A grand opening for the Zhejiang University Museum of Art and Archaeology (ZJUMAA) took place on Sept.8^th . This long-expected museum finally unveils its interior to the public, which inherits chinese traditional culture and and promotes the the exchanges of human civilization as cultural palace, and adds an important force to the chinese museum industry as well.

The minimalism look of the building

ZJUMAA located at the southwestern end of the Zijingang Campus, covering an area of 50 acres and a building area of 25,000 square meters. The whole museum is divided into two functional areas, namely the museum area and the academic area. The museum area is located on the first floor, including the 3500-square-meter exhibition hall, the collection warehouse, the storeroom, the academic lecture hall and the educational activity area. The academic area is distributed on the second and third floors. It consists of the Fang Wen Library and professional classrooms, which mainly caters to teachers and students and professional researchers in Zhejiang University.

The museum aims at providing the education of civilization history and art history. It is a physical history database parallel to the library of texts and literature, and also a liberal arts laboratory of the university. Its greatest feature is the service of physical teaching. Its primary mission is to support and enhance the teaching, research and social service levels of Zhejiang University. Through the collection, teaching, research and exhibition of the original art works, the “physical teaching” is carried out, allowing students to touch the original works of cultural relics and works of art. Thus, the teaching mode of stressing both “culture” and “relics” can be strengthened in Zhejiang University. At the same time, the exhibition and educational activities of the Museum are open to the public.

Interior design

The construction of Zhejiang University Museum of Art and Archaeology traced back to December in 2007. At that time, the university learned that Mr. Fang Wen, a famous art historian at Princeton University, had the desire to develop art and archaeology in China. Zhang Xi, the secretary of the Party Committee of Zhejiang University, immediately went to the United States and reached a preliminary cooperation intention with Mr. Fang Wen. In the spring of 2008, Mr. Fang Wen attended the “Art History and Archaeological Research Center and Discipline Construction Seminar” in Zhejiang University to select the location and to plan the construction of the Art and Archaeology Museum. In 2009, this initiative was passed at Zhejiang University. The foundation stone laying ceremony of the Museum of Art and Archaeology was held on 22^nd May, 2011, and construction began on 5^th November, 2012.

With the principle of “China Center, Global Contexts”, the collection of the Museum will cover different civilizations and different eras of human beings. Collections are mainly obtained through donation and purchase. The exhibition of the Museum will mainly serve the teaching of civilization and art history of Zhejiang University in two forms: the first is the permanent teaching specimen exhibition, which serves the undergraduate general education; and the second is academic special exhibition, releasing relevant research results.

The museum’s four exhibitions opened on the opening day. During the opening period, the Museum will launch a series of public education activities that combine academic, ideological and general knowledge.