Why does Shanghai attract people to tirelessly drag their luggage to watch exhibitions?, Shanghai Cultural Magnetic Field ③ | Not a Resource Rich Museum | Art | Shanghai

Before 9 o'clock in the morning, the first batch of spectators waiting outside the Shanghai Museum had already lined up. As soon as the door opened, the audience, dragging their luggage, made a familiar turn to store their luggage - a temporary expansion of the luggage storage area during the "From Botticelli to Van Gogh: National Gallery of Fine Arts" exhibition, which attracted over 400000 visitors this year, has been in service ever since. Entering July, 75.9% of the visitors to the Shanghai Expo came from all over the country.

The same situation also occurs at the Shanghai Museum of Contemporary Art. Here, an open luggage rack is used to store larger suitcases, with 50% of visitors coming from outside the city.

The luggage storage area reflects the attraction of high-quality exhibitions at Shanghai Cultural and Museum venues. Compared to Henan and Shaanxi, which are major cultural heritage provinces in China, Shanghai's local resources are not considered abundant; Compared to the internationally recognized art capitals of Paris and London, Shanghai is not the birthplace of modern and contemporary art.

What attracts people to come from all directions to Shanghai tirelessly, just for a high-quality exhibition?

Look at Shanghai, look at the whole country, look at the world

Yang Liyuan, who lives in Hangzhou, comes to Shanghai every one or two months to participate in exhibitions. Recently, she just visited the Pudong Art Museum: the "Xu Bing Gravity Theater" runs through four floors; The oil painting from the National Museum of Tyson Bonemisa showcases classical European art; Liu Xiangcheng's photographic works record the past China and bring back historical moments; The Oceanian artworks from the Metropolitan Museum of Art offer a glimpse of the unfamiliar maritime life of the nation. "A museum with four exhibitions showcasing art from all over the country and even the world is very rare in China."

The vintage cars at the Modern Paris exhibition

Shanghai not only has many exhibitions, but also good quality. The "Modern Paris 1914-1945: Architecture, Design, Film, Fashion" exhibition currently being exhibited at the Shanghai Museum of Contemporary Art, from antique cars and architectural manuscripts to Chanel antique clothing, and even the original construction of a house, more than 300 cultural relics, as well as the wooden boards and steel compass brackets used for construction, are almost all transported from overseas.

At the opening of the exhibition, many architects and designers specially came from other places, and the illustrations in textbooks were seen in Shanghai. Huang Mi, the Director of the Exhibition Department of the Shanghai Museum of Contemporary Art, led reporters to select key exhibits from the exhibition hall and "take a quick look" for two hours. "It takes about three days for the audience to watch all the exhibits, including videos."

Shanghai Museum of History

In fact, many exhibition venues in Shanghai are themselves huge exhibits. The Shanghai History Museum, located at the corner of People's Square, is the former site of the Shanghai Jockey Club. The nearly century old historical building has attracted many tourists to check in specifically. In March this year, the Shangli Museum courtyard was opened to the public, attracting more people to get close to the museum.

"A museum is often a landmark building of a city," said Liu Shuguang, Chairman of the China Museum Association. Museums are hard resources that can be seen, touched, and have credibility and popularity in urban construction.

Every time Yang Liyuan visits the Pudong Art Museum, he never misses the opportunity to shoot a sunset in the Mirror Hall and gaze at the Bund across the Huangpu River from the rooftop platform: "The Shanghai Cultural and Museum Exhibition Hall not only has high-quality exhibitions, but also concentrates the beauty of Shanghai's city."

Professionalism and Fireworks

The Shanghai Museum's "Empirical China: Songze Liangzhu Civilization Archaeological Exhibition" shows only two pieces of jade, a combination of shell and forging jade scepter, combined together by an organic glass model, allowing the audience to see the complete form of the former scepter. The exhibition is divided into four major sections: ancient country, rice cultivation, handicrafts, and jade, telling the story of civilization 5000 years ago. Li Wei, who works in architecture, bluntly stated that he is not aware of the international academic debate over the definition of a country and civilization. "However, these exquisite cultural relics and exhibition arrangements have given me an outline of the ancient 'country'."

"Every cultural relic should appear in an appropriate position to showcase the story it needs to tell," said Hu Jialin, a researcher at the Shanghai Museum, to integrate historical, cultural, and artistic values.

