Kerstin Mogull, Managing Director of Tate, and Mr Bao Shuyi, Vice General Manager of Lujiazui Group. Photo courtesy Tate © Ben Fisher
At an event at Tate Modern on 11 June 2019, Tate and Shanghai Lujiazui Group – a leading state-owned developer in China – signed a Memorandum of Understanding as part of the development of Shanghai’s Pudong Museum of Art (PMoA). Tate will provide PMoA with training and expertise in a number of fields as well as an inaugural exhibition drawn from Tate’s collection. This will be followed by two more exhibitions at PMoA which will bring further works from Tate’s national collection to audiences in China.
The event was attended by representatives from both Tate and Lujiazui, the latter represented by Mr Bao Shuyi, Vice General Manager, Lujiazui Group. Tate was represented by Kerstin Mogull, Managing Director of Tate and Judith Nesbitt, Tate’s Director of National and International Partnerships. Mr Zhu Di, General Director, Art Department of the Ministry of Culture and Tourism of the People’s Republic of China and Deputy District Mayor of Shanghai Pudong New Area People’s Government, and Mr Yu Peng, Minister Counsellor, Cultural Office at the Chinese Embassy in the UK were present at the event. Helen Whitehouse, Deputy Director, Museums and Cultural Property at the UK Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport also attended.
Pudong Museum of Art has been designed by Atelier Jean Nouvel (AJN). The construction of the building started in September 2017, it is scheduled to be completed in early 2021 and it will open to the public in mid-2021.
The signing formalises the commitment to cooperate in cultural exchange and museum development. Tate will provide expertise in areas such as visitor services, operations, art handling and exhibition management, audience development, and learning. The two parties aim to maintain a long-term strategic partnership.
Mr Zhu Di said:
I am delighted to be here with all of you in London to witness the signing ceremony for the Memorandum of Understanding between Lujiazui Group and Tate. On behalf of the Ministry of Culture and Tourism of the People's Republic of China and Shanghai Pudong New Area People’s Government, we are delighted to have Tate as a consultant to the Pudong Museum of Art and to be signing the MoU. Civilizations are enriched through learning from each other. When it opens, the PMoA will be a stage for dialogue through art, between China and other countries. It intends to become a major contributor to cultural exchanges and cooperation between China and other countries. We very much look forward to co-operating with Tate and, we hope, other leading museums from around the world as we build a new outward-facing art museum in the open, innovative and inclusive global city of Shanghai. We want to contribute to the promotion of cultural exchange worldwide, and the communication between the East and the West.
Kerstin Mogull commented:
We recognise and admire the ambition behind this new public art institution and are excited to be working with the Pudong Museum of Art to advise them on their historic journey towards the opening in 2021 and beyond. This is an internationally significant project to establish a major new art museum in one of the world’s most exciting, dynamic and populous cities. Tate’s best ever attended exhibition was held in Shanghai last year so we are keen to deepen our engagement with audiences there. We are delighted to have the opportunity to lend our expertise and experience to assist Lujiazui in that goal over the course of the next three years.