The Chinese Government Is Directing Museums to Adopt Online-Only Shows as the Coronavirus Rages

As the coronavirus death toll in China continues to climb
at an alarming rate, travel restrictions,
quarantine rules, and bans on public gatherings have left the
country’s museums looking like ghost towns.

Two highly anticipated museum openings have already been postponed, and just south of the border with
Hong Kong, the semi-autonomous state has closed all its public institutions.

Now, in an effort to keep collections visible, the mainland
Chinese state has directed institutions to beef up their
social media presences and offer digital or virtual
experiences.

A letter issued by the government last
month directs museums to “enrich the people’s spiritual
and cultural life during the epidemic” with “cloud exhibitions”
based on planned gallery programming.

Museums now offering online experiences include the Chongqing
China Three Gorges Museum, the Chongqing Natural History Museum,
and the National Museum in Beijing, which has a show about Chinese artifacts repatriated from
Italy available for online browsing.

Those interested in seeing the famed terracotta warriors
from Emperor Qin Shi Huang’s
mausoleum can now also do so online.
And the Palace Museum in Beijing is also offering an
animated panoramic view of the palace, although
it is unclear if the panorama was launched before the coronavirus
outbreak.

Just this morning, the UCCA Center for Contemporary Art in
Beijing announced it would close through the month of February in
compliance with safety measures, noting that the building is being
sterilized every 24 hours per government requirements.

The institution has also closed its UCCA Kids locations in
Beijing and Shanghai, with employees working remotely until at
least February 10. Planned exhibitions will be
rescheduled.

The fate of Art Basel Hong Kong remains unclear, as international dealers urge the organizers to
cancel the event, while local gallerists demand the opposite.

Beijing Gallery Weekend has postponed its upcoming 2020 edition,
originally slated to take place in March. Organizers said the event
would be tentatively rescheduled for mid-April, but that the event
could still be entirely cancelled, according to ARTnews.

Meanwhile, travel bans have been affecting artists. This
week, artists Xiao Ke and Zi Han were blocked from boarding a flight to
Australia, where they were scheduled to perform at the
Asia-Pacific Triennial of Performing Arts. Australia, which has 14
reported cases of the virus, has banned non-citizens from traveling
to the country from mainland China.

The post The Chinese Government Is Directing Museums to
Adopt Online-Only Shows as the Coronavirus Rages appeared first
on artnet News.