Shanghai Museum staff at the exhibition site of Song and Yuan Dynasty ancient books

Coincidentally. Although Shanghai does not have an advantage in contemporary art resources compared to cities such as Paris and London, the Shanghai Biennale has become a contemporary art brand, and exhibitions by artists such as Eve Klein have also moved from Shanghai to the whole country. In the view of Zhang Dequn, the special assistant to the director of the Shanghai Museum of Contemporary Art, the key lies in the curatorial power within the museum. About 80% to 90% of the exhibitions at the Shanghai Museum of Contemporary Art are independently planned, and more young curators are trained through programs such as the Youth Curator Program. "We must adhere to our academic positioning, artistic quality, and independent curatorial thinking."

Nightclub activities at Pudong Art Museum

While maintaining professionalism, many viewers have the impression that the Shanghai exhibition is "fun". In conjunction with the exhibition theme "Seizing Treasures from the River and Sea - Scientific Archaeology at the Yangtze River Estuary No. 2" starting in July, Shangli Expo launched the "Museum Wonderful Night" parent-child activity on the summer weekend, playing games and watching light and shadow dramas in the outdoor courtyard surrounded by historical buildings, giving participants a cool summer atmosphere.

"Audience friendliness" is another impression that many people have of Shanghai exhibitions. Under the "Empirical China" booth, a shelf protrudes about 10 centimeters, allowing viewers to rest their arms and enjoy the cultural relics closer. "The lines on the cultural relics are very clear!" Li Wei said bluntly, "These details are very detailed!"

National and global resource allocation capabilities

The "Poster Style" exhibit of the "Empirical China" exhibition, Liangzhu Congwang, is a treasure of Zhejiang Provincial Museum Town. In order to catch up with the opening exhibition of the Jiangxin Museum in Zhejiang Province, Congwang was originally scheduled to withdraw the exhibition on July 9th. In response to the enthusiasm of the audience, through communication and coordination with the exhibition borrowing unit, Cong Wang's business trip has been extended to July 23rd. The 358 pieces/set of cultural relics exhibited this time are from 19 cultural and museum units, many of which are treasures of the town. The exhibition spans the summer vacation and National Day holiday, making it the "golden period" of the exhibition.

Why do cultural and museum institutions across the country squeeze out time to support exhibitions in Shanghai? Taking the above Bo as an example, in addition to mutual support of exhibits, they also utilize their advantages in talent, scientific research, and technology to serve the whole country. The XCT cultural relic detection technology of Shangbo has advantages in researching bronze artifacts and has served other cultural and museum institutions multiple times. Chen Jie, Deputy Director of the Shanghai Museum, said that establishing good relationships with cultural and museum units from various regions has become a unique resource for the Shanghai Museum.

King Cong extended his business trip time in Shanghai

Shanghai, as a frontier window of reform and opening up, is a stage for China to showcase to the world and a window for international observation of China. High quality exhibitions have become a means of communication between China and foreign countries. The Henan Museum once co hosted the "Homestead in China" exhibition with Shanghai Museum. Dean Ma Xiaolin candidly stated that he hopes to use Shanghai as a platform to allow more domestic and foreign audiences to appreciate the cultural relics of the Central Plains and understand the early formation and development of China. Maya Nuku, curator of Oceania Art at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, visited Shanghai Museum for the first time this year, comparing ancient Chinese jade with her familiar New Zealand jade. She noticed the craze sparked by the National Gallery of Fine Arts exhibition held in Shanghai, "The space and community of this city are filled with exciting artistic vitality."

Maya Nuku brought an exhibition and also visited the museum herself

This exhibition, which attracted over 400000 visitors from all over the country to visit Shanghai Expo, has prompted many famous overseas cultural and museum institutions to actively offer olive branches to Shanghai Expo. According to the "Big Museum Plan" currently being implemented in Shanghai, important exhibitions in the future will focus on two series: "Why China" cultural relics archaeology and "Dialogue with the World" cultural relics art. Chu Xiaobo, the director of Shanghai Museum, stated that the two exhibition series reflect the international resource allocation capabilities of Shanghai Museum and will also help enhance its overseas influence.

It's not just about going online. The cooperation between Pudong Art Museum and Metropolitan Museum of Art, as well as the collaboration between West Coast Art Museum and Pompidou Center, will bring more high-quality exhibitions to Shanghai through international cooperation. The "Modern Paris" exhibition was planned 7 years ago, with a preparation time of three years and 38 exhibitors. Behind it is the attraction of Shanghai to international art talents. The exhibition is curated by renowned architectural historian Jean Louis Cohen, architect Pascal Mori, and fashion historian Catherine Olmer. The exhibition design and graphic design also come from international teams in various fields. In Huang Mi's view, "If it weren't for the recognition of Shanghai and the Shanghai Museum of Contemporary Art, they might not have come, and it would be difficult for us to borrow so many precious exhibits."