The UCCA Centre for Contemporary Art allegedly withheld wages for six months, and plans for its Shanghai branch are unclear, reports the South China Morning Post.
The institution, headquartered in Beijing, was founded by the late Belgian collectors Guy and Myriam Ullens in 2007 and has developed an international reputation for its ambitious exhibitions and programming under director Philip Tinari. The UCCA is now one of the oldest non-profit contemporary art centers in Mainland China.
With the support of private investors, the UCCA also expanded its footprint to three more branches in Beidaihe (2018), Shanghai (2021) and one in Yixing last year.
But the South China Morning Post reported that several people working at the UCCA “confirmed on condition of anonymity that most UCCA staff did not receive their full pay from January to June, and that there has been no activity at UCCA Edge in Shanghai since the June closing of an exhibition co-presented with the Saudi Ministry of Culture.”
SCMP also noted that UCCA’s landlord in Beijing in the 798 Art District has become more strict about rental payments, compounding the institution’s financial challenges due to lower ticket sales and greater international freight costs during a wider economic slowdown in the country.
“UCCA has also struggled to claim payments from international partners for exhibitions,” SCMP reported from interviews with insiders.
In an email interview with SCMP, Tinari acknowledged that “it has been a difficult year for museums throughout China”, noting that “as the consumer economy continues at a slower pace than before, individual visitors, supporters and sponsors are more careful with their resources than in the past”.
Tinari also told SCMP the UCCA is “actively working towards long-term solutions that will allow us to sustainably fund our first-rate programme for the long term”.
The news at UCCA follows several closures and cutbacks at several other private art museums in China, which have raised concerns about the sustainability and outlook for the region’s art market. These include the Jupiter Museum of Art in Shenzhen announcing its closure in June, quickly followed by Qingdao’s TAG Art Museum. The South China Morning Post also reported the Ennova Art Museum in Langfang has “been dormant for months”, along with others.
There was an explosion of private museums in China during the 2010s due to two main factors: an incentive for developers to access government subsidies, cheap land, or development rights, as well as a growing number of wealthy art collectors interested in promoting their collections.
According to the Ministry of Culture and Tourism in China, the four year period between 2016 and 2020 was especially busy, with a new museum opening an average of every two days.
However, art museums in China are now undergoing a crisis after corporate backers have shifted budgets, consumers have adjusted discretionary spending, as well as rising costs for operations.
Red Brick Art Museum curator Wang Wenyu also told SCMP there is a significant drop in visitors during the winter, resulting in difficulties for paying salaries at the beginning of this year.
