On February 26, 2022, the China Silk Museum celebrated its 30th anniversary. After the construction of the China Silk Museum was included in the national "Seventh Five-Year Plan" tourism construction plan, it was approved by the relevant state departments in 1986. On December 28, 1987, at the west lake and under the Jade Emperor Mountain in Hangzhou, the scenic "silk capital", the China Silk Museum broke ground. With the help of the national cultural and cultural circles, silk circles, Hong Kong and Macao compatriots and overseas friends, on February 26, 1992, the China Silk Museum was officially opened; on January 1, 2004, it took the lead in implementing free public opening in the country; in 2016, it completed the renovation and expansion, and opened the new museum during the G20 Hangzhou Summit to welcome the eyes of the world.
The main entrance of the China Silk Museum
One of the ten scenic spots of the China Silk Museum - Kumho Showway
After 30 years of ups and downs, the China Silk Museum has become a national first-class museum with Chinese silk as the core and taking into account the collection, protection, research, display, inheritance and innovation of textile cultural heritage with Chinese silk as the core. As a thematic museum, how to give play to the characteristics of silk, tell the story of the Silk Road well, and highlight the power of the museum has always been the direction of thinking and practice of the China Silk Museum.
1
Create high-quality exhibitions and provide high-quality public cultural service products
The exhibition is the most important product of the museum. The China Silk Museum continuously improves the quality of the exhibition, shows the new atmosphere driven by cultural leadership and the integration of form and spirit, and constantly makes new breakthroughs in creating high-quality exhibition masterpieces.
Constantly improve the basic display. In 2016, the China Silk Museum was completely renovated and expanded and reopened during the G20 Hangzhou Summit. At this point, the basic display of the China Silk Museum has broken through the limitations of Chinese silk, from silk to textiles and clothing, from China to the world, from ancient times to the present, from material to immaterial.
The Silk Road Museum takes "Jincheng: Chinese Silk and the Silk Road" as the clue to tell the glorious course of Chinese silk in the past 5,000 years and the Wanli Silk Road that silk spreads from the East to the West; the Intangible Cultural Heritage Museum displays the sericulture customs, embroidery printing and dyeing in unesco's Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity for the first time; the China Fashion Museum's "Sericulture Silk Weaving Technique" Changing Clothes: China Fashion Art Exhibition (1920s-2010s)", focusing on the evolution of clothing in the past century and the top fashion art in contemporary China; "From Pastoral to City: 400 Years of Western Fashion" of the Western Fashion Museum, which tells about the development trajectory, characteristics of the times, clothing styles, and the connection and influence of fashion and art; the Xinyou Museum provides the public with free borrowing services such as relevant newspaper books, audio and video materials; and the Female Red Transmission Museum offers various courses. To meet the needs of the audience to learn the traditional textile and costume culture and inherit the skills of female red. "Chinese Silk and the Silk Road - Jincheng Changing Clothes" won the 14th (2016) National Museum Top Ten Exhibition Excellence Award.
"Jincheng: Chinese Silk and the Silk Road" exhibition
Exhibition "Heavenly Silkworm Spirit Machine: Intangible Cultural Heritage of Chinese Silkworm Silk Weaving Techniques"
Textile heritage restoration exhibition hall
"From The Pastoral to the City: Four Hundred Years of Western Fashion" exhibition
The theme of the Silk Road that continues to be deepened. Over the years, the China Silk Museum has established good cooperative relations with museums around the world, cooperated with well-known overseas museums and international institutions, and held the "Silk Road" theme exhibition for seven consecutive years.
2015's "Silk of the Silk Road: Origin, Transmission and Exchange", which tells the story of silk originating in China spreading outward along the Silk Road and carrying out exchanges between East and West; the 2016 "Splendid World: International Silk Art Exhibition", which tells the story of silk originally founded in China during the G20 Hangzhou Summit, which decorates the world into splendid embroidery and reflects the contribution of silk to world civilization; and the 2017 "Ancient Road New Knowledge: Silk Road Cultural Heritage Protection Science and Technology Exhibition", Tell the latest conservation scientific and technological achievements in the protection of cultural heritage related to the Silk Road, reflecting the power of China's cultural protection; the 2018 "Magic Calculation: The World Loom and the Art of Weaving", which considers the globalization process of textiles from the perspective of textile technology and reflects the mutual learning of civilizations; the "Silk Road Years: Small Stories under the Big Era" in 2019, focusing on the characters in the context of the time and space of the Silk Road, telling the changing society, culture and life along the Silk Road; and the "Common Expectations of all people - the past and present life of the Silk Road" in 2020. Comprehensively combing the academic history of the Silk Road and telling how the Silk Road has become a world cultural heritage from a family's words, this exhibition won the 18th (2020) National Museum Top Ten Exhibition Excellence Award; 2021 "All Living Things: Animals and Plants on the Silk Road", taking the biodiversity and exchanges on the Silk Road as the entry point to interpret the theme of "The Silk Road Changes Life"; in 2022, the upcoming "Qinghai Changyun: Tuguhun on the Silk Road in the 6th-8th Century", Highlight the important value of Qinghai Road in connecting the East and the West on the Silk Road.
