Private Chinese art museum makes a comeback, 2 years after sponsor’s pull-out left it on life support

Guangdong Times Museum, in Guangzhou, was at the centre of the Chinese contemporary art scene when its funding dried up in 2022. Two years on, it’s reopening

The relaunch, which will coincide with Art Basel Hong Kong, was made possible by a fundraising auction in January of original works provided by artists

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A preview of the auction for Guangdong Times Museum in January, held to raise funds for its relaunch. The event featured works by 65 artists, most of them from Guangdong province and Hong Kong. Photo: Guangdong Times Museum

Published: 11:15am, 11 Feb 2024Updated: 11:31am, 12 Feb 2024

In 2022, news that Guangdong Times Museum had to end all exhibition activities because of funding cuts sent shock waves through the Chinese contemporary art community.

And it left fans of the innovative and community-centred private institution in the southern Chinese city of Guangzhou devastated.

Two years on, the museum is making a comeback in March to coincide with the Art Basel Hong Kong art fair, thanks to a charity auction organised by its remaining skeleton crew of five.

“There is a lot of expectation for us to continue from our peers and audiences because Times Museum is one of the very few independent institutions in the south [of China],” deputy director Nikita Cai Yingqian tells the Post.

Nikita Cai Yingqian, deputy director of Guangdong Times Museum. Photo: Guangdong Times Museum

Renowned for its curatorial independence and dedication to regional talent, Times Museum has made a significant impact with exhibitions such as “Big Tail Elephant: One Hour, No Room, Five Shows” (2016), a meticulously curated retrospective of a seminal Guangzhou artist group that continues to inspire.