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Blurred lines between curatorial control and commercial interests in China means collections are lacking diversity, finds Lisa Movius.

As new museums have proliferated in China over the past decade, they have spent lavishly on impressive architecture and, sometimes, blue-chip art acquisitions. But many have scrimped on staffing, leaving a gap in curatorial expertise that commercial galleries are eager to fill. Top international galleries, which have launched operations in Hong Kong and increasingly the mainland over the same period, have imported Western models of sponsorship for museum exhibitions of their artists but the traditional boundaries between museums’ curatorial control and the market’s commercial interests are far more blurred in China.

Big-ticket, gallery-backed solo shows of Western artists have become a particular fixture of Shanghai’s museums during the November art fair season, and there have been a few years when institutional shows of Asian artists in the city could be counted on one hand. Current autumn offerings include a Rockbund Art Museum show of John Armleder, who is represented by Almine Rech and Massimo de Carlo, and exhibitions for George Condo (Hauser & Wirth), Beatriz Milhazes (White Cube) and Pat Steir (Lévy Gorvy) at Long Museum West Bund...Keep reading on The Art Newspaper.