Telling stories with "intentions" in cultural creation (creative transformation and innovative development)

The picture shows the cultural and creative products of suzhou museum; the picture shows the cultural and creative products of Tsinghua University; the picture shows the cultural and creative products of the Palace Museum; the picture shows the cultural and creative products of the Dunhuang Research Institute; and the picture shows the cultural and creative products of the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics. Profile picture: Zhao Kairu

Source: Image China

Core reading

The popularity of the "national tide" enlightens us that the development of cultural and creative products should be planted in the traditional soil. Combining creativity with traditional beauty can often burst into life

Supporting the improvement of national cultural soft power with "hard core technology" has become an important trend in cultural development. The empowerment of cultural and creative products by science and technology is a vivid portrayal of this trend

The footsteps of the Winter Olympics are getting closer and closer, the short video "Winter Olympics in the Forbidden City" uses paper-cutting as a medium to reproduce the traditional Chinese ice and snow culture; cloisonné and Tian Yu curling, highlighting the cross-border charm of curling sports and intangible cultural heritage skills; in the animated promotional film of "Brush Screen", Sun Wukong, Nezha and snow children cheer for the Winter Olympics in the ice and snow; a variety of colorful and creative Winter Olympic theme souvenirs... These vivid, interesting and intriguing products all have a common name: cultural and creative products.

In recent years, the practicality and artistry of cultural and creative products have been significantly improved, and the categories have become more abundant. Museum cultural creation, university cultural creation, tourism cultural creation, rural cultural creation, etc. have become the vitality of the cultural industry. What are the "new things" in the field of cultural creativity, and how can cultural and creative products better carry forward the excellent traditional Chinese culture? We invited three practitioners and researchers to discuss it together.

The rise of the cultural and creative industry is the inevitable development of high culture and economy

Reporter: In the field of mass consumption, especially in the field of cultural and creative consumption, there has been a "national tide" fever, and daily necessities and cultural products with Chinese elements have become fashionable. How do you see this phenomenon?

Qi Shuyu: "National tide" has become an aesthetic trend, highlighting people's feelings of home and country and cultural self-confidence. Its formation and popularity have many factors: the strength of the country makes people feel proud and glorious; the excellent traditional Chinese culture is more and more valued; young practitioners and consumers are willing to try, good at innovation, and dare to express. The popularity of the "national tide" enlightens us that the development of cultural and creative products should be planted in the traditional soil. Whether it is a pen, a folding fan, or a highly creative cultural program such as "The Most Beautiful Chinese Drama", "China in classics", and "National Treasure", combining creativity with traditional beauty can often burst into vitality.

Hu Yu: Cultural and creative products are the carriers of cultural concepts, aesthetic concepts and ideological emotions. "National Tide" combines Chinese cultural symbols, Chinese aesthetic spirit, traditional skills, manufacturing and cultural industries, etc., and its popularity is precisely the expression of patriotic feelings and cultural belonging. Economic fields such as manufacturing need cultural creativity to enhance the value of products, and cultural dissemination needs to be integrated into daily life through material carriers. It can be said that the rise of the "national tide" is the inevitable development of high culture and economy.

Reporter: In the past, cultural and creative products were a pen, a bookmark, a keychain, etc. with both practicality and cultural connotations; now, cultural and creative products have also expanded into digital products, audio-visual content and other forms. The 3 experts have been deeply engaged in the field of cultural creation for many years, what are the acclaimed and popular creative practices that deserve attention?

Zhao Shengliang: In recent years, museum culture and creativity have risen rapidly. Through "novelty" and "intention", the creators present the ancient, rich and profound traditional culture in a way that is easy for people to understand and is willing to accept. A cup printed with the image of "flying sky" and a short interactive video of the museum can make people feel poetic and edified inadvertently. For example, some of the cultural and creative products such as silk scarves, bookmarks, and teacups of the Dunhuang Research Institute also support self-selected elements and colors, which are favored by people. In addition to physical cultural and creative products, we also present the content containing the profound history and culture of Dunhuang such as digital restoration high-definition murals through cloud tour mini programs, interactive short videos, cultural programs and other forms, so that the viewer can immerse themselves in the scene and make Dunhuang "within reach".

Hu Yu: The cultural atmosphere of colleges and universities, combined with the strong creativity of young people, makes the cultural creativity of colleges and universities a dynamic part of the field of culture and creativity. In 2018, tsinghua university's "second school gate" three-dimensional admission notice "broke the circle" spread, thanks to the combination of traditional culture and campus culture. The three-dimensional admission letter integrates the aesthetics of classical Chinese architecture with the representative elements of the campus and presents it in the form of handmade paper art. Tsinghua students' cultural and creative studio also designed a beautiful "second school gate" assembly building model, using 1555 blocks to restore the landmark building of Tsinghua Garden, so that people can feel the rich history and culture of Tsinghua in the assembly process. Other colleges and universities have also launched cultural and creative products with unique "intentions", which not only enhances the understanding and recognition of the school by new students, but also stimulates the enthusiasm of students to read and seek knowledge.

