The recently opened Long Museum West Bund is set to raise the bar for the city’s booming creative scene. In West Bund alone that growth includes the likes of Indonesian collector Budi Tek’s soon-to-open Yuz Museum, and the recently announced DreamCenter, a multi-billion yuan project of epic proportions.
Staying ahead of the cultural curve, though, is the all-new Long Museum, a sister institution to the Pudong-side space of the same name. The "One City, Two Museums" concept comes courtesy of billionaire couple Liu Yiqian and Wang Wei. Both venues house stellar works from their vast collection.
An enormous collection calls for an enormous space — 33,000sqm to be precise, of which 16,000sqm is earmarked for exhibition. It's China’s largest private museum (for now). Liu Yichun of Atelier Deshaus designed the statement architecture, and construction was completed in just one year. The site maintains the area’s former industrial character to striking effect, both through the preservation of modern relics of the coal plant that once stood there; and nearby, a pair of port hoppers, static "cranes" once used to load and unload the mighty cargo ships that continue to chug along this stretch of the Huangpu river.
The museum is a bold, but not overpowering presence with all smooth, gray concrete punctuated by building-height windows shielded by latticed metal sheets. Effectively two volumes joined via sprawling basement levels and outside, upper-floor corridors, they come together as an inviting and open archway.
That openness continues inside the venue through a double-height lobby space overlooked by bright, airy galleries above. Not unlike an iceberg, a massive portion of the museum is actually underground, invisible from the outside. There, carefully-lit, purpose-built display cases house precious artifacts from Long Museum’s expansive collection, including ancient scrolls by the likes of Song Dynasty poet Su Shi, and Sketches of Rare Birds by Emperor Huizhong of the Song Dynasty himself.
Both works feature in the museum’s inaugural exhibition, Re-View, a wide-reaching affair, ostensibly organized to showcase the sheer range of Liu Yiqian and Wang Wei’s collection. The basement houses those aforementioned early works, as well as collections of paintings from the 19th and early 20th centuries in sections titled "Ancient / Contemporary", and "Chinese Paintings / Western Paintings". For those of us less than expert in matters of calligraphy and scrolls, it’s the latter that’s most enlightening.
Illustrating the stylistic diversity of Chinese art during the transitional period between its modern and contemporary eras, the selection evokes a sometimes surprising spirit of artistic exchange. Here — whether through color, content or technique — works on show demonstrate how artists from China were inspired by international trends, predominantly from Europe and Japan. Museum-goers, plan accordingly: there’s a lot to see in both of these sections.
Rather less densely displayed, the two above-ground levels house "Cases / History", a kind of "greatest hits" of Chinese contemporary art from the 1970s to present day. Although there are a fewer surprises here, it’s nevertheless a fascinating overview.
According to the blurb, the section aims to present Chinese contemporary art in its socio-historical context. While that doesn’t really shine through, the caliber of artworks on show here is nonetheless dazzling. Think 1980s pieces by Huang Rui, co-founder of the avant-garde Stars movement; large-scale works from Zeng Fanzhi’s seminal – if creepy – "Masks" series; and elsewhere, a particularly intricate "gunpowder painting" courtesy of Cai Guoqiang.
Upstairs, a section dedicated to contemporary sculpture is well worth seeking out. Particular highlights include Xiang Jing’s almost mythical-looking life-size horse; and Gao Weigang’s architectural work of gold-colored steel steps, ‘Forever’.
Once inside the venue, those striking concrete curves translate to a space reminiscent of a cathedral, or maybe a skate park… Either way, the Long Museum West Bund represents an exciting new chapter for Shanghai’s museum scene. Still something of a work in progress, future developments include a conference hall, reading room, café, museum shop and massive car park.
While the narrative structure behind debut exhibition Re-View may be muddled through the show’s size and ambition, the museum’s overall message comes across loud and clear. Through that striking arched entrance, and inside, an almost encyclopedic approach to Chinese art through the ages, the museum’s concept of openness riddles the project through and through. For details, check the listing here.
