From extended opening hours to all-day opening hours –
24-hour museum, a new landmark in the city's nightlife
Guangming Daily reporter Tang Yige Zhang Yun Lu Jian
When night falls and the lights are first lit, in addition to the lively entertainment consumption places such as movie theaters, bars, and KTV, can tired city people still find a quiet place to relax and fully enjoy cultural nourishment? A museum that is open at night may be a good choice. Unfortunately, although in recent years, museums across the country have also tried to extend their opening, holding night cruises, overnight museums and other activities, museums that normalize "night business" are still scarce.
In Hangzhou, Zhejiang, the "Zhejiang Natural History Museum • 24-hour Museum" has been in soft operation for more than a month, and the number of visitors who have come to experience it has exceeded 20,000, and after entering the summer, the number of people has continued to rise. The venue is a small 300-square-meter cultural space created by the Zhejiang Museum of Natural History, which is open from 10:00 a.m. to 24:00 midnight from Monday to Friday, and open 24 hours a day on Saturdays and Sundays. This big leap forward in duration is the first of its kind in state-owned museums. With this as a signal, can we expect that "latecomers" may emerge one after another, making museums one of the home of the city's nightlife?
On May 18, 2021, visitors participated in the "Wonderful Nights" series of activities at the Shanghai Museum of Natural History. Xinhua News Agency
Visitors visit the Zhejiang Natural History Museum 24-hour museum. Photo by Zhang Zhenzhen/Guangming Picture
1. The demand of the audience leads the museum to continue to try
Recently, the Yangtze River Daily's continuous report on a "citizen's suggestion" has become a beautiful talk: in late June, Mr. Kang, a citizen of Wuhan, suggested on the Wuhan City Message Board that since the beginning of summer, more and more people have visited the Hankou River Beach at night, and it is hoped that the Yangtze River Museum next to the Yuehan Wharf can be opened at night to add cultural atmosphere to the night river beach. On July 6, the Wuhan Jiangtan Office responded to this suggestion by announcing that from July 8 to August 31, on Fridays and Saturdays, the opening hours of the Yangtze River Museum will be adjusted to 12:30 to 20:30. According to reports, on the day of the opening of the night tour on July 8, the total passenger flow of the museum was 316. Among them, the passenger flow after 16:30 (the previous closing time) was 146 people, compared with the previous data of the same period, the passenger flow on the day increased by more than 1 times.
Also popular is the Zhejiang Natural History Museum 24-Hour Museum, which is conveniently located in the center of Hangzhou. "In the past, we often received calls from tourists, busy visiting the West Lake and enjoying the beautiful scenery during the day, and wanting to take our children to visit the museum at night. However, most of the museums are 'nine to five' open, which is difficult to meet everyone's needs for cultural life. Yan Hongming, director of the Zhejiang Natural History Museum, said that as early as 2014, there was an idea of opening a "night museum", and it just so happened that the museum recently recovered a 310-square-meter façade room along the street, suitable for a separate cultural new space, and began the preparatory work for the 24-hour museum.
On the first day of trial operation, the Zhejiang Natural History Museum 24 Hours Museum received more than 700 visitors in 9 hours from 15:00 to 24:00. According to the staff, due to the summer vacation, it is a peak time from 10:30 to 21:30 almost every day. In order to ensure the quality of the exhibition, the venue had to limit the flow of 100 people per hour, and many spectators waited in line outside the door. In order to "stagger the peak", some viewers choose to go early in the morning or two or three o'clock in the morning on weekends. A citizen left a message after viewing the exhibition: "After the 24-hour museum opened, we had one more place to visit, not only to cool off, but also to learn a lot of interesting natural knowledge." ”
Entering the summer, the 24-hour museum of Zhejiang Natural History Museum is even more "difficult to find a ticket". According to the weekly report, the museum received an average of 940 people a day in the week from July 4 to 10. From 16:00 to 22:00, 300 or 400 people enter the museum every day; From 22:00 to 24:00, although there are no more than 50 people on weekdays, it soars to nearly 200 people on weekends.