The context and main line of the exhibition are to strengthen the characteristics of silk and broaden the vision of the Silk Road; innovate the content of the exhibition and reflect the academic height; carry forward the spirit of the Silk Road and serve the construction of the "Belt and Road".
Cultural display in line with diplomacy. The China Silk Museum makes use of its own collection advantages to make exquisite silks as the messengers of Chinese culture, fully support overseas Chinese cultural centers to carry out activities, and hold silk culture exhibitions in more than 20 countries on five continents to promote "Chinese culture going out".
In cooperation with major diplomacy, exhibitions were held, including the reception of the G20 Hangzhou Summit, participation in the first Silk Road (Dunhuang) International Cultural Expo, hosting some projects of the 3rd China-Central and Eastern European Countries Cultural Cooperation Ministerial Forum, hosting the first Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation and the fourth meeting of the China-France High-level People-to-People Exchange Mechanism.
2
Led by science and technology, we have carried out extensive cooperation at home and abroad
Silk is a subject that spans ancient and modern China and foreign countries, and is naturally in an international context. A large number of textiles unearthed along the Silk Road are important physical evidence to witness the mutual learning between Eastern and Western civilizations, and their protection research has always been an international academic hotspot. The China Silk Museum has been committed to carrying out systematic, original and cutting-edge research from a global perspective, aiming to profoundly reveal the scientific, historical and artistic value of textiles unearthed along the Silk Road through multidisciplinary and interdisciplinary means, and to expound the role and far-reaching significance of the two-way circulation of ancient silk along the Silk Road in the development of Chinese and world civilization.
Take the scientific research base as the platform. In 2010, the State Administration of Cultural Heritage approved the establishment of a key scientific research base for textile cultural relics protection relying on the China Silk Museum, focusing on textile cultural relics to carry out research on key technologies of scientific cognition, protection and restoration, and restoration of traditional weaving processes. In order to better promote the development of textile and cultural relics protection in relevant areas along the Silk Road, strengthen the transformation of scientific research achievements, and exert radiation effects, scientific research bases have successively set up workstations in Xinjiang (2011), Gansu (2015), Inner Mongolia (2017), Russia's North Caucasus (2018), Henan Zhengzhou (2019), Shaanxi (2020), and joint workstations in Tibet (2014), using workstations as platforms to strengthen cooperation with scientific research bases. Continuously provide technical and talent guarantee for the protection of local textile cultural relics.
The China Silk Museum is the first batch of Grade A design qualification and First Class Restoration Qualification Unit for The Technical Protection of Movable Cultural Relics recognized by the State Administration of Cultural Heritage. For a long time, the China Silk Museum has provided technical services for the identification and protection of textile cultural relics for many units at home and abroad, and has established good cooperative relations with nearly 90 cultural institutions in 25 provinces, municipalities and regions and Russia and other countries, issuing a total of 30 appraisal reports, 70 cultural relics protection and restoration programs, and implementing nearly 60 major protection projects. In the process of cooperation, the China Silk Museum has given full play to its professional advantages and won the unanimous praise of the entrusting unit.
Isotope laboratory of scientific research base
Major international cooperation projects. Through project cooperation and other means, it provides technical support for the research of textiles unearthed along the Silk Road, and publishes the research results in multiple languages, such as comprehensively sorting out the silk of Dunhuang Tibetan Scripture Cave scattered in Britain, France, Russia and other countries, and publishing the "Dunhuang Silk Art Complete Collection" in multiple Chinese dialects.
Under the organization of the State Administration of Cultural Heritage, the China Silk Museum undertook the key research and development project of the Ministry of Science and Technology "Research and Development and Demonstration of Key Technologies of the World Silk Interactive Map", which is the first major academic project initiated, led and jointly implemented by Chinese scholars in the field of cultural heritage, which has been strongly supported by UNESCO's "Silk Road Project" and signed a cooperation agreement, while attracting scholars from 14 European, 12 Asian, 2 Americas and 2 African institutions to participate together, based on a global perspective. Focus on the world silk heritage, jointly explore the time and space law of the origin, dissemination and exchange of world silk, and build an application platform for the world silk interactive map.
