A private matter(2)

Common headaches

In the meantime, private art museums are confronted with some problems that challenge the State-owned venues as well. For instance, public support for art museums is still relatively low compared with developed countries, and the professional level of the staff needs improvement.

According to Zhu, there are 2,725 staff members at State-owned art museums; 1,497 of them are of professional backgrounds and 399 are senior professionals, but who usually work for a small number of big venues.

Situations in private venues are also worrying. Li Lei, deputy director of State-owned China Art Museum in Shanghai, noted at the forum that "although some private museums with abundant funds are capable of inviting experts with international backgrounds to work for them, there is a shortage of professionals … and frequent turnover of the staff still hinders the long-term development of private museums."

Faced with so many problems, what should private art museums do to improve? Is there a successful and mature model for them to learn from?

No one-size-fits-all solution

Zhang Zikang, deputy director of the Culture Department in Xin-jiang Uyghur Autonomous Region and former curator of Today Art Museum, said that there is no single answer to these questions.

In the current situation in China, it is impossible to establish one development model for different art museums. Each museum faces a unique set of issues and each has different donor-museum relationships that must be sustained.

Zhang's opinion was echoed by Philip Dodd, former director of Institute of Contemporary Arts in London and founder of Made in China, an agency that develops international cultural projects. Dodd introduced three development models for foreign private art museums at the forum: The entrepreneur model represented by the Saatchi Gallery in London that relies on sales of its collection; the education model represented by Sandretto Re Rebaudengo Foundation in Italy, which is devoted to education for not only artists but also the wider public; and the regeneration model represented by Rubell Family Collection's projects in Miami and Washington DC, where they rejuvenate decaying communities with art museums.

Dodd also noted what really mattered to the museums, both State-owned and private, was to think about how to generate a greater demand for them among the public.

Feasible measures recommended by the insiders at the forum also included seeking more support from the government, setting up foundations for private art museums, applying new media technology in exhibitions to attract younger generations, reinforcing professional training for museum staff and establishing platforms, both online and offline, to enable better communication between different museums.