Shanghai's Rockbund Art Museum became one of the only private museums in China to offer free admission for its 15th anniversary. The free admission launched in May 2025 with shows by Ash Moniz, Cici Wu and Irena Haiduk. Initially, visitors could pre-book timed entry via the museum's WeChat channel. On 11 June the pre-booking system was removed in response to city-wide guidance to reduce barriers, allowing untimed arrivals. Removal led to long waits and the museum sometimes reaching its 500-person daily capacity hours before closing. A turned-away visitor received an inappropriate reply, prompting official and personal apologies. A hybrid day-ahead reservation plus same-day walk-in system was later established, reducing wait times.
The free admission launched in May 2025 with a trio of shows by Ash Moniz, Cici Wu and Irena Haiduk. Initially, visitors could pre-book timed entry slots via the museum's channel on the social media platform WeChat. However, on 11 June, in response to what Zhu-Nowell describes as "city-wide guidance encouraging institutions to remove as many barriers to access as possible", the museum's pre-booking system was removed, allowing visitors to arrive without a timed entry slot.
According to the Chinese outlet China Youth Daily, one visitor who was turned away from RAM later took to social media to request an explanation of the museum's entry system. The visitor claimed to have received a response from the museum's official account which read: "We don't have to do that. Please don't come back." On 17 June the museum's official account posted an apology for the "inappropriate comments", with Zhu-Nowell posting a personal apology some days later.
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