To Collect and Share: An art museum's ideas for reinvention

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In cities like Beijing and Shanghai where galleries have been enticing visitors with big name artists, others are looking for new ways to bring in the crowds. To get some ideas, we follow our reporter Li Qiong to one of Beijing's art museums that's trying stay in the vanguard.

It's been five years since the Red Brick Art Museum launched its first exhibit in 2014. Looking back into its development, the museum is displaying its important collections, featuring 17 artists from around the world.

LI QIONG BEIJING "This is the first piece of artwork acquired by the Red Brick Art Museum. It's called the 'Thousand-Armed Guanyin'. As the inaugural piece of its collection, the artwork has helped shape the museum's motto of 'to collect is to endow, and to share is to educate'."

Buddhist instruments, animals, plants, daily necessities, and even waste items. The image can arouse different interpretations from various minds.

Some say it's a reflection of the diverse and complex cultural contexts of the contemporary world. To the museum, it means so much more.

YAN SHIJIE DIRECTOR, RED BRICK ART MUSEUM "This piece is all-encompassing in terms of contemporary art. We use its name -- the 'Thousand-Armed Guanyin' -- as the title of the exhibit to express hope that our future collections could be richer and more comprehensive."

It took seven years to prepare for this launch. When the museum first opened, the contemporary Eastern aesthetic of its buildings and gardens quickly made it popular among art lovers. Yet, Yan believes that art museums should be more than just places for exhibitions.

YAN SHIJIE DIRECTOR, RED BRICK ART MUSEUM "We have been exploring ways to develop the museum over the past five years. And we've decided to make it a piece of art wetland, not only in terms of construction, but spirituality as well. The internet takes up too much of everyone's time nowadays. They need an escape from it and feel the air, the wind, as well as art."

Exhibitions in the past five years have covered a wide range of styles, from encouraging audience interaction with the use of geometric principles to revealing a traditional well that has existed in every household of a remote Chinese village.

YAN SHIJIE DIRECTOR, RED BRICK ART MUSEUM "Contemporary art museums have to be open to different artistic styles from all over the world. They are like warehouses of art pieces. We need to leave prints for future visitors -- 10 years from now or 20 years from now -- so people can see how artists of our time think."

These prints may be left in art books and archives, some of which the Red Brick has been collecting and displaying for the public. Just as its saying goes, "to share is to educate." LQ, CGTN, BJ.