Museum at breaking point with 'little brats'
Visitors survey the damaged crystal glass castle after two children collided with the exhibit case while running around playing at the Shanghai Museum of Glass.
Some of the castle’s spires and other delicate parts have been jarred loose and toppled.
People who lived in glass houses shouldn’t throw stones, and museums that house glass exhibits are just a stone’s throw away from calamities if they allow children to run around unsupervised.
The Shanghai Museum of Glass learned the lesson the hard way — for a second time — when children playing around the Arribas Brothers Fantasy Castle kicked the exhibit, shattering parts of the world’s largest glass-blown palace.
The tragedy was blamed on what the Chinese call xionghaizi, or “little brats,” and its repercussions have prompted a public debate about parental responsibility.
The museum reported only last week that the glass castle made by Spanish glassblower Miguel Arribas, had been seriously damaged on May 30 by children running amok.
The artwork was based on the iconic castle in Shanghai Disney Resort.
Arribas is part of the crystal art chain Arribas Brothers, which opened its first shop inside the Sleeping Beauty Castle at California’s Disneyland in 1967. Since then, it has been selling glass and crystal sculptures at 19 Disney sites around the world.
The Shanghai museum was gifted the crystal castle four years ago to mark its fifth anniversary. Artist Arribas spent 500 hours making the castle, using 30,000 individual pieces and 24-carat gold for the spires.
The piece was valued at about US$70,000.
Video footage shows the parents of the two boys filming their children’s destructive antics without taking any steps to stop them.
This is not the first time unruly children have destroyed glass exhibits at the museum. Seven years ago, a glass sculpture of a large pair of wings, entitled “Angel Is Waiting,” was damaged by two boys. The piece took artist Shelly Xue two years and three months to complete and was created to mark the birth of her daughter.
The parents of the two boys involved in its destruction were filming them as they gleefully pulled at the exhibit, without taking any action to stop them.
This issue sparked public outrage at that time. The artwork was created using a one-piece firing process, and the piece could not be restored to its original status. The one-and-a-half wings that survive are now on display under the new title “Broken” and a security footage of how it was damaged plays on a loop.
These incidents point to a lack of education about how to respect artworks and highlight the difficulties of museums in balancing public access to art with the risk of wayward misbehavior.
Zhang Lin, curator of Shanghai Museum of Glass, said the children involved in the most recent incident were pushed by their parents to make a heartfelt apology. But that won’t make the castle rise from its shards.
Surrounded by black stanchions, what remains of the castle is still there. Its main spire was broken and other parts suffered damage. The broken pieces were placed alongside the display case, awaiting possible but not certain restoration.
A board will be erected next week near the remains of the castle to explain how it was damaged, the museum said. Courses on good manners for young visitors will also be conducted in the future.
“The museum has to shoulder more responsibility for public education,” Zhang said.
“Broken” on display at the Shanghai Museum of Glass. The artwork, originally entitled “Angel Is Waiting,” was damaged by two boys in 2013.
Shanghai Daily visited the museum last week. A number of visitor groups that day included children.
“Children are unpredictable,” said one parent. “If they are playing near a museum exhibit, we will, of course, tell them to be careful and play somewhere else. We are watchful of that.”
As she spoke, however, some children from her group were running around the room, excited to be out with friends and unchallenged by parents.
“I make sure my daughter knows not to touch anything and keep a distance from the artworks,” said another mother surnamed Qian. “She is very well-behaved, so I’m not really worried. Parents know their children best. We know the best way to look after them in public spaces like museums.”
A father surnamed Zhang said, “I told my kids about how the castle was broken by some naughty children. The bad example is a warning they can remember.”
His two young children were attracted to the beautiful glass designs and various interactive exhibits in the museum. They stayed close by his side, listening attentively to his explanations of the works.
“My kids listen to me,” he said. “They are interested in the exhibits and don’t make trouble.”
Other visitors at the museum lay blame for destructive behavior squarely on parents.
“Kids are restless by nature,” a visitor surnamed Liu told Shanghai Daily. “Parents ought to be responsible for their behavior. Works of art are priceless. Even if the parents were required to pay for repairs, the works are still not the same.”
A security guard at the museum told Shanghai Daily that security focuses on areas with interactive surfaces, where children are most likely to touch things they shouldn’t. Signs and railings do help keep exhibits safe, he said, but rare accident still happens.
