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Rebranding art museums
A study of the reopened National Gallery of Victoria
As anyone with even a passing interest in cultural institutions will know, art museums are adapting to keep up with changes in society. Do any of these newly developed spaces indicate a fundamental shift in the ways we engage with art at the beginning of the twenty-first century? The answer is a qualified Yes – and also, it must be said, No. A clear sense of this can be gained by considering the 2003 redevelopment of the National Gallery of Victoria (NGV) in Melbourne, Australia’s second largest city, in the light of the aspirations embodied in the original building that served as its template.
The first building was considered a thoroughly modern museum when it opened to the public in 1968. NGV was innovative in several ways, with much credit to the vision and foresight of the architect, Roy Grounds. For one thing, the 1968 building signalled a strong sense of engagement with the general public, both in its architectural concept and in the layout of its collection. Its entrance lobby was designed to facilitate the rapid and efficient circulation of visitors. It also contained a series of greatly expanded temporary exhibition galleries and a vast Great Hall, which represented an unprecedented emphasis on the ancillary roles of corporate functions and public performances in the contemporary museum.
This last feature might have seemed excessive to some, yet how wise it has proven over the years as museums have come to place increasing emphasis on corporate sponsorship and on the need to generate additional funds via room hire. Furthermore, the Great Hall has for forty years provided an area for children to roam at large before being escorted through the much less spatially accommodating galleries themselves. As an unintimidating introduction to the lifelong rigours of visiting art museums, its impact on attendance cannot be overestimated.
At the same time, other aspects of the 1968 NGV have not withstood the test of time so well. Foremost amongst these are the huge expanse of the exterior’s windows wall and the surrounding moat, which creates a physical as well as psychological barrier apart from the building. Over time, this idea has been questioned, and has been superseded by the growing impetus towards the alternative model of the museum as a more open-ended and interactive institution that engages the community.
With these considerations in mind, Mario Bellini’s redeveloped NGV opened in 2003 and his design reflects what the new, improved, twenty-first-century global museum feels it should be emphasising to its visitors. Here the institution’s energies are focused, not so much on the technical subtleties of how to design the galleries themselves, as on presenting to the public a spectacular image of the museum itself as a welcoming yet efficient facilitator of social interaction, popular entertainment and public knowledge.
All of this is certainly impressive, but where has the art gone? We are not allowed to see the exhibitions until we have completed the necessary inductions. We are greeted by a hugely expanded cloakroom screening off our vision to the right, followed by a large visitor information office leading to the ticket booths. Above us is the café and to our left we cannot escape the NGV shop set alongside the exit.
And what of the redesigned galleries themselves? In fact, they represent a wonderfully elegant reframing of the permanent collections in ways that should offer first-time visitors and seasoned members alike many new avenues for engagement in the years to come. But herein lies the conundrum posed by the NGV renovation and by the global sweep of new museum projects more generally. The permanent collection can become all too easily lost in the increased prominence that these rebranding exercises tend to place on the more glamorously spectacular aspects of the institution itself. At its most extreme, this results in the construction of new buildings that supplant the artworks inside them to become the major attractions themselves.
These challenges are most keenly felt in the area of the temporary exhibition. Entrance to the NGV permanent collection is now free, so the NGV needs something to keep the paying public coming back. The answer lies in the international ‘blockbuster’ exhibition. The Impressionists, for example, netted a total of 380,000 visitors, making it one of the most popular exhibitions in Australian history. There has also been, it needs to be said, a commendable attempt to leaven the international masterpieces with selected highlights from the permanent collection. Overall, though, the prevalence of these ‘rental’ blockbusters cannot but help introduce a certain ‘off the rack’ feeling to the institution’s exhibition programme. More importantly perhaps, they clearly narrow the options for other worthy but less glamorous projects, and they take energy away from the curators’ potential to do further work on and around the permanent collection itself.
Yet the show must go on, and shows can’t exist without the public. Even the most adroit organisation, as the NGV assuredly is, needs to be able to juggle numerous, often conflicting priorities: the need to advance scholarship, on the one hand, versus the imperative of access on the other; the need to introduce audiences to new areas, versus the necessity of luring them in with instant brand recognition. Nobody said it was going to be easy, and the effect of too much innovation in museums can be disastrous.
