RAS Shanghai Art Focus – Rockbund Art Museum (former building of the RAS North China)

Posted: November 9th, 2021 | No Comments »

A good chance to have a tour round the building, just behind the Bund, that was completed in 1933 as the home of the Royal Asiatic Society North China branch – a lecture hall, extensive library and fascinating Natural History Museum. It is now, after a long time of falling into disrepair, the home of the Rockbund Museum.

RAS Art Focus – Places & Spaces: Art in Shanghai – Rockbund Art Museum

The city of Shanghai currently offers a wide array of art museums with exhibitions featuring works by globally renowned artists and collections from some of the most prestigious art institutions in the world. Using our own city as a case study, the RAS Art Focus 2021-22 curated series Places & Spaces: Art in Shanghai aims to explore the phenomenon of museum culture in Shanghai. Each month, Art Historian and Critic Julie Chun will take us to museums, both big and small, to understand the pluralist facets of art institutions with unique opportunities to hear from museum directors, curators and artists.

The Rockbund Art Museum (RAM) holds a special place in Shanghai history as the former Royal Asiatic Society building that housed a lecture hall, a library and a natural history museum. Julie Chun who has been researching the evolving changes pertaining to the RAS China and the building that the Society once occupied on 20 Huqiu Lu, will provide the context of how the Society was established and the circumstances that led to the completion in 1933 of the Society’s architecture that eventually became the RAM in 2010.

Oranda Hou, the Senior Development Manager of RAM, will discuss the building’s most recent renovations and highlight how historical preservation was respected while the necessary modifications required to meet contemporary needs of the museum were achieved. This will be followed by a tour of the Swiss conceptual artist John Armleder’s solo exhibition guided by Billy Tang, the Senior Curator of RAM.

About the Exhibition:“Again, Just Again” is a celebration of John Armleder’s five decades of work inspired by his inter-disciplinary practice. The exhibition features display of new and existing paintings, ready-mades, works on paper, site-specific works and archival material. With each floor of the museum, the spaces inside and outside of the exhibition halls have been transformed through a unique scenography assembled to guide the audience through a choreography of unexpected encounters and visual experiences.

*To respect COVID restrictions, this event will be limited to 20 on a first come, first sign up basis with prepayment made to the RAS Treasurer. Those confirmed and attending are required to bring a face mask and green health code. Thank you for your understanding.

Sunday, 21st November 20212:45 pm registration3:00 pm to 5:00 pmSpeakers: Julie Chun, Oranda Hou and Billy Tang

---