"The museum's evening is very special because it has a different quiet and visual feel than during the day. This particular experience is extremely appealing to the public. Chen Lusheng, former deputy director of the National Museum of China, wrote in the book "The Beauty of Museums". He believes that the extension of the museum's opening to the evening as a norm is very important for the city and the public. The museum is open in the evening, regardless of the length of time, reflecting the level of civilization and civic quality of the city in which it is located.
In fact, before the outbreak of the epidemic, in order to promote the prosperity of the night economy, the cultural and tourism departments of some cities planned and organized the "collective action" of museums, which were linked to the city's night tourism routes. In August 2019, the Guangzhou Bureau of Culture and Tourism organized eight pavilions, including the Guangzhou Museum and the Memorial Hall of the Grand Marshal Sun Yat-sen's Palace, to open at night, that is, every Friday, Saturday and Sunday until 21:00, and provide interpretation services that are basically the same as during the day at night. From July to September 2019, the Shanghai Cultural and Tourism Bureau piloted the normal night tour of the museum for the first time, and selected 14 pilot museums to extend their opening on Friday nights; From June to August 2021, the number of museums participating in the project will be expanded to 30, providing citizens and tourists with a wealth of night tour options. Unfortunately, under the influence of the epidemic, the cultural tourism industry has inevitably been impacted, and the "museum fever" in this form of linkage is still gradually recovering.
On July 12, 2022, the Beijing Municipal Bureau of Culture and Tourism issued a notice that the Beijing Regional Museum will carry out activities such as extended opening to light up the summer "night capital". Each museum will also extend the opening hours in a timely manner, carry out evening and night cultural activities, or rely on the activities already planned to arrange evening receptions. Museums are becoming a new landmark for people's nightlife, opening a wonderful "museum magic night" for the audience in the hot summer.
Visitors visit the Zhejiang Natural History Museum 24-hour museum. Photo by Zhang Zhenzhen/Guangming Picture
2. Diversified museum space, let the audience linger
"Science and education activities as the mainstay, supplemented by explanation" is the basic positioning of the 24-hour museum of Zhejiang Natural History Museum. Perhaps it is this positioning that has allowed it to gather a large number of popularity in the more than a month of soft opening. Hong Lei, a science and education staff member of the Zhejiang Natural History Museum, told reporters that in the summer, the 24-hour museum will hold several youth science education activities a week, including fossil excavations and volcanic science experiments, and the weekend night show is "locked in early" by many parents and children.
In order to make the audience of all ages have a pleasant viewing experience, in this 300-square-meter small world, interactive equipment can be seen everywhere: press the button under the bird specimen to hear its unique chirp; Spend 10 yuan on the material fee, after coloring the fish stick figure, scan it with an AR device, and there are fish swimming lightly on the projection screen; There is also a fun installation of "I am taller than a dinosaur", and the meta-universe theater can order popular science movies and watch online exhibitions. When you are tired of watching, the audience can also order a cup of coffee in the reading area, or taste the 24-hour museum limited ice cream and desserts, which can be said to be "small and complete".
"The current development direction of museums, especially the development direction of popular science education and exhibitions, is very different from the traditional museums in the original sense." Hong Lei said that before entering the museum, it was to "see" the exhibition, the specimens were placed in the window display cabinet, and now after a series of reforms, there are scene simulations, interactive exhibits, multimedia and other diversified forms on the display, combined with living specimen boxes, to bring a different experience to the audience.
While guiding the tour, Hong Lei paid attention to the different interests of audiences of different ages: children like dinosaurs named after the land of Zhejiang, such as Yangyan Dongyang Shield Dragon, Lixian Jiangshan Dragon, Lishui Zhejiang Dragon; Young and middle-aged audiences will be more fascinated by rock minerals and native birds and insects; Older audiences will prefer to study herbal plants and grain seeds. "The theme of the animals, plants and minerals around me is because everyone can usually contact it, but they don't understand it." Digging into the knowledge around you can more stimulate the audience's interest. Hong Lei said.
If "24 hours" is to allow more tourists to come to the museum through the extension of time, then when the visit is nearing the end, the purchase of the museum's "tailor-made" cultural and creative products is to let the museum integrate into people's daily lives again. During the trial operation, the 24-hour museum custom butterfly and beetle crystal specimens, 24-hour museum logo ice cream have met with the audience, and the museum will also develop a number of cultural and creative product systems including meteorites and space series.
