Dior at Museum of Contemporary Art and — Art'n Dior Shenzhen exhibition (2021)

Shenzhen's Museum of Contemporary Art and Planning Exhibition hosted Art'n Dior, a five-part exhibition of Lady Dior commissions, photography awards and a Dior bookshop.

The venue

The Museum of Contemporary Art and Planning Exhibition sits in the Futian civic centre of Shenzhen, a large public building shared by two institutions and used for touring art and design exhibitions. Its column-free galleries, high ceilings and controlled lighting are configured for object display rather than retail. Visitors move through ticketed halls, usually with timed entry and free circulation inside each room.

How the space was used

For the exhibition the museum's halls were divided into five sections: the Lady Dior As Seen By photographs, the Dior Lady Art artist editions including pieces by Li Songsong and Zhang Huan, the Dior Photography and Visual Arts Award for Young Talents, and a Dior bookshop. Works were hung and placed as an art display, with the bookshop forming the closing room.

Why it works here

A civic art museum lends brand objects the framing of an exhibition: daylight is controlled, walls are blank, and visitors arrive expecting to read rather than buy. Ticketed entry and large halls let a fashion house present archive and artist commissions as a curated show, which suits a city audience used to museum programming.