-
Advertisement
PostMag
Life.Culture.Discovery.
Architecture and design
PostMagTravel

China’s UCCA Dune Art Museum among the winners at the Leading Culture Destinations Awards

  • The accolades are said to showcase the relationship between art, culture and travel
  • Among the nominees were Hong Kong’s Jockey Club Museum of Climate Change and Tsz Shan Monastery

Reading Time:2 minutes
Why you can trust SCMP
The UCCA Dune Art Museum in China's Hebei province was named the New Culture Destination of the Year, Asia-Pacific, at the Leading Culture Destinations Awards, in Berlin, on March 4. Photo: SCMP / Simon Song
Mark Footer
On March 4, the winners of the Leading Culture Destinations (LCD) Awards were announced in Berlin, Germany. Among the victorious was the UCCA Dune Art Museum in Beidaihe, Hebei province, which won in the New Culture Destination of the Year, Asia-Pacific category, fending off competition from Hong Kong’s Tsz Shan Monastery Buddhist Art Museum and The Centre Pompidou-West Bund Art Museum, in Shanghai.

LCD describes itself as a global culture travel network, and its awards – which, for the first time in their six-year history, were held in Berlin rather than London – highlight the world’s best established and emerging cultural destinations. According to the promotional video, the awards are for the benefit of “art lovers, fashion insiders, food fans, global nomads, lifestyle aficionados, urban explorers, temporary citizens, people collectors and cultural enthusiasts.” And according to the jury of eight industry experts, the “winning destinations and institutions showcase just how deep the symbiosis between art, culture and travel is.”

In October 2018, the UCCA Center for Contemporary Art opened a second exhibition space, UCCA Dune, in Beidaihe, along the coast of the Bohai Sea, a few hours from Beijing. The museum is housed in white concrete caves carved within a stretch of ocean dunes. “Imagine the Teletubbies’ rounded green hillside home in beautifully rendered minimalistic concrete,” suggested a Post Magazine review.
Advertisement

The New Culture Destination category of awards “recognises the significant role of culture in changing the perception of towns and cities and influencing their future development”, according to LCD, and UCCA Dune was singled out for having hosted a programme of exhibitions informed by its “meditative setting, emphasising the relationship between art, humanity and the natural world”.

Hong Kong’s Tsz Shan Monastery, in Tai Po, was shortlisted in the New Culture Destination of the Year, Asia-Pacific category. Photo: SCMP / Martin Chan
Hong Kong’s Tsz Shan Monastery, in Tai Po, was shortlisted in the New Culture Destination of the Year, Asia-Pacific category. Photo: SCMP / Martin Chan
Advertisement
Other LCD Award winners included the National Museum of Qatar (Best New Culture Destination, Middle East/Africa/UAE); Tbilisi, Georgia (Best Emerging Culture City) and the Fife Arms Hotel, Scotland (Best Art Hotel). AlpiNN, which can be found at Italy’s Lumen Museum of Mountain Photography, pipped Flutes, at the Singapore National Museum, to the Best Restaurant award.
Advertisement
Select Voice
Choose your listening speed
Get through articles 2x faster
1.25x
250 WPM
Slow
Average
Fast
1.25x