Choose the correct letter, A, B, C or D.
Write the correct letter in boxes 27-30 on your answer sheet.
27 What is the writer doing in paragraph 1?
A comparing the old NGV with the new NGV
B describing the role of art museums in Australian culture
C considering the influence of gallery design on art appreciation
D suggesting there has been little recent change in gallery design
28 The writer criticises the old NGV because
A the permanent collection was poorly displayed
B the building tended to make art seem restore
C Asian and Pacific art was neglected.
D the foyer resembled a shop.
29 What does the writer notice about the new NGV
A He thinks the ticket booths are well positioned
B He is upset that he is made to move so quickly.
C He is frustrated because the art was obscured by the entrance.
D He thinks the redevelopment fails to keep up with international trends.
30 The writer argues that rental blockbuster exhibitions
A should be cheaper
B are a financial necessary
C should be increased in number.
D allow the museum to present an original programme.
Do the following statements agree with the views of the writer in Reading Passage 37 In boxes 31-35 on your answer sheet, write
YES if the statement agrees with the views of the writer
NO if the statement contradicts the views of the writer
NOT GIVEN if it is impossible to say what the writer thinks about mts
31 Roy Grounds's design failed to recognise the importance of functions and performances in museums.
32 Mario Bellini's new NGV rejects international museum design trends.
33 Mario Bellini's work on subsequent museum projects has been less successful than that on the NGV
34 The NGV monitors the number of first-time visitors to permanent collections 35 Too much change may have negative impacts on uses
Complete each sentence with the correct ending. AG, below. Write the correct letter, A-G in boxes 31-35 on your answer sheet
36 If a large space is available in the museum
37 If children are allowed to move freely in parts of the gallery.
38 If too much emphasis is placed on the museum building itself.
39 If there is an over-reliance on "blockbuster' exhibitions,
40 If the NGV whats to continue to be successful,
A. the museum programme will lose its individuality.
B. the museum will lose credibility.
C. the art loses its importance.
D. it will have to balance opposing demands.
E. this will encourage museum visitors in the future.
F. it will have the capability of increasing revenue.
G. the architect’s reputation might suffer.
Tóm tắt bài đọc “Rebranding art museums”
Bài đọc thảo luận về sự thay đổi trong cách hoạt động và thiết kế của các bảo tàng nghệ thuật, tập trung vào việc cải tổ National Gallery of Victoria (NGV) tại Úc. Bài viết đề cập đến:
1. Sự thay đổi trong cách thiết kế bảo tàng:
• NGV được cải tạo vào năm 2003 để phù hợp với nhu cầu của thế kỷ 21.
• Các bảo tàng hiện đại ngày càng chú trọng vào việc tạo ra không gian mở và kết nối với công chúng.
2. Vấn đề của việc tái thương hiệu bảo tàng:
• Các dự án đổi mới có thể khiến nghệ thuật bị lu mờ so với thiết kế tòa nhà.
• Cách sắp xếp và tổ chức không gian có thể ảnh hưởng đến trải nghiệm của khách tham quan.
3. Triển lãm “blockbuster”:
• Những triển lãm lớn thu hút đông đảo khách tham quan nhưng có thể làm giảm cơ hội cho các dự án nhỏ hơn.
• Tăng tính thương mại hóa, có thể làm giảm sự độc đáo của bảo tàng.
4. Thách thức của bảo tàng hiện đại:
• Cần cân bằng giữa việc duy trì sự học 
thuật và thu hút công chúng.
• Cần đáp ứng nhiều ưu tiên mâu thuẫn, như mở rộng phạm vi tiếp cận mà vẫn giữ được giá trị nghệ thuật.
Đáp án bài đọc Rebranding art museums
27 A
28 B
29 C
30 B
31 NO
32 NO
33 NOT GIVEN
34 NOT GIVEN
35 YES
36 F
37 E
38 C
39 A
40 D