Dead starfish
The Shanghai Museum of Glass is not the only victim of unsupervised children running amok. A few days after the new Shanghai Natural History Museum opened to the public in 2015, a starfish was killed after children prodded it with the toe of a broken Komodo dragon specimen.
In order to let visitors see close-up how the animals live in the wild, the museum allows visitors near some of the specimens. That makes them targets for children who always want to touch things.
Fu Xiangdong, a volunteer with the museum, recalled how he was talking to a group of children in 2018 about skeletons of animals when a child poked the skeleton of a boar, causing a piece to fall off.
Although the specimen was restored by professionals and put on display again the next day, such incidents raise red flags.
To prevent visitors from touching exhibits, the museum has now placed greenery in front of specimens, added extra barriers and moved some exhibits beyond public reach.
“Some parents don’t know how to be good parents,” said 51-year-old Gu Song, who has served as a volunteer at the Shanghai Museum for 11 years.
He said children sometimes make a lot of noise and chase one another in exhibition halls, while parents stand idly by and do nothing to stop them.
“I work at the museum’s Chinese Painting Gallery, where masterpieces of different dynasties are displayed,” Gu said. “The ancient paintings are all kept in showcases that children can’t breach. But some children, mostly those aged between 4 and 10, are really active and like running all around the gallery. It annoys other visitors.”
When parents do nothing, he simply suspends his walking-tour talk and reminds parents to mind their children. Those who don’t are asked to leave the gallery.
Gu said he understands that some parents have to bring their children along because there is no one to take care of them at home. But that doesn’t mitigate the need for them to keep their offspring under control.
“If children want to run and play, parents should take them to a country park, not a museum,” he said.
Gu said the museum does have enough security guards and 100 volunteers to maintain order. And the museum has installed an infrared monitoring system in exhibition halls and marked out lines to keep visitors away from exposed works such as oil paintings.
Museum curator Yang Zhigang said the steps were taken to ensure the safety of artworks and prevent improper visitor behavior from causing irreversible damage.
The problem is not confined to Shanghai.
Last year, auctioneer Christie’s held a preview of its Chinese modern paintings and calligraphy works before its Spring Auction in Hong Kong. A child there tore a painting by Ren Bonian (1840-96), a master artist in the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911).
The value of the 1889 painting, which had survived more than 130 years of warfare and cultural upheaval, was estimated at up to HK$2.5 million (US$2.25 million).
Theaters and cinemas are not immune to misbehaving children either. Youngsters often eat and drink, talk loudly, use cellphones and throw litter during performances, disturbing everyone around them.
Housed in a renovated former factory, the museum features everything from ancient glassware to modern art created by famous designers and allow visitors to experience the magic and infinite possibilities of the material.
Selfie motives
Gu Jun, a sociologist at Shanghai University, also blames parents.
“Many people have no interest in artworks, but they go to museums so that they can take selfies for their WeChat Moments,” he said. “It’s ridiculous. So the kids run around in a museum as if they were in a park.”
Gu said when he was young, he and classmates always had a feeling of reverence when visiting museums and appreciated the artistry and work that went into exhibits.
“For us, museums were heaven,” he said. “But for some people nowadays, they are no longer heaven.”
Gu cited mismatched circumstances.
“The level of visitor manners doesn’t match the level of the museum and its exhibits,” he said. “And the level of security measures doesn’t match the risk a museum faces.”
Is it all a matter of rearing?
“We teach children how to study well and get good grades, but we don’t often teach them self-restraint,” Gu said. “Too many parents spoil their children instead of applying a bit of discipline. Children watch short video apps like Douyin (TikTok), where they see pranks and nonsense at way too early an age.”
He went on to note, “A person is like a machine, to some degree. If you want a good machine, you need a good machine to make it. A poor machine will never produce a good one.”
Beyond museum insurance coverage, Gu said parents should face hefty fines if children damage exhibits. That might send the right signal to other parents that they need to keep children in check in public places.
“Bad deeds deserve punishment, as a deterrent and as a way of educating the public what is right and what is wrong,” Gu said. “Just trying to educate the public without the force of law won’t work.”
(Kiera Yu also contributed to the story.)
