Recently visited the MEGartSTORE Expo at Shatin Heritage Musuem. The scale is not very big (would be quite big in HK), but I have already been quite impressed. The show is featuring over 300 museum art collections, it is the first big-box store of its kind in HK showcasing works of five artists in five what they called ”shops” (sections): Food & Beverage, Health & Beauty, Home & Garden, Leisure & Entertainment and Rest Area.

I came across the show when I was studying buyer behavior. The show is special in the sense that it links meseum exhibition and commercial presentation. ”Sensory shopping experience” is in fact one of the very salient driving force determining consumer behavior, which can be both marketer and non-marketer dominated. Happy to see more marketers are willing to devote efforts in this aspect, though it is still lacking in Hong Kong.

Background about the show:

文化博物館館長（藝術）陳李淑儀表示，「MEGartSTORE」取名自「mega-store/mega-mall」（超級廣場/商場）。她說：「『mega』（超級）一般指龐大的旗艦店，具備應有盡有的貨品以供選購；或指提供完備服務及商品的大型購物商場，一站式地照顧消費者的需要。而這個展覽亦是在同一個空間內，因
應不同的主題，混合陳列三百件博物館的藝術藏品，包括：雕塑、陶瓷、繪畫、攝影及版畫等。」

「所有展品均參考大型商場的商鋪歸類方法，分別有『飲食』、『健康美容』、『家居園藝』、『消閒娛樂』及『休息區』五大主題區域，目的是提出另類欣賞藝術的環境，並為藝術品注入新的意義，提供非傳統的『消費』體驗。而展覽亦是呼應探討商場和購物作為當代文化的一部分所引起的課題。」

在「MEGartSTORE」，藝術品不再像在傳統博物館中所見的神聖和疏離，而是展示在一個熟悉的環境裡，它們就好像在觀眾面前列隊巡遊，用另一種語言述說它們的全新意義。

陳館長說：「展廳內的藝術藏品以作品名稱或主題來分類。這些類目作展覽的最佳例子，也不是唯一的可能性，但最重要的，是喚起參觀者在購物商場的記憶，把那些自我滿足的感覺、無可抗拒的心動和遊憩於琳瑯滿目貨品間的喜悅，一併帶進博物館的觀賞經歷中。」

這商場由曾永璋、謝錦榮、朱國勇和黃德明等四位本地年輕建築師設計空間；著名設計師李永銓為品牌包裝；並由五位本地藝術家：尹麗娟、鄧凝姿、林偉雄、張韻雯及曾建華為五個主題區域製作裝置藝術品。

Website: http://www.heritagemuseum.gov.hk/chinese/main.asp

Exhibition Period: 4 Jun - 27 Nov, 2006

See how products are displayed.

See Barbie in the middle?

Check the IKEA boxes...it can be used as nice wallpaper

Simple patterns have done well in achieving good visual impact. LESS IS MORE is still my cup of tea.