Crowds and noise a price worth paying for free museums
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[By Liu Rui/Global Times] |
"Expose yourself to art," exclaimed a famous 1978 poster featuring Portland, Oregon mayor Bud Clark holding open his raincoat in front of a nude female statue.
The Chinese government is encouraging people to get a dose of culture by dropping admission fees to libraries and art museums.
Recently, I had a chance to experience the pluses and minuses of this artful future. I was invited to the opening of a one-man show at the National Art Museum of China (NAMOC) for Qu Leilei, one of the founders of Chinese contemporary art.
A few days before the opening, Minister of Culture Cai Wu had declared that the museum was eliminating admission fees in line with a recent announcement from the ministries of Culture and Finance that all museums and libraries that serve the people would be free.
I have been to NAMOC many times before and I was shocked not only to be admitted gratis but by the hordes of all ages exposing themselves to a variety of artistic genres. This was a far different experience than my previous visits. Except for blockbusters like the 2008 exhibit of art from the caves of Dunhuang, NAMOC used to be more like a tomb than the cacophony of humanity I witnessed during my latest visit.
It was a joy to see entire extended families of children, parents and grandparents absorbed in art. They were viewing, photographing and discussing the many paintings, drawings and calligraphy.
Previously some accused NAMOC and others of being snobbish elitist institutions catering only to the cognoscenti. This perception was proven wrong by the 70,000 visitors last month to NAMOC in a seven day trial run of the new admission policy and by what I personally observed.
Yet in some ways this successful artistic reform and opening-up may be too much of a good thing. It is certainly not an isolated case. At the Shanghai Art Museum, some intrepid art lovers have been queuing up as early as 4 am and it saw eight times its normal number of visitors on the first day of free admission.
Large crowds mean that it's harder to look at the art. Art is meant to be savored like a fine glass of wine or a good cigar and not meant to be observed in an atmosphere resembling the Beijing subway at the rush hour.