Admittedly, people expect museums to be integrated into the city's evening leisure lifestyle, so that more cultural resources can be more conveniently approached. However, if the delayed opening is only a delay in opening the exhibition hall with a huge area, it will cause a burden on the manpower and funds of the museum, but it will form a waste of resources. Therefore, to make the museum "more wonderful at night", it is inseparable from the museum to "feel the stones and cross the river" in combination with its own actual situation, and it is inseparable from the multi-faceted support of relevant departments and all sectors of society.
Chengdu Museum, parents take children to experience Chengdu lacquerware making at night. Xinhua News Agency
3. Opening at night is "not simple" and faces many challenges
"The quality of exhibitions and events determines the attractiveness of the night show, and the audience will not come when the door is open." Chen Zenglu, director of the Wu Culture Museum, once said in an interview that the night show should not be simply open, but should be organically combined with educational activities, so that everyone can enjoy different from the daytime at this time.
When it comes to the night activities of the museum, it is necessary to mention the "Shangyuan Night" lantern festival held by the Palace Museum in 2019, which became a hot topic of discussion because "a ticket is difficult to find". "The traffic of snatching tickets is too large, causing the website server to crash instantly" and "scalper tickets are speculated up to 9999 yuan" and other news is staggering. The reason is that in addition to the festive season, "scarcity" is the key to it - the gimmick of "the Palace Museum is open to the public at night for the first time in 94 years" cannot but make people hungry.
As a result, there is a discussion on social platforms: Why can't night events be launched regularly, so that more people have the opportunity to participate? Some experts have analyzed that increasing lighting facilities and laying a large number of wires will increase the safety hazards in the Forbidden City, and wooden structures of ancient buildings cannot afford this risk; Not to mention the difficulty of managing tourists at night, there are some cultural relics that are not suitable for night exhibitions and need to be rested at the right time.
In fact, not only the Forbidden City, but also museums at all levels in the mainland are facing no small challenges to normalize the opening at night. Chen Lusheng believes that creating more nighttime specials is a huge test, because not only the working hours of the staff are extended, but also the security problems caused by the extended opening, the increase in management costs, etc., so the museum needs greater economic investment to maintain the night opening.
The Mumu Art Museum (Hall 798) in Beijing's Chaoyang District has tried to extend its opening hours to 21:00, along with nightly events such as immersive art healing, concerts, and impromptu comedy experiences. "In the 798 Art District, the museum has a clear 'tidal' phenomenon in the passenger flow, which is suitable for extending the opening hours on weekends and holidays. At the same time, according to the results of user research, simply extending the opening hours cannot significantly promote the audience to see the exhibition, but needs to give the audience a sufficiently attractive reason. Founder Lin Han said that at present, it will not try to open 24 hours, and it is necessary to comprehensively evaluate according to the epidemic prevention policy and the management requirements of the park where the art museum is located, combined with the needs of the audience of the art museum.
The 24-hour museum of zhejiang natural history institute was openly recruited in early July due to insufficient manpower. According to Yan Hongming, the entire operation and management team of the 24-hour museum consists of 9 full-time personnel, and 2 part-time personnel have been added in the summer, and the museum has also set up a special class of 19 people, including the collection group, the mission group, the operation group, and the security group, to ensure that "wonderful does not close".
At the same time, the challenge of keeping pace with the costs of basic operation, publicity and promotion, and labor management is whether the museum can provide content and experience that "complements" the 24-hour period. The selection of which high-quality cultural products support the night show not only tests the professional level of the museum, but also reflects the aesthetic vision and artistic ability of the museum.
In recent years, naturalist experts often emphasize "locality", that is, telling local stories well, the purpose of which is to let more people deepen their understanding of the local area and understand the natural environment around them. The interest in the animals and plants around us is the beginning of ecological protection awareness.
If the 9,000-square-meter permanent exhibition hall of the Hangzhou Pavilion of the Zhejiang Natural Museum tells the "grand narrative" from the outbreak of life to the birth of human beings, then the 