![](https://www.hzyyingyu.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/test-1260.jpg)
The picture shows the openwork animal face pattern jade plate ornament, jade cunning tube, and divine and human animal face pattern jade crown ware in the collection of the Liangzhu Museum.
May 18 is International Museum Day. The theme of this year’s International Museum Day is “The Power of Museums”. Where does the power of museums come from? How can the power of museums be unleashed more permanently? We asked two front-line cultural experts to share their experiences and insights with readers based on their own practice.
—Editor
The museum’s impact on the surrounding environment, especially on people, is a subtle immersion. Therefore, we should not treat the construction and operation of museums with a short-term mentality
Although it is not easy to accurately describe the “power of museums”, I believe that the changes that have taken place in human society since the emergence of museums have been enormous, involving science, art, technology, education and other aspects.
As far as the Liangzhu Museum is concerned, it has become a new cultural landmark in Hangzhou City and even Zhejiang Province. From Liangzhu Museum to Liangzhu National Archaeological Site Park and then to the World Cultural Heritage Site, a spiritual home shared by Chinese has been constructed. From an ordinary Jiangnan water town to a world cultural heritage site with far-reaching value, it is not only the physical space here that has changed, but also the light of civilization generated from it will continue to illuminate our future path.
The impact of museums on the surrounding environment, especially on people, is a subtle immersion, rather than an overnight effect. Therefore, the construction and operation of museums cannot be treated with a short-term mentality, let alone the success of museums cannot be measured simply by the standard of economic benefits. To use a simple analogy, an ideal museum should be like a good restaurant, its standards are: good dining environment (good museum environment), good ingredients (good exhibits), good cooking technology (good planning and organization), rich dishes (good exhibition content), and complete color and aroma (good exhibition form). Museums are “restaurants” that provide spiritual food to the public, and they need to be carefully processed.
In China, in areas where archaeological work is carried out a lot, the museum’s collections are relatively rich, and the description of local history is relatively complete. But it is precisely because of the focus on the grand historical context, sometimes other aspects may be overlooked, such as natural knowledge, traditional crafts, art form rheology and other related content, even if some exhibitions involve this aspect of content, it is as an auxiliary and supplement, lack of systematic and in-depth display. Therefore, museums still have the problem of strong convergence and insufficient richness from exhibition content to exhibition form. A good exhibition should be promoted by several aspects, such as good topic selection, important exhibits, solid academic research, and appropriate exhibition forms, and the most important of which is academic research. At present, the academic strength of museums is still relatively weak, especially some newly built museums and museums at the city and county level. In the future, to enhance the overall strength of the museum, the construction of the academic research team and the cooperation between the museum and the academic research team are the key.
The Liangzhu Museum has made great efforts in the dissemination of Liangzhu culture. However, how to better interpret the Liangzhu site is an empirical evidence of the history of Chinese civilization for more than 5,000 years, and there is still a lot of work that can and should be done. On the one hand, we will take Liangzhu culture as the origin, trace the “source” upward, and explain the source of various factors of Liangzhu culture as clearly as possible; Sort out the “flow” of Liangzhu culture downward, and take Liangzhu culture as an empirical explanation of the history of Chinese civilization for more than 5,000 years. Under the premise that various conditions permit, it is also hoped that exhibitions from other civilized areas in the same period can be introduced and some in-depth comparative research can be done. Based on Liangzhu, but also jump out of Liangzhu, in a broader time and space background to grasp the characteristics and values of Liangzhu culture more accurately and profoundly. On the other hand, we will continue to actively cooperate closely with archaeological research institutions, focus on the new archaeological discoveries of Liangzhu culture, and present the latest discoveries and research results to the society in a timely manner through exhibitions. On this basis, combined with the existing collections, do some thematic research, and complete a series of “small but fine” exhibitions.
From the perspective of the development process of world museums, in the past, emphasis was placed on the collection and the protection and display of objects, and now it emphasizes “people-oriented”, emphasizing the public’s accessibility and participation in exhibits, and China’s museum construction is conforming to this trend. In 2008, when I was a professor at the School of Archaeology and Museum of Peking University, I cooperated with the Liangzhu Museum to establish the National Archaeology Summer Camp for Middle School Students to popularize archaeological science for teenagers. This archaeology summer camp is more like a mobile class, leading students through museums, cultural sites, and archaeological excavation sites. Although the time is short, the students not only gained archaeological knowledge, but mainly improved their humanistic literacy, broadened their horizons, and realized the value of cultural heritage. We also conduct training for secondary school history teachers to bring the latest archaeological discoveries and research findings into the secondary school classroom. Such a practice has made the power of the museum better extended, and it will continue to be adhered to in the future.
In fact, the power of museums lies in the fact that they can connect more closely with more people. This year’s International Museum Day, both the Liangzhu Museum and the Anji Ancient City Site Museum in Huzhou City plan to hold special exhibitions for special groups of children and indigenous people in heritage sites. The museum has not done enough in this regard, and we hope to normalize this kind of activity in the future, for example, we can often invite residents from the vicinity of the Liangzhu Museum to the museum to enjoy in-depth guided tours provided by the expert team and learn about the value of world heritage. This is also the best way to give back to society.
(The author is the president of Liangzhu Museum)