The director of Tate Liverpool, the largest modern and contemporary art museum in the UK outside of London, spoke of cultural exchanges and cooperation among museums to share arts to a broader audience in an interview with China Global Television Network (CGTN) as Tate launched a Joseph Mallord William Turner exhibition in Shanghai with a local partner.

The "Dialogues with Turner: Evoking the Sublime" exhibition which opened in Shanghai's Museum of Art Pudong in October presents a large collection of the works of Turner, one of the 19th century's greatest British painters.
The Museum of Art Pudong was chosen as the exhibition's first stop in Asia, with 80 authentic works presented exclusively for the Chinese audience. Helen Legg, the Tate Liverpool director, told CGTN that her organization is proud to present the Turner showcase with its Chinese parter.
"I think there's a lot of mutual learning that the two institutions can benefit from. Tate's collection is one of the best collections of art anywhere in the world. And for us, it's very important that collection is shared as widely as possible, nationally and internationally. So to be able to bring the work to China is something that we're very proud today," said Legg.
Established in 1988, the Tate Liverpool emerged during Liverpool's period of economic and social challenges and became a symbol of urban regeneration. Legg also shared Liverpool's experience on how a cultural institution can preserve and propagate local culture.
"In the late 1980s, there was high unemployment. Liverpool is a city, a lot like Shanghai, it's on the water. The main industry there was shipping, docks, warehouses, trades. It traded with Shanghai for many years. When that became, people were out of work, all of the warehouses on the waterfront were empty, they became derelict. There was a question: how do we use these buildings? How do we hold on to this heritage? And museums became part of the solution. Now it attracts something like a million people a year to the waterfront. Culture is right at the heart of it," said Helen Legg, director of Tate Liverpool.
The revamped Tate Liverpool, reopening in 2025, will blend state-of-the-art facilities with the historic charm of its great building. Legg says her museum will continue to jointly present art showcases with the Museum of Art Pudong when it reopens.
"One of the exciting things we're doing is to create a new art hall on the ground floor. So a large space for commissions of contemporary art. On that we will partner with the Museum of Art Pudong, work with artists to create new commissions, that will be shown here in Shanghai, and then will be shown in Liverpool. So there will be a link between our two institutions. There are many others - we're creating new community spaces, new learning spaces, improving the galleries. So please come and see us when we reopen," said Legg.
Legg has expressed her excitement over all the ways the two cultural institutions China’s Museum of Art Pudong and the UK’s Tate Liverpool will be able to cooperate once Tate Liverpool is reopened in 2025.