Elastic expansion of a museum

Pictured: "Beautiful Scenery" Guqin Performance.

Photo: A corner of the Gongwangfu Museum.

Photo: "Beautiful Scenery" Kunqu opera performance.

Courtesy of the Gongwangfu Museum

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A museum covering an area of about 60,000 square meters, how much space can the cultural influence radiate? In recent years, the Gongwangfu Museum, which is based on the ruins of Gongwangfu, has created a living cultural space through the construction of community museums, the holding of a series of intangible cultural heritage exhibitions, and the development of "great cultural creation", realized the flexible expansion of the museum, and actively explored a new development path for the innovative protection, revitalization and utilization of cultural heritage.

In April, on the shicha seashore in Beijing, spring is in full swing in the Gongwangfu Museum.

Built during the Qianlong period of the Qing Dynasty, Prince Gong's Mansion is the largest surviving palace complex in the Qing Dynasty. Today, the Gongwangfu Museum, which is based on the ruins of King Gong's Mansion, attracts visitors to and from.

In recent years, focusing on the construction goal of "Ping An Gong Bo, Academic Gong Bo, Digital Gong Bo, and Public Gong Bo", the GongWangfu Museum has excavated cultural connotations based on research, created a living cultural space, and promoted the creative transformation and innovative development of China's excellent traditional culture.

Build a community museum and integrate into the lives of the surrounding residents

In the past 100 years of historical changes, Prince Gong has formed a former mansion and a back garden, covering an architectural pattern of about 60,000 square meters. In recent years, the Gongwangfu Museum has proposed to build a community museum with the historical and cultural research and dissemination of the Gongwangfu as the core, and has set the development and construction goal of "safe Gongbo, academic Gongbo, digital Gongbo, and public Gongbo".

Feng Nai'en, director of the Gongwangfu Museum, said that "Ping'an Gongbo" is fundamental, and it is necessary to ensure the safety of the ancient buildings and cultural relics collections of the Gongwangfu Site; "Academic Gongbo" is the foundation, and it is necessary to promote historical and cultural research to consolidate the foundation for the development of the Gongwangfu Museum; "Digital Gongbo" is the promoter, using modern digital technology to fully stimulate the vitality of the Gongwangfu Museum; "Public Gongbo" is the source of root, and it is necessary to seize the characteristics and advantages of the Gongwangfu Museum rooted in the Shichahai area, promote the integration of culture and tourism, and build a building that serves the public. An interactive museum that allows the public to actively participate.

Why propose a community museum? In Feng Nai'en's view, the Gongwangfu Museum is located in the hutong, surrounded by courtyards, to seize the regional cultural characteristics, with the concept of community museum to carry out work, give full play to the geographical advantages of Shichahai, maintain contact with the Shichahai area, actively integrate into the lives of surrounding residents, create their own characteristic cultural brands, and meet the cultural needs of the public. "We encourage social forces to participate in the construction of museums, for example, we are planning the socialization of exhibition activities, so that people who like it and have certain expertise can participate in planning exhibitions." Feng Nai'en said.

The combination of technology and museums has been the focus of attention in the museum industry in recent years. "Science and technology and culture go hand in hand, science and technology promote the popularization of culture, and culture promotes scientific and technological innovation." Feng Naien said that at present, the Gongwangfu Museum has preserved the unique buildings and nearly 60,000 collections through digital means to form a collection database that can be shared, jointly researched and jointly developed by the society; the use of digital technology to do a good job in scenic spot management, so that the audience can feel the charm of culture during the visit, while ensuring the comfort of the visit; through digital technology to expand the communication channels, the use of websites, WeChat, Weibo, APP products and other ways. Let everyone stay at home to understand the history and culture.

Hold a series of intangible cultural heritage exhibitions to explore the connotation of cultural space

Let non-genetic inheritors cooperate with designers, combine traditional culture with contemporary life, and interpret "traditional craftsmanship + design power" with artistic innovation concepts... Since the "Splendid China - China Intangible Cultural Heritage Costume Show" activity founded by the Gongwangfu Museum in 2017, the Gongwangfu Museum has been committed to making the intangible cultural heritage fire, ignite and come alive.

Su embroidery, Guang embroidery, silk, Beijing embroidery, blue printed cloth, Huangmei flower picking, Yangxin cloth stickers and many other national intangible cultural heritage projects bloomed on the stage. In 2021, five "Splendid China - China Intangible Cultural Heritage Costume Show" activities were held in Hainan, and the number of live broadcast viewers reached 11.8283 million. In addition to brand cultural activities, Gongwangfu Museum also conducts research and holds exhibitions on relevant intangible cultural heritage crafts and intangible cultural heritage displays, and drives and enhances the influence of the display results through exhibitions, academic seminars, project research and training. It is worth mentioning that the Gongwangfu Museum has established a traditional craft workstation in Jingle County, Xinzhou City, Shanxi Province, which has driven local women to increase their income.

Feng Nai'en introduced that the Gongwangfu Museum strives to create a living cultural space. Gongwangfu Grand Theatre is a unique fully enclosed theatre building in mainland China, and every year during the Cultural and Natural Heritage Day, the Gongwangfu Museum will hold the "Beautiful Scenery of Liangchen - Intangible Cultural Heritage Performance Season" in the Grand Theatre, inviting Kunqu opera actors and guqin players to perform here, so that the century-old opera building and the millennium opera meet, so that the tangible cultural heritage and intangible cultural heritage shine together. The 2020 "Liangchen Beauty" Kunqu Guqin Performance was set up in the ancient garden of the Gongwangfu Museum, and more than 11 million spectators "cloud performance". Since 2011, the Gongwangfu Museum has restored this tradition and invited experts and scholars to come to gongwangfu to enjoy the beauty of begonias and taste poetry and rhymes. All this makes the Gongwangfu Museum no longer just a physical space, but a cultural space with internal vitality.

Upgrade the development of cultural and creative products and enrich the forms of cultural formats

From the bat pond to the bat hall, the garden layout and architectural decoration in the Gongwangfu Museum reflect the elements of the "Fu" culture in many places. It is worth mentioning that there is a unique Fu character monument in the garden, and in recent years, the "Fu" cultural creation developed by the Gongwangfu Museum has become the cultural brand of the museum.

Tea sets, stationery, tableware, sachets... Gongwangfu Museum develops cultural and creative products through cooperative development, authorized agency and other means. In 2021, the Gongwangfu Museum held a cultural and creative design competition, collecting nearly 4,000 works in total.

In Feng Naien's view, the future development direction of cultural and creative development is "great cultural creation", "cultural and creative goods are not only cultural and creative goods, but also exhibitions, book publishing, social education, digital applications, etc., around the continuous output of products and activities." ”

The cultural creation of gongwangfu museum will no longer be limited to the museum, but will cooperate with multiple parties to develop interactive short plays and digital products. The construction of the digital museum is also continuing, and the Panorama GongwangFu will collect and display panoramic data on the existing mansions and gardens, providing the public with "cloud tour" services and special tour routes with different themes anytime and anywhere. In addition, gongwangfu museum will also transform the research results, published works, exhibition outline, etc. in the museum, and launch a series of research activities to cover different groups of people, meet the needs of the public, and enhance the brand of research and study activities.

In the future, new cultural formats are also worth looking forward to. Gongwangfu Museum will re-upgrade the layout of cultural and creative stores, launch an immersive experience hall "Fu Cultural Center", and specialty drink shops are also in planning. Feng Nai'en said that he hopes that people will come to the Gongwangfu Museum, wander in the warm living space, feel the exquisite cultural life, and feel at home. (Wang Jue)

Source: People's Daily