The “June 4 Memorial Museum” located in Manhattan, New York will remain open until the end of February or early March, before moving to Los Angeles, California.
According to the announcement from the June 4 Memorial Museum, the monthly rent for the museum location in Manhattan is $10,000, with additional expenses such as insurance, electricity, internet fees, security costs, and shared property taxes totaling around $12,000 per month, far exceeding the recent donations received by the museum.
Since before and after the opening of the museum in 2023, efforts have been made to seek stable and substantial sponsorships, but so far, no results have been achieved. Some wealthy individuals who expressed willingness to provide long-term support quickly backed off after the museum opened. In December 2023, museum director Yu Dahai submitted a preliminary funding request to the U.S. State Department on behalf of the museum. In March 2024, the State Department stated that they would not provide funding to the museum.
Due to difficulties in fundraising, the museum is unable to afford the monthly rent of over $10,000 in the long term. After careful consideration, in September 2024, the museum made the initial decision to relocate from Manhattan to the Los Angeles area. The main consideration was that Los Angeles, like New York, has a large Chinese population and is a center for the Chinese democracy movement, but with rent costing only about half of that in Manhattan.
The new museum location in Los Angeles has been selected in El Monte and is currently undergoing renovations and applying for operational permits. The museum’s exhibits are expected to be moved to Los Angeles in March, while the museum will continue to operate as usual in its current Manhattan location. If all goes smoothly, the June 4 Memorial Museum will reopen in Los Angeles on the 36th anniversary of June 4 this year or even earlier.
In the Manhattan museum, items related to the 1989 Tiananmen Square protests, the June 4 massacre, and historical photos are on display, including a printing machine used by Tsinghua University students in the square, a banner reading “Bring Back My Compatriots” found by an American scholar on the streets of Beijing in early June 1989, tents from Tiananmen Square, the original letter from Fang Lizhi to Deng Xiaoping on January 6, 1989, armbands from the square’s patrol team, and numerous photos. Additionally, a Hong Kong room has been set up showcasing photos of Hong Kong residents commemorating the June 4 victims in Victoria Park between 1990 and 2019.
Director Yu Dahai stated that since its opening in June 2023, the June 4 Memorial Museum has received high praise, organized various large-scale commemorative events, as well as lectures, seminars, and discussions. The museum has launched a new YouTube channel (@64mmnyc). The museum has no paid staff and all work is done by volunteers.
Chairman of the June 4 Memorial Museum and former 1989 student leader Wang Dan mentioned that before the relocation, the museum will continue normal operations and welcomes friends who have not yet visited the museum on the East Coast of the United States to visit during public opening days on Wednesdays and Sundays. ◇