From the United States to China to the United Arab Emirates, 2024 guarantees to be a yr wealthy in museum openings.
Here are simply a few of the new cultural establishments scheduled to open in the coming months.
THE NINTENDO MUSEUM, KYOTO (JAPAN)
It’s shocking {that a} museum devoted to Nintendo hasn’t seen the mild of day sooner, given the agency’s contribution to Japan’s international affect. But Mario and Zelda followers will probably be happy to hear that the museum is due to open later this yr.
The Nintendo Museum is housed in one among the firm’s oldest factories in Kyoto. It is structured around a number of galleries that retrace Nintendo’s historical past in the online game sector. Console prototypes will probably be on show alongside limited-edition collectible figurines and hanafuda, the conventional Japanese playing cards that the firm offered earlier than getting into the online game enterprise.
Nintendo has not given a precise date for the opening of its new museum, though development is due to be accomplished in March.
THE UNIVERSAL WINE MUSEUM, BEIJING (CHINA)
Historically extra partial to beer and robust spirits, China is nonetheless a wine-loving nation. As such, the Universal Wine Museum is due to open quickly in the Fangshan district on the outskirts of Beijing.
This 18,500sq m museum is basically impressed by the Cite du Vin in Bordeaux, France, though it focuses extra on the historical past and tradition of wine in China. It contains 5 exhibition areas, overlaying themes similar to vines, wines and essences. There may also be an auditorium, a restaurant and a wine college.
The Universal Wine Museum goals to convey collectively all these concerned in the wine trade, in addition to wine lovers — whether or not from China or elsewhere — in search of to be taught extra. It is due to open in May, though the actual date is but to be introduced.
THE ZAYED NATIONAL MUSEUM (UAE)
The United Arab Emirates is striving to obtain a new type of worldwide visibility by endowing itself with quite a few museums. Since 2016, the UAE has been engaged on the opening of the Zayed National Museum.
This artwork institution, designed by Norman Foster, is topped by 5 metal wings harking back to falcon wings, a nationwide image and emblem of the United Arab Emirates. The establishment’s title pays homage to Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan, founder and historic chief of the UAE.
Visitors will probably be in a position to find out about the historical past and tradition of the United Arab Emirates by a group of artworks and antiquities but to be unveiled by the Zayed National Museum. Still, the museum’s oldest piece is understood to be a fossil of a rudist clam, a species of mollusc that has been extinct for millennia.
The Zayed National Museum will probably be positioned on Saadiyat Island, a stone’s throw from the Louvre Abu Dhabi. This cultural district may also be house to the Guggenheim Abu Dhabi when it’s accomplished. The authorities haven’t but introduced the actual opening date of the Zayed National Museum, though it’s anticipated to be set by the finish of the yr.
THE STUDIO MUSEUM IN HARLEM (US)
The Studio Museum pays tribute to Black tradition and the artists of African descent who foster and drive its vitality. First opened in 1968, the museum will quickly be housed in a brand-new 7,600sq m constructing. It was designed by the architectural agency Adjaye Associates to mix seamlessly into the Harlem panorama.
Visitors will probably be in a position to admire over 9,000 artworks in all 4 corners of this new six-story constructing, with experiences extending past the official galleries. Creative studios for artists in residence, areas devoted to academic actions, an auditorium and a terrace have additionally been fitted out to make the Studio Museum in Harlem a spot for all types of encounters.This artwork institution is due to open its doorways in the coming months, though the actual opening date has not but been introduced.
THE GRAND EGYPTIAN MUSEUM, CAIRO (EGYPT)
It may have taken 10 years – and over a billion US {dollars} – to construct the Grand Egyptian Museum, only a stone’s throw from the well-known pyramids of Giza. Designed in 2003 by the architectural agency Heneghan Peng, the new museum spans 490,000sq m with a number of parks, gardens and fountains.
It homes over 100,000 artworks and artieacts, 50,000 of that are on everlasting show in a chronological sequence stretching from prehistory to the Greco-Roman interval.
But the spotlight of this huge assortment is the treasure of Pharaoh Tutankhamun. It will probably be displayed in its entirety for the first time since the discovery of the Egyptian king’s tomb in 1922.
The Grand Egyptian Museum is due to open by the finish of the yr, after repeated delays. It will probably be the world’s largest museum devoted to a single civilisation (that of Ancient Egypt). – AFP