3
With the "Silk Road Week" as the carrier, vigorously strengthen international dissemination
In order to further practice the "Silk Road Spirit with peace and cooperation, openness and inclusiveness, mutual learning and mutual learning, mutual benefit and win-win" proposed by General Secretary Xi Jinping at the "Belt and Road" International Cooperation Summit Forum in Beijing, the "Silk Road Week" activities hosted by the State Administration of Cultural Heritage and the People's Government of Zhejiang Province, undertaken by the Propaganda Department of the Zhejiang Provincial Party Committee of the Communist Party of China, the Department of Culture and Tourism of Zhejiang Province, the Zhejiang Provincial Bureau of Cultural Relics, and the China Silk Museum and the International Silk Road and Intercultural Exchange Center have been held for two consecutive years, and the theme of 2020 is " Silk Roads: Mutual Learning and Mutual Learning for Future Cooperation", with the theme of "The Silk Roads: Diverse Coexistence and Inclusive Development" in 2021.
International organizations are highly recognized. The Concept of Building a Community with the "Silk Road Week" as the main starting point of the Chinese cultural heritage community has been affirmed and supported by the UNESCO World Heritage Center, the International Council on Monuments and Sites, the International Research Center for the Protection and Restoration of Cultural Property, the International Association of Museums, the UNESCO Silk Road Network Platform and other international organizations.
International cultural institutions actively participated. More than 200 cultural institutions from 14 countries around the world, including the British Museum, the Hermitage Museum of Art, the Birmingham Museum of Art, the Queen Sirikit Textile Museum of Thailand, the Stavropol Archaeological Institute of Russia, the National Museum of Korea, the Textile Museum of Lyon, France, and the Royal Ontario Museum of Canada, participated in the first Silk Road Week.
International media attention. The topic of "Silk Road Week" has also attracted widespread attention in the international scope, and the media of Pakistan, Nepal and other countries have reported on the "Silk Road Week" on the UNESCO Silk Road Network Platform. The International Silk Alliance, Impression Zhejiang English Network and Museum Views opened a special page for the "Silk Road Week", explaining the theme of the event from different angles, and the official social media accounts such as the British Museum and the British Library interacted with the "Silk Road Week".
4
Strengthen the international circle of friends and build a platform for cooperation and exchange
With the continuous extension of the international cooperation space of the China Silk Museum, the construction of the international cooperation platform mechanism is particularly important.
China Silkworm Silk Weaving Technology Protection Alliance. Silk is the perfect combination of tangible and intangible cultural heritage. In 2009, the "Chinese Silkworm Silk Weaving Technique", led by the China Silk Museum, was selected into UNESCO's Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity. In June 2019, under the guidance of the Department of Culture and Tourism of Zhejiang Province, the China Sericulture Silk Weaving Technology Protection Alliance was jointly established. The China Silk Museum is the chairman and secretariat unit of the Alliance.
International Silk Research Alliance on the Silk Road. In October 2015, the China Silk Museum initiated the establishment of the International Silk Road Silk Research Alliance, which has been participated by more than 30 institutions in 17 countries so far, and has initially built an international cooperation network with silk as the core. The China Silk Museum is the chairman and secretariat unit of the Alliance.
The International Silk Research Alliance for the Silk Road was established
International Union of Museums on the Silk Road. In May 2017, in response to the spirit of the Ministry of Culture's "Belt and Road" Cultural Development Action Plan (2016-2020), it jointly initiated the Silk Road International Museum Alliance, which focuses on the interaction and exchange of nearly 200 museums along the Silk Road. At present, the China Silk Museum is the vice chairman unit of the alliance.
International Research Center for Silk Roads and Intercultural Communication. In May 2019, the Propaganda Department of the Zhejiang Provincial Party Committee of the Communist Party of China approved the establishment of the "International Silk Road and Cross-Cultural Exchange Research Center" by the China Silk Museum, which carries out research, inheritance, innovation and promotion with silk cultural heritage as the core, and provides a humanistic platform for exchanges and cooperation for domestic and foreign counterparts.
International Silk Academy. In order to further enhance the international influence of silk culture and promote the creative transformation and innovative development of silk culture, under the specific guidance of the Department of Culture and Tourism of Zhejiang Province and the Department of Education of Zhejiang Province, the China Silk Museum and Zhejiang Sci-Tech University jointly established the International Silk College, which was listed on June 21, 2019. The two sides will take silk as a link and strive to build the International Silk Academy into an academic highland with distinctive silk characteristics, first-class disciplines and remarkable international reputation.
