The He Art Museum Will Open Its Doors in October
Renowned Japanese architect Tadao Ando designed the building.
The He Art Museum (HEM), designed by Japanese architect and Pritzker Prize laureate Tadao Ando, will finally open on October 1, 2020 in Shunde, a small district in Guangdong Province, China. Its opening was originally slated for March but was delayed due to the COVID-19 outbreak.
Museum founder He Jianfeng is the member of the prominent He family; his father He Xiangjian co-founded Midea, one of China’s largest appliance manufacturers. In tribute to He’s wish for the museum (“to provide a harmonious life through sharing of art and culture”), Ando took harmony as his guiding principle in designing the building. Organic shapes and references recur throughout the design in circular exhibition spaces and tiered construction as well as a double-helix staircase and an expansive courtyard.
The building also boasts over 86,000 square feet of exhibition space to house its seasonal exhibitions and its permanent collection of 500-plus pieces spanning calligraphy, painting and sculpture. Highlights include Pablo Picasso’s Homme et femme nus (1968) which was purchased by the He family for $15.6 million USD.
HEM’s opening exhibition, “From the Mundane World: Launch Exhibition of He Art Museum,” will examine the space inhabited by human beings — time, speed, energy — and the tangible items which arise from and populate our interactions with these spaces.
Tickets must be reserved online 10 days in advance via getintouch@hem.org.
Get a closer look at the new space in the gallery above.
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He Art Museum (HEM)
6 Yixing Road
Beijiao New Town,
Shunde District
Foshan City
Guangdong Province
