Why did Rockbund Art Museum apologize?

Shanghai's Rockbund Art Museum (RAM) recently made headlines online – but why?

Let's start from the beginning. On May 2, RAM, a private museum near the city's iconic Bund waterfront, announced that all exhibitions would be open to the public for free. Visitors could enter the museum after making an online reservation – no tickets needed.

Later, the policy changed again.

Starting June 11, RAM cancelled the reservation requirement. Visitors could now walk in during opening hours (Wednesdays to Sundays, 11am to 8pm), with entry based on time slots.

The museum also stated: If the number of people inside the gallery reached the maximum capacity, visitors would need to wait; and once the daily visitor limit was reached, it would stop admitting guests for the day.

That's when issues began to arise: After scrapping the reservation system, some visitors questioned the rule of no entry once the daily visitor limit is reached.

People online recently posted that although the museum's official hours end at 8pm, the queue was closed by around 5pm on a weekend. For visitors, there's no way of knowing whether the venue has reached capacity without actually going there – meaning someone could spend an hour or more making the trip, only to be turned away at the door.

What really pushed the museum into the spotlight was its controversial response to the complaint. The official Xiaohongshu (rednote) account replied, "We don't need to do this. And please don't come again."

On the evening of June 17, RAM issued a public apology, stating: "We extend our sincerest apologies to all affected members of the public for the inappropriate comments made by our account in recent days."

New rules

Starting June 18, the museum began trial on a new entry policy: From Wednesday to Sunday, 500 entry passes will be distributed on-site daily beginning at 11am. First come, first served.

Once you have a pass, you're free to enter the museum at any time that day (from 11am to 8pm, with last entry at 7:30pm).

If the museum is full when you arrive, you may still need to queue, and staff will be available to assist.