Located in the business district, south-east of Beijing, the Today Art Museum offers an interesting window on Chinese and international creations. Its simple goal is to become the best contemporary art museum in the world.

Inaugurated in October 2006 with an exhibition of Fang Lijun, an international renowned Chinese artist, the Today Art Museum, said TAM, and the quality of its artistic events has not yet slipped. Located in eastern Beijing, TAM has a bookstore, a restaurant and souvenir shop. With an exhibition area of 5,500 square meters on two buildings, the museum offers a space to the extent of its ambition: to promote contemporary Chinese art in the world.

It all began in 2002 when Zhang Baoquan, a property developer, the head of the Antaeus Company and a great lover of art, founded the Today Art Gallery. This place is dedicated to contemporary art and experienced a turning point since 2004 with the appointment of Zhang Zikang, a renowned publisher, to its direction. But the real turning point is marked by its transformation into a non-governmental and not for profit museum in July 2006, becoming the first in China.

The institution then left Haidian, in west Beijing, to settle in a Chaoyang District former industrial site completely redesigned by Wang Hui. The architect designed a bridge attached to the main body of TAM bringing a little levity to the red brick structure, a remnant of a brewery that retains its historic cachet. This discovery, coupled with an in situ installation on the facade by the conceptual artist Wang Jianwei, avoids too much of a contrast with the new apartment buildings and commercial buildings of the Pingod residence that surround it.

The result is an offering of many scenic opportunities such as the esplanade of 3,000 square meters and a ceiling that can reach up to 12.5 meters high inside. The only drawback is the fact that the signage needs to improve.

Solid support

Today, the collection of the Today Art Museum brings together private works and those of Today International Culture and Art Ltd and those of individuals who entrust the museum with their pieces, bringing the total to 5,000 pieces. But TAM's mission goes far beyond mere conservation as it seeks to introduce the general public to this art not only by making available a audio-visual and photographic centre, as well as publishing quality magazines and books and co-organizing international events such as the video art festival "World One Minute".