Interview Expert: Dr. Zhu Keli, Founding Dean of the New Economy Research Institute of the National Research Institute, Chief Researcher of the New Economy Think Tank (CiNE), and President of the Bay Area New Economy Research Institute
Xinhua News Agency: In 2021, many museums in the mainland launched digital collections, what are the reasons for the rise of digital collections?
Zhu Keli: First, the internal driving force of digital development. With the popularization of museum cultural relics database, how to do a good job in intellectual property protection and IP transformation, so that traditional culture can obtain new development and inheritance has become a new topic for museums, and digital collections have also had the impetus for the rise.
The second is the acceleration of technology and market synergy. From the two ends of supply and demand:
——The supply side is based on the empowerment of digital technology, including the use of blockchain technology to achieve the trusted deposit of digital artworks, each NFT work maps the unique serial number on a specific blockchain, which is immutable and inseparable, successfully ensuring the authenticity and credibility of digital artworks. Then through the technology to confirm the right, so that users can directly in the Mini Program to buy, appreciate and share, so that more traditional culture lovers can have a collection that cannot be copied, permanently preserved, and appreciated and shared at any time.
——The demand side is that users, especially the younger generation after 95 and 00, are becoming more and more accepting and favoring virtual items. Digital collections have the uniqueness of collection, and exist in the cyberpunk world, without the need for material disconnection, nor do they need special collection spaces, avoiding the trouble of being filled with "useless things" and "material overload".
Xinhua News Agency: What is the significance of the rise of digital collections for the cultural and creative market?
Zhu Keli: As a new cultural and creative phenomenon of science and technology and cultural integration and innovation, the rise of digital collection is the product of cross-border integration and element synergy, which has revitalized the inheritance and promotion of traditional culture, enriched the display and circulation of cultural and creative products, unlocked a new dimension of cultural IP transformation, and expanded the new space of cultural and cultural and creative markets. At the same time, it also has a demonstration effect on the digital development of the offline real world and traditional business, and is accelerating the diversification and iteration of consumption scenarios.
The "Four Spirits of Heaven" series of digital collections released in xi'an city wall scenic spot. (Photo courtesy of Xi'an City Wall Scenic Area)
The "new wave" behind the digital collection "Second Kill Wind"
Xi'an, 21 Jan (Xinhua) -- At 3 p.m. on January 19, Li Bai, a "post-80s" boy, sat in front of a computer and was eager to try to buy the digital collection "Four Spirits of Heaven -- White Tiger Anding Yongkang" for sale in Xi'an City Wall Scenic Area. Unexpectedly, the 999 direct purchase collection was just 1 minute after it was launched, and it was "snatched up".
Unlike traditional cultural and creative products, buyers receive not a physical commodity, but a well-designed digital picture – with the Anding Gate of the Xi'an City Wall as the background, a white tiger with wide eyes stepping on Xiangyun and Peony, roaring with its mouth and imposing.
A digital collection is a specific digital work identified using blockchain technology, and each collection has a unique digital credential. Players of digital collections can enjoy, download, display and share collections on the display platform.
At present, China's digital collection market is in its infancy, and the number of participants and market size are growing rapidly. Especially in the field of culture and blogging, digital collections are often "killed" by enthusiasts once they are released. The digital collection of "Yue Wang Gou Jian Jian Sword", the treasure of the Hubei Provincial Museum, was issued in 10,000 copies, attracting about 600,000 people to buy it online. The 60,000 copies of "digital cultural creation" launched by the Jinsha Site Museum in Chengdu, Sichuan Province, based on cultural relics such as the Sun God Bird and the Dajin Mask, sold out in 50 seconds.
"Compared with traditional cultural creation, digital collections are more in line with the current consumption needs of young people." Li Bai said. Since the beginning of 2021, he has been focusing on digital collections, and he has successively purchased digital collections launched by museums, art galleries, etc. In his view, the digital collection is more youthful and fashionable, at the same time, the digital attribute breaks the time and space restrictions, and the limitation and uniqueness increase its collection value.
Zhu Keli, founding director of the National Research Institute of New Economy, said that blockchain technology has realized the identity authentication and confirmation of rights protection of digital products, and the digital display platform has provided buyers with a place for collection, appreciation and sharing, coupled with young people's preference for virtual products, creating space for the development of digital collections from both supply and market aspects.
The "Xi'an City Wall Little Samurai" digital collection for sale in xi'an city wall scenic spot. (Photo courtesy of Xi'an City Wall Scenic Area)
The Xi'an City Wall, which was built in the Ming Dynasty, has a history of more than 600 years and is one of the famous city wall buildings in Chinese history. In line with the digital boom in the cultural tourism industry, in October 2021, Xi'an City Wall launched a digital collection development project. On December 16, 2,801 copies of the Xi'an City Wall Little Samurai Digital Collection designed according to the popular IP of the city wall, Jinjia Samurai, were sold out as soon as they were launched, and the winter limited edition of the little samurai sold in the form of auction attracted more than 40,000 people to participate, with a maximum bid of 39,501 yuan.
At the beginning of this year, the Xi'an City Wall created a series of digital collections of "Four Spirits of Heaven" based on the four sacred beasts of the Green Dragon, White Tiger, Suzaku and Xuanwu that guard the four directions in traditional Chinese culture. "The four sacred beasts have symbolic significance such as warding off evil spirits, avoiding disasters, and praying for blessings, and their patterns can be found in the four gates of the Xi'an City Wall, east, west, south, north and south, as well as the lamp poles and flags on the city wall, guarding the city day and night, with the beautiful meaning of Chang'an and Yong'an." Xi'an Qujiang City Wall Tourism Development Co., Ltd. general manager Suning said.
In 2021, the "Blockchain Technology Activates Digital Cultural Heritage" released by the Institute of Culture and Economics of the Central University of Finance and Economics said that digital cultural creation has created a new type of cultural consumption that can be confirmed and traced, and under the framework of multi-party cooperation, the protection, inheritance and dissemination of traditional culture can become more efficient.
In order to regulate the development of digital cultural creation, the National Copyright Exchange Center Alliance and other units jointly issued the "Self-Discipline Convention for the Digital Cultural and Creative Industry", reaching 11 consensuses on empowering the real economy, adhering to original genuineness, eliminating virtual currency, and preventing speculation and financialization risks.
Suning said that in the next step, the City Wall Scenic Area will continue to release various digital collections such as Xi'an urban cultural IP and Tang culture. Explore and try to bring the ancient ruins of the Xi'an City Wall to life.