The Openings of Two Major New Chinese Museums Have Been Put on Hold Because of the Coronavirus

Organizers behind the new He Art
Museum in Foshan, China,
have decided to delay the institution’s scheduled
opening due to the
global outbreak of the coronavirus. 

“The health and safety of [the
museum’s] staff, construction workers, artists, future visitors,
and international collaborators are of top priority,” the museum
said in a statement quoted by the Art Newspaper. 

The private institution, which
is supported by He Jianfeng, the founder of the Midea
electronics company, said it was “closely following measures from
the Chinese government and World Health Organization.”

Site tours have been cancelled, and a scheduled press event in
London has also been postponed.

The Tadao Ando-designed museum,
originally slated to open on March 21, is roughly a 12-hour drive
from Wuhan, where the outbreak originated. At least 420 people have
died in China from the virus, and more than 20,000 cases have been
confirmed by the Chinese government, according to the New York Times.

Last week, the scheduled opening
of the X Museum in Beijing was postposed because of the outbreak,
and the Design Shanghai fair has also been pushed back. It is now
scheduled to take place from May 26 to 29.

“I want to do it well, so I don’t need to force [the] opening
[of the] X Museum in March with so many uncertainties,” Michael
Xufu Huang, the museums’s cofounder, said in a statement to the
Art Newspaper.
The instituton is now scheduled to open in April.

Chinese authorities also closed off access to parts of the Great
Wall of China and the Forbidden City. The fate of Beijing
Gallery Weekend, which is scheduled for March, is still
undecided.

Hong Kong, which now has 15
reported cases of the coronavirus, has also closed attractions
and placed restrictions
on migration to and from the mainland. Museums, stadiums, and other public
gathering places are all currently off limits.

There are also big questions hanging
over Art Basel Hong Kong, which is due to open on March 19. While
international exhibitors are urging
fair organizers to cancel the upcoming edition, local dealers
in Hong Kong are demanding that organizers do exactly the
opposite.

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Been Put on Hold Because of the Coronavirus appeared first on
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