The Shenzhen Art Museum (new venue) in Longhua District officially opened to the public yesterday, becoming the first among the city’s 10 new cultural landmarks in the new era to begin operation.

Cultural organizations, art elites, and technology representatives from China, France, South Korea and Thailand participated in a grand opening ceremony yesterday. The museum’s opening events will open to the public today, featuring eight exhibitions and one thematic international forum.

The opening ceremony of The Shenzhen Art Museum (new venue). Photos by Lin Jianping

An architectural masterpiece of German studio KSP Jürgen Engel Architekten, the new museum is designed as an international art palace that integrates art exhibitions, art collections, cultural exchange, talent training, and public services under one roof. Located on the city’s central axis and in the Shenzhen North Railway Station central business district, the new art museum faces the Shenzhen Library’s north division, a work by the same design firm.

The new art museum, with a total construction area of 66,000 square meters, houses an exhibition area of 20,000 square meters, with an artwork storage room of nearly 6,200 square meters. It has 18 exhibition halls, a 3,900-square-meter semi-outdoor area for sculpture exhibitions, several lecture halls, an art book reading room, an art-themed restaurant, and other multifunctional areas.

Scenes at an exhibition titled “Shiota Chiharu: The Soul Trembles,” which crystallizes Berlin-based Japanese artist Shiota Chiharu’s experience, her philosophies, and her views of life, death and existence. It is one of the eight opening exhibitions of the museum, which opened yesterday.

Compared with older museums in the city, the new art museum boasts a more sophisticated design and more cutting-edge equipment, which allows it to accommodate different types and scales of exhibitions to effectively meet the artistic needs of different audiences. Each of its 18 exhibition halls has their own characteristics. For example, the first floor hall spans 13.9 meters high and is equipped with movable hydraulic display walls, suitable for both large and smaller exhibitions with flexible spaces.

The second floor highlights a 3,900-square-meter semi-outdoor sculpture exhibition hall, an ideal venue for large-scale sculpture and installation exhibitions. The professional light film used on the third floor creates a natural lighting environment for the best experience of appreciating artworks. The fourth floor, with constant temperature and humidity display cases, meets the requirements for displaying precious collections. In addition, the museum is also equipped with elevators with a load-bearing capacity of 12 tons and other professional equipment to meet the needs of different types of exhibitions.

The museum’s storage room, composed of eight sections, is also equipped with an electric intelligent management system, and a tailor-made environment monitoring system, which allows real-time monitoring of temperature, humidity, light, ultraviolet rays, CO2, formaldehyde, and other environmental indicators. In case of an abnormality, an early warning can be sent via multiple ways including WeChat, text message, telephone and alarms.

The facade of The Shenzhen Art Museum (new venue).

The museum, which has been open to 1,000 visitors daily during its trial operation since Sept. 28, has received nearly 40,000 visitors in total. The museum is now open to receive 6,000 visitors daily. Reservations are necessary for admission and can be done via the museum’s official WeChat account. Visitors can get there by Metro lines 4 and 6 and exit at A1 of Hongshan Station.

The old Shenzhen Art Museum, formerly known as the Shenzhen Exhibition Hall, is the earliest art exhibition institution in the city. It was established in Donghu Park in Luohu District in 1976, covering a total area of 5,500 square meters, a floor space of 2,800 square meters, and an exhibition area of 1,200 square meters. During the museum’s early years, it attracted many renowned domestic artists to hold exhibitions, becoming a stepping stone for Chinese art to the world stage. In 1987, it was renamed Shenzhen Art Museum.

Shenzhen unveiled the plan to build 10 cultural landmarks in the new era at the end of 2018.