Dafen Art Museum

Dafen Art Museum

The Dafen Art Museum was built in 2007 and is located within Dafen Village. Covering a land area of 11,000 square meters and a construction area of 16,000 square meters, it is currently the largest art museum in Shenzhen by floor space. It is a public building invested in by the Shenzhen Municipal Government and the Longgang District Government, open to the public year-round. The museum is part of Shenzhen’s renowned oil painting industry village, combining oil painting exhibitions, academic exchanges, leisure, and sightseeing.

The Dafen Art Museum is a three-story public building, measuring 90 meters in length, 85 meters in width, and 23.8 meters in height, with a basement that is 4.5 meters high. It features comprehensive facilities including an underground parking lot, a multi-purpose conference hall, an academic lecture hall, collection rooms, and two large oil painting exhibition halls on the first floor. The second floor houses an exhibition corridor and five relatively independent exhibition rooms. The third floor includes artist studios, a café, and a rooftop plaza.

The total exhibition area of the Dafen Art Museum is 6,300 square meters, with a total display line of 887 meters. Specifically, the first-floor exhibition area is 1,800 square meters with a 300-meter display line; the second-floor exhibition area is 4,500 square meters with a 587-meter display line and a 210-meter corridor display line. The connected exhibition area spans 3,600 square meters. The layout offers both vertical layering and horizontal independence across the five exhibition spaces.

The spatial concept of the Dafen Art Museum’s interior is, overall, an extension and internalization of the external architectural space, striving to uncover and preserve a sense of “wonder” in every detail. On a functional level, in order to highlight the artworks and downplay the space itself, the designers aimed to create a minimalist yet not simplistic atmosphere—pure, serene, and Zen-like. As a conceptual foundation, the design integrates elements of traditional Chinese culture such as yin and yang, black and white, and the sky wells commonly found in classical architecture. From these, an abstract yet non-symbolic design language was distilled, creating a unique sense of lightness, tranquility, and subtlety within the museum. Through deep reflection on its own cultural identity, the designers adopted an inclusive, restrained, and effective mode of expression to clearly convey the visual value and intellectual significance this urban-village museum offers to its visitors. In this sense, the Dafen Art Museum can be regarded as another milestone in the development of Chinese urban architecture.

Any designer sensitive to the current state of Chinese culture will inevitably face the complex issues in the development of China’s urban architectural culture: on one hand, there is the aggressive infiltration of postmodern concepts in architecture and all cultural fields; on the other, there is the quiet revival of traditional architectural culture and aesthetics. The evolution of these two forces has not only sparked conflict and opposition but also created unprecedented opportunities and momentum for imaginative designers. With this understanding, the designers of the Dafen Art Museum made bold choices, fully incorporating and blending the strengths of both, and took on their own responsibility and reflection regarding the current state and future direction of China’s urban (architectural) culture.

Address: Laowei East Third Lane, Dafen Oil Painting Village, Buji Subdistrict, Longgang District, Shenzhen

Type: Art Museum

Recommended Visit Duration: 1–2 hours

Phone: 0755-84732633

Official Website: http://www.cndafen.com/

Ticket Information: Free admission

Buji Subdistrict: The Buji Subdistrict Office of Longgang District, Shenzhen, was established on August 26, 2004, when the former Buji Town was converted into a subdistrict during the “town-to-subdistrict” urbanization process. On April 29, 2006, in accordance with the municipal Party committee and municipal government’s directive titled “Pilot Work on Administrative Division Adjustment and Management System Innovation for Buji and Longhua Subdistricts,” the original Buji Subdistrict was divided into three new subdistricts, resulting in the current Buji Subdistrict.

　It currently administers 24 communities, seven of which—Buji, Shuijing, Sanlian, Gankeng, Dafen, Mianwan, and Nansan—are “village-to-community” areas... More details about Buji Subdistrict ++