Western museums reach out to Chinese art lovers

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Western museums reach out to Chinese art lovers

By Li Jingjing (Global Times) 09:22, August 08, 2013

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Alsdorf Galleries of Indian, Southeast Asian, Himalayan, and Islamic Art at the Art Institute of Chicago (GT)

Attractions we will never miss when travelling to other countries are museums. When talking about the Palace Museum, people remember China. When mentioning the Louvre Museum, people think of France. Museums are not just collections of artistic works, they are the cultural landmarks of regions and reflect cultural connotations behind them.

Now these museums are getting closer to art lovers through social media. The Art Institute of Chicago (AIC) opened its official account on Sina Weibo in June. It soon drew attention from the Chinese society since it makes the fine arts of the US more accessible to Chinese public. Besides information of the current exhibitions, it provides background knowledge for exhibits and artists. There are also interactive activities for Weibo users.

"What we are really looking to do with the Weibo account is to introduce the museum to Chinese language speakers," said Erin Hogan, director of AIC's Public Affairs and Communications, during an interview with the Global Times. She said that they have lots of Chinese language speaking visitors and they hope to have more art lovers either within or outside of Chicago.

AIC's mission

Now, the Chinese community in Chicago can get information about the museum without leaving their homes. For those in China, they can appreciate the art works without crossing the borders.

The AIC is now recognized as one of the leading fine-arts institutions in the US. It collects, preserves, and interprets works of art of high quality and tries to represent the world's diverse artistic traditions.

"We hope that people are aware that we are the home of art works," said Hogan when introducing AIC's collection of art works.

Its collections cover arts from around the world. Like art works from Europe, or Eastern countries like China, Japan and India. According to the AIC, its permanent collection has grown to nearly 300,000 works of art in fields ranging from Chinese bronzes to contemporary design and from textiles to installation art.

Hogan expressed that museums like AIC are founded to present cultures from different time periods and different places around the world.

"Having a collection of Chinese arts is critical, not only for the visitors coming to the museum to experience the global perspective on art, but also, Chicago has a very large Chinese language speaking community, it is very important for a civic museum to represent all of the diversity to diverse audiences," said Hogan. "We are trying to be a museum in which people can see themselves."

AIC had 1,090 followers on Sina Weibo as of Wednesday. Through the site, they are able to stay current on the latest AIC exhibitions and share their own thoughts about art.