All to the end, the blue wisps of the road to open up the mountains and forests.
For 30 years, the collection has grown from scratch. By the end of 2021, the total collection of the China Silk Museum is 69,460 pieces/sets, and a collection system of ancient and modern Chinese and foreign silk, textile and clothing themes has been initially established. Form a textile cultural relics herbarium and database with complete chronological genealogy, clear archaeological information and complete varieties. Construct a library of Chinese silk cultural relics design materials covering the whole world, and the use of ancient for the present has achieved initial results.
In the past 30 years, the exhibition has become more and more refined. It has launched a series of exhibitions on the theme of the Silk Road, traditional costumes, Chinese fashion and international fashion for a long time, and launches an average of more than 20 exhibitions every year, and has a long-term Dunhuang silk exhibition in the exhibition center of Dunhuang Research Institute. In 2006, 2017 and 2021, it won the National Museum Top Ten Exhibition Excellence Award three times.
Over the past 30 years, the research has become more and more in-depth. It has undertaken 2 major national projects, 8 national projects, nearly 30 provincial and ministerial projects, and more than 40 other research projects, and has won the "Eleventh Five-Year Plan" and "Twelfth Five-Year Plan" Cultural Relics Protection Science and Technology Innovation Award. He has signed 1 cooperation project with UNESCO and led or participated in nearly 10 major international cooperation projects. It has obtained 5 national publishing funds, published nearly 50 monographs, published more than 300 professional academic papers, authorized 27 invention patents, and drafted 5 industry standards.
In the past 30 years, social education has become more and more active. In China, it is the first to implement free opening and weekend night opening, create social education brands such as the Female Red Transmission And Learning Hall, the Silk Road Night, the National Silk Hanfu Festival, the Silkworm Township Moon Order, and the Silk Road Tour, carry out special knowledge services such as the Jinglun Lecture Hall and the "National Silk Five Ones", and carry out activities such as the Silk Road culture entering the campus.
In the past 30 years, cooperation has become more and more extensive. Since the G20 Hangzhou Summit in 2016 received the spouses of heads of state, international cooperation has become more and more, and international platforms have become more and more extensive, especially the "Silk Road Week", as a major platform for international cooperation, has received strong support from domestic and international institutions.
Over the past 30 years, it has spread farther and farther. Actively broaden publicity channels and promote secondary and multi-level dissemination. It has built a communication matrix that combines domestic and international mainstream media and social media, and initially formed major topics such as national silk as IP, silk of the Silk Road, Silk Road Week, national silk Hanfu festival, and national silk fashion, and gradually enhances the domestic and international communication power and influence.
Looking at the present dynasty, pioneering and innovating, the task is heavy and the road is long.
Therefore, the China Silk Museum should face the future and rule the future.
Focusing on a purpose: with Chinese silk as the core, derived from the textile and apparel cultural heritage, starting from the international perspective, the national position and Zhejiang's responsibility, to promote the four major plates of silk history, scientific and technological protection, traditional crafts and contemporary fashion, and serve the coordinated development of culture, economy and society.
Along two main lines: one is to tell the story of silk from ancient times to the present, and do a good job in the research, protection, display, inheritance and innovation of silk textile and clothing culture. The other is to carry forward the spirit of the Silk Road from the middle to the outside, and play an important role in cultural exchanges and mutual learning among civilizations.
Focus on three goals: first, to build a thematic museum with a complete system and make it a temple for the protection and inheritance of China's excellent traditional silk culture; second, to strive to play the role of silk as a bridge and make it a driving force for the coordinated development of service culture, economy and society; finally, silk is a material carrier that embodies the mutual learning between ancient and modern Chinese and foreign civilizations, and cross-cultural exchanges and cooperation on silk have a wide range of international space.
Adhere to the four characteristics: research-oriented, based on scientific research, leading the museum's comprehensive work; internationalization, with silk as the entry point, to create an international platform for Silk Road cultural research; the whole chain, with scientific and technological protection as the leader, let cultural relics live, come alive, and revitalize traditional crafts; fashion model, with fashion as a platform, promote the creative transformation and innovative development of silk culture, and empower a better life.
In the long river of human history, thirty years is only a moment; in the five thousand years of silk history, thirty years is only a gap between white colts; in the life cycle of the China Silk Museum, thirty years is just a beginning. Thirty and standing. China Silk Museum will continue to uphold the consistent concept of "generosity and specialization", ride on the wind of the times, condense the wisdom of society, and gather the strength of the whole museum to build a cultural highland with both Chinese characteristics and international expression!
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Originally published in the public account of the Zodiac Cultural Alliance
Editor| Yang Yichen
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