Rockbund Art Museum is housed in a neat 79-year-old building where the British studied Asian art, culture and natural history. The interior of the museum was redesigned by British architect David Chipperfield. Provided to China Daily

Resting in the rarefied air of expensive scents coming out of the haute couture and haute cuisine neighborhood is a unique museum at the Bund. Shi Yingying explores.

Sitting right across from the prestigious Peninsula Hotel and just a block away from the Prada and Chanel boutiques along the Bund, Rockbund Art Museum (RAM) is housed in a neat 79-year-old building at the northern end of that historic stretch.

"You have private galleries like Shanghai Gallery of Art at Three On the Bund and 18 Gallery at Bund 18, but they're commercial galleries," says Eva Huang, senior marketing manager of Shanghai Bund de Rockfeller Group Master Development, the company in charge of the renovation program for a collection of heritage buildings nearby.

"We're glad we are the first and only non-profit museum on the Bund," says Huang. What she does not point out is that the museum would also improve the tone of the neighborhood and the value of the real estate ultimately.

Ten other old buildings, each with its own unique colonial architectural style, are now under renovation and will eventually accommodate shops, restaurants and offices by 2014.

By referring to "shops, restaurants and offices", she doesn't mean the garden-variety shops, but those which will fit comfortably next to luxury brands such as Cartier, or high-end restaurants that can hold their own against David Laris'.

"You've got almost everything on the Bund - restaurants, bars, cafs, exclusive clubs. Everything but a museum," says Huang.

Shi Hantao, director of marketing and development from RAM, says the other reason why the former home of the Royal Asiatic Society has become a contemporary art museum is its legacy.

"It used to be a place where the British studied the Oriental," says Shi. The building, a stone's throw from the former British consulate, used to store over 20,000 pieces of animal and plant specimens, 6,000 heritage items and Asian studies-related artwork as well as more than 14,000 English and Chinese books for 20 years from 1932 to 1952.

"It's one of China's oldest museums, so it makes complete sense to convert it into a contemporary museum after all these years - you've got the bond there," he says.

The Rockbund Art Museum made its first foray into Shanghai's art scene in May 2010. The interior was redesigned by British architect David Chipperfield at the cost of 40 million yuan ($6.3 million). Chipperfield designed the River and Rowing Museum in the UK and reconstructed the destroyed Neues Museum in Berlin.

And now, wearing its new face, RAM is pulling out all stops.

It is currently providing a platform for new works by Zeng Fanzhi, the hottest Chinese contemporary oil artist with record-breaking auction prices as well as staging the most recent installation art by Zhang Huan, one of China's most famous and controversial performance artists.

You may contact the writer at shiyingying@chinadaily.com.cn.

(China Daily 12/04/2011 page15)