9GAG Opens A Meme Museum In Hong Kong Baffling Everyone

Meme-sharing website 9GAG has opened its Meme Museum in Hong Kong and is claiming it as the first "meme museum in the world." The announcement came late last week with a news report and tweet by Time Out's Hong Kong branch. The meme museum is featured within an Art Mall and is only being held from July 15th till September 5th.

See all your favourite memes at 9gag's first-ever meme museum! Click to see more photos inside 👀 https://t.co/2n9VR3zDby pic.twitter.com/uMiLFCRG2F

— Time Out Hong Kong (@timeouthk) July 15, 2021

9GAG Celebrates the History of Memes With World's First "Meme Museum" https://t.co/lvFD0XdeVO

— HYPEBEAST (@HYPEBEAST) July 20, 2021

The Meme Museum boasts hundreds of memes in picture form, the ability to get a temporary laser tattoo of a few meme designs on your body, an augmented reality component and meme cards distributed from a vending machine.

While 9GAG's museum has just launched, the internet is already reacting to the news with a mixture of interest, skepticism and bewilderment.

Ahh… I see, two things that 9gaggers love the most: Social interaction and Influencers

— Andra Rizvi (@AndraLalilulelo) July 20, 2021

When it comes to enjoying meme culture, there definitely seems to be a vast difference between those who enjoy and create memes and threads about memes, and the influencers that use memes to help keep their accounts afloat.

This idea of blending online memes with the real world, but in one specific part of the world for two months while there are still various travel restrictions in place, definitely feels like it caters to one side over the other. However, the idea was first mentioned before influencer culture was as big a thing, with the account @jecmarie inquiring back in April 2013 if 9GAG had ever thought about creating a museum.

@9GAG have you ever thought about creating a museum with all of your memes in it?

— Angelica Marie (@jecamarie) April 22, 2013

Though some, such as Hypebeast, are quick to say that it is the "world's first meme museum," that would be somewhat inaccurate. Back in August last year, the Chicago art gallery The 6th Dimension Space + Gallery opened its doors to a meme museum that ran until September. Even so, 9GAG's new meme museum is one of very few to focus entirely on meme culture.