year. But some visitors found that the open space is about 300 square meters next to the museum, "closer to an exhibition hall.". Most of the time, it is not open 24 hours a day, but rather until 22:00.

In Zhang Xu's view, "cultural and museum fever" cannot be regarded as a generalized "phenomenon". "It needs to be specific to each different venue and decide whether to open on Monday based on one's own situation."

The Shanghai Museum presents an immersive comprehensive art show titled "Colorful Night of Liangzhu"

"Opening up the venues first or attracting the audience first is a question of 'laying eggs or laying eggs'." Ye Min found that many overseas cultural and museum venues have created many activities to attract and cultivate audiences, while some domestic cultural and museum venues lack "popularity" and motivation, resulting in lagging promotion and innovation. "This summer's' cultural and museum fever ', even if it only attracts new audiences in a' check-in style ', at least they are willing to enter cultural and museum venues. Cultural and museum venues should actively respond to this demand and think about how to transform this enthusiasm into a passion for history and culture. In her opinion, cultural and museum venues should not only passively meet demand, but also actively create demand," not passively extending opening hours, but actively providing more cultural choices and services. "