Free from government restraints， private art museums occupy a unique cultural space and provide a valuable social function. But with increasingly limited funding options， many private museums are facing a tough future.
By Yuan Ye
“There was a time when I was lost， some time before 2005. I would just buy whatever I wanted，” explains Gu Yan， the chief curator and founder of the newly opened Yuan Art Museum in Beijing.
Sitting quietly in the museum’s lobby， it’s hard to picture Gu， a stylish and composed woman， among crowds of mindless consumers. But so she continues， “eventually you find these things do not bring lasting enjoyment. Often the excitement would last only a few minutes. Sometimes it would be gone before I’d even had the chance to unwrap the package.”
Of course， Gu’s life is different now， and though it might sound clichéd to attribute her apparent epiphany to art， it wouldn’t be far from the truth. The extraordinary story of the new Yuan Art Museum can in fact be traced back to mid-2009. Gu， who had set up the space some months previously， was suddenly diagnosed with a brain tumor. Knowing the extremely high risks she was going to face during surgery， Gu temporarily broke off connections with the art world and shut the gallery.
It wasn’t until after recovering from the operation that Gu decided to break with tradition. Encouraged by the success of the surgery， Gu took the step of registering the Yuan Museum as a non-profit organization (NPO). The move meant that while the direction of the museum would remain private， the property rights， and subsequent ownership， would be transferred into the hands of the public.
Renaming it “Yuan Art Museum，” which according to Gu， “(Yuan) represents both the origin of the universe， as well as representing a chance for things to start anew，” the museum was officially reopened on March 21 this year， a date chosen to coincide with the Spring Equinox， a good time to start anew.
The museum’s opening exhibition showcased works by 12 contemporary Chinese artists， including well-known personalities such as Chen Danqing and Ma Kelu. In addition， the museum also hosted “Seal Point，” a collection of works by the renowned English painter John Walker.
However， unlike in the West， privately owned non-profit museums remain relatively rare in China. In addition to Yuan， there is just one other NPO registered art museum in Beijing， a city of some 18 million residents. What then is the future for this small， modestly funded art space， and what can it possibly hope to achieve？
Inception of Private Museums
Currently Beijing plays hosts to around 40 art museums， including four that are Stateowned (open to the public， with a minimum ticket charge)， over 35 privately owned semiindependent commercial museums， and hundreds of privately owned galleries.
Fueled by an influx of overseas capital into China’s avant-garde art movement， the Chinese art market experienced an unprecedented boom in the late 1990s. Domestic collectors， many of whom had made fortunes in real estate， also began investing heavily in contemporary Chinese art. The combined influence of this sudden injection of investor capital saw the creation of China’s first privately owned commercial museums.
In October 1998， real estate developer Chen Jiagang established the Shanghe Art Museum in Chengdu. It was the first private museum inside China to display contemporary Chinese art works. Two months later， the Teda Contemporary Art Museum was founded in the northern municipality of Tianjin. This was followed one year later by Dongyu Art Museum in Shenyang.
However， for many of these private art museums， the initial euphoria was shortlived. Only two years after their introduction into the market， Shanghe and Dongyu both closed， allegedly due to a combination of bad management， lack of sustainable funding and support from the government. Teda was also forced to suspend operations in 2000， and although the museum later reopened， it has yet to resume full operations.