Qi Shuyu: At present, the cultural and creative industry has entered a stage of high-quality development, not only the production and consumption of cultural and creative products, categories and forms are changing, but also the formation of a new format of "cultural and creative +". For example, the designers of current cultural and creative products have expanded from professional designers to practitioners and consumers in the cultural industry. In the past, the planning and design process of cultural creativity was completed by the producer, and the creativity was fixed before it was placed on the shelf. At present, many cultural and creative products support consumers to design themselves, especially virtual cultural creation, and consumer participation is very high. This kind of "dynamic cultural creation" integrates consumption, production and creativity, meets the needs of consumers for interaction, personalization and customization, and brings a new experience different from "static cultural creation".

Empowered by science and technology, let the tradition shine with the glory of the times

Reporter: In recent years, there has been a "cultural and creative fever", and another important factor is the continuous popularization of new technologies and new applications, which has greatly enriched the form of cultural creation and improved the user experience. In the specific practice of the cultural and creative industry, what role does science and technology play?

Zhao Shengliang: Science and technology is an important means to realize cultural creativity and amplify cultural utility. Taking cultural and cultural institutions as an example, new technologies not only help cultural relics move from "rescue protection" to "preventive protection", but also provide cultural and creative means and ideas. For example, digital technology, compared with the past film shooting, Dunhuang digital murals will not fade, and the clarity is greatly improved. These gradually accumulated digital materials have become the resource library for dunhuang's cultural and creative development, which can not only be used to design physical cultural and creative products, but also to make videos to make the characters in the murals move and be more ornamental. Another example is the use of digital analysis technology to reproduce representative caves in off-site exhibitions, and people wander through them, as if they are touring in the real Mogao Grottoes.

Qi Shuyu: Digital technology is the locomotive leading the development of the contemporary cultural and creative industry. Digital technologies such as extended reality (XR), artificial intelligence, 5G, big data, and the Internet of Things have greatly enhanced the artistic expression of cultural and creative products. In the theme exhibition related to the central axis of Beijing, on the basis of the precious drawings, photos and films provided by professional institutions, the central axis in different time and space is presented by using the technology of dome, sound field, virtual reality (VR) and so on, and the audience wears special glasses to overlook the north-south central axis, combining virtual and real, and understanding the history and culture of Beijing.

Hu Yu: Not only in the field of cultural creation, the current new technology has fully intervened in all aspects of cultural content creation, production, dissemination, consumption, etc., accelerating the reform of cultural production methods, promoting the emergence of new cultural formats, and becoming a powerful engine for cultural development. Supporting the improvement of national cultural soft power with "hard core technology" has become an important trend in cultural development. The empowerment of cultural and creative products by science and technology is a vivid portrayal of this trend.

Reporter: In life, some cultural and creative products are cleverly conceived and well-made, which makes people love it and have a long aftertaste; some cultural and creative products emphasize form and have little connotation, which cannot give people a long-term high-quality cultural experience. Summarizing the experience of successful cultural and creative cases, how to make cultural and creative products more organically integrated into life, so that the ancient and profound traditional culture can be revitalized?

Zhao Shengliang: Rich cultural connotation is the foundation. An important basis for the cultural and creative products of cultural and cultural institutions is the academic research results. After decades and generations of unremitting efforts, dunhuang research institute has achieved fruitful research results. The launch of cultural and creative products is actually to transform these professional and serious academic achievements into a look that the public likes to see. Only when the foundation of academic research is thick, can cultural and creative products stand up and shout loudly. For example, we found that the twenty-four solar terms can find corresponding images in the Dunhuang murals, so the production of audio-visual cultural and creative products "when the mural meets the twenty-four solar terms", it will be a drain.

Qi Shuyu: Cultural and creative products cannot only pursue form and ignore connotation, and become "castles in the air". From the perspective of the development of cultural industries, the maturity and acceptance of IP (intellectual property rights) affect the malleability of cultural and creative products, and are an important dimension to measure the brand value of cultural and creative products. In the mainland, the effective path to develop IP is to excavate the treasures of China's excellent traditional culture and find suitable elements and stories. In recent years, whether it is the Cultural Creation of the Forbidden City, Dunhuang Cultural Creation, or the innovative reconstruction of classic literary and artistic images such as Nezha and Sun Wukong, they are all successful cases.

From the perspective of artistry, social benefits and market repercussions, excellent cultural and creative products should be concrete, life-like and storytelling. Cultural and creative products must be meaningful concrete forms, visible and perceptible, its design ideas, cultural connotations should be close to people's daily lives, only by integrating into life, can traditional culture be "alive". Audiences who choose to buy a piece of cultural and creative stationery and watch a cultural and creative program often have the curiosity of "listening to stories". This requires finding a suitable narrative method to make cultural and creative products attract and move people with stories. Looking forward to more high-quality cultural and creative products, telling the story of China's excellent traditional culture in a vivid, vivid and grounded form, and strengthening cultural self-confidence.

Interlocutors: Zhao Shengliang (Secretary of the Party Committee and Researcher of Dunhuang Research Institute) Qi Shuyu (Professor of the Central Party School (National School of Administration)) Hu Yu (Professor of Tsinghua University) Zhang Mingser (People's Daily reporter)

People's Daily (2022-01-25 20th edition)