Page 326 - 2020 White Paper on the Business Environment in China
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0 White Paper on the Business Environment in China
architecture stands out—it is something to visit, to about collections and exhibitions,” she said. Zheng
take a picture of, and to know a city by. If nothing said she expected China’s museum industry to
else, these uniquely designed museums break the continue growing as it had started from a low base
architectural monotony of cube-like shopping malls, and people’s cultural appetite is increasing (Zuo).
undulating waves of identical apartment towers,
and cookie-cutter office towers, giving each city a Art
unique signature. Nevertheless, museums are more
than just iconic structure. In order to be successful, Priceless Chinese artworks and artifacts that a
they must be more than just a selfie location. 19th-century Chinese scholar acquired while working
Museums in the West tend to face the challenge of for emperors’ families were donated to the Museum
how to display their massive collections, with most of Fine Arts, Boston in 2019. The donor, the historian,
of it rarely—if ever—making it onto an exhibition filmmaker and collector Wan-go H.C. Weng, is a
floor. Chinese museums, on the other hand, often great-great-grandson of the original owner, Weng
have the opposite problem: a plethora of massive, Tonghe. Starting around 1865, Weng Tonghe
beautiful buildings filled with nothing. While there is spent decades in imperial palaces, tutoring Qing
no official figure as to how many empty museums dynasty teenagers in line for the throne while
China has, independent researchers have put the stretching his government salary to buy art. The
number in the thousands. In many cases these Weng family’s museum donation, with about
are dysfunctional institutions because there’s no 200 pieces made as early as the seventh century,
one running them, there’s no content. However, includes landscape paintings, portraits, pages
there is another reason for the lack of exhibits in of calligraphy, embroidery and playing cards. A
many of China’s new museums. When countries spokeswoman said that as a rule the MFA does
go through tumultuous times, art and precious not reveal the values of works of art, but added
cultural artifacts are among the first things to that the collection is “one of the most significant
be destroyed, sold, or smuggled, and China was gifts in the museum’s history” (Kahn). The fact
one of the most tumultuous places in the world is billions of dollars’ worth of ancient Chinese
throughout the 20th century. Throughout this art lives in museums and private collections
time, much of China’s cultural riches became across the world because relatively few of these
collateral damage in war, destroyed, pr removed antiquities remained in country after the Cultural
from the country where they now fill museums Revolution.
in places like Taipei, London, and Washington DC
(Wade Shepard). With their own market awash with forgeries,
the Chinese look to Europe for pieces with
About 90 percent of all the museums in China ownership histories that guarantee authenticity.
are free, since a 2008 mandate from Beijing Buoyed by a surging economy, Chinese dealers
that all state-run museums gradually do away and collectors have since the mid 2000s been
with admission fees. To support this, the central bidding formidable sums for the finest artworks
government spends more than US$443 million a from their country’s past. More than US$7 billion
year to supplement the loss of admission charges, worth of Chinese art and antiques were sold at
according to state media reports. The elimination of auctions across the world, according in 2018. Of
admission fees has helped bring a surge of visitors these sales, US$5.1 billion came from auctions in
to some museums in the past decade, but obviously mainland China, where the operations of foreign
not to all. Professor Zheng Yi, who researches the auction houses are restricted; US$408 million
museum industry at Fudan University in Shanghai, came from the United States, though that number
said to make better use of the existing museums, was up 62 percent from 2016, compared with a 6
industry participants need to broaden their public percent increase for China. But in recent years, as
service function, turning them into places for study, China’s economic growth has slowed, the market
entertainment and social interaction, instead of for its antiques has become less frothy. Just under
simply for the display of collections. “Bringing happy half the 299 lots offered in Sotheby’s 2019 fall
learning experiences to people should be the focus series of Chinese works of art sales in Hong Kong
of a museum … but most of our museums are only
326
architecture stands out—it is something to visit, to about collections and exhibitions,” she said. Zheng
take a picture of, and to know a city by. If nothing said she expected China’s museum industry to
else, these uniquely designed museums break the continue growing as it had started from a low base
architectural monotony of cube-like shopping malls, and people’s cultural appetite is increasing (Zuo).
undulating waves of identical apartment towers,
and cookie-cutter office towers, giving each city a Art
unique signature. Nevertheless, museums are more
than just iconic structure. In order to be successful, Priceless Chinese artworks and artifacts that a
they must be more than just a selfie location. 19th-century Chinese scholar acquired while working
Museums in the West tend to face the challenge of for emperors’ families were donated to the Museum
how to display their massive collections, with most of Fine Arts, Boston in 2019. The donor, the historian,
of it rarely—if ever—making it onto an exhibition filmmaker and collector Wan-go H.C. Weng, is a
floor. Chinese museums, on the other hand, often great-great-grandson of the original owner, Weng
have the opposite problem: a plethora of massive, Tonghe. Starting around 1865, Weng Tonghe
beautiful buildings filled with nothing. While there is spent decades in imperial palaces, tutoring Qing
no official figure as to how many empty museums dynasty teenagers in line for the throne while
China has, independent researchers have put the stretching his government salary to buy art. The
number in the thousands. In many cases these Weng family’s museum donation, with about
are dysfunctional institutions because there’s no 200 pieces made as early as the seventh century,
one running them, there’s no content. However, includes landscape paintings, portraits, pages
there is another reason for the lack of exhibits in of calligraphy, embroidery and playing cards. A
many of China’s new museums. When countries spokeswoman said that as a rule the MFA does
go through tumultuous times, art and precious not reveal the values of works of art, but added
cultural artifacts are among the first things to that the collection is “one of the most significant
be destroyed, sold, or smuggled, and China was gifts in the museum’s history” (Kahn). The fact
one of the most tumultuous places in the world is billions of dollars’ worth of ancient Chinese
throughout the 20th century. Throughout this art lives in museums and private collections
time, much of China’s cultural riches became across the world because relatively few of these
collateral damage in war, destroyed, pr removed antiquities remained in country after the Cultural
from the country where they now fill museums Revolution.
in places like Taipei, London, and Washington DC
(Wade Shepard). With their own market awash with forgeries,
the Chinese look to Europe for pieces with
About 90 percent of all the museums in China ownership histories that guarantee authenticity.
are free, since a 2008 mandate from Beijing Buoyed by a surging economy, Chinese dealers
that all state-run museums gradually do away and collectors have since the mid 2000s been
with admission fees. To support this, the central bidding formidable sums for the finest artworks
government spends more than US$443 million a from their country’s past. More than US$7 billion
year to supplement the loss of admission charges, worth of Chinese art and antiques were sold at
according to state media reports. The elimination of auctions across the world, according in 2018. Of
admission fees has helped bring a surge of visitors these sales, US$5.1 billion came from auctions in
to some museums in the past decade, but obviously mainland China, where the operations of foreign
not to all. Professor Zheng Yi, who researches the auction houses are restricted; US$408 million
museum industry at Fudan University in Shanghai, came from the United States, though that number
said to make better use of the existing museums, was up 62 percent from 2016, compared with a 6
industry participants need to broaden their public percent increase for China. But in recent years, as
service function, turning them into places for study, China’s economic growth has slowed, the market
entertainment and social interaction, instead of for its antiques has become less frothy. Just under
simply for the display of collections. “Bringing happy half the 299 lots offered in Sotheby’s 2019 fall
learning experiences to people should be the focus series of Chinese works of art sales in Hong Kong
of a museum … but most of our museums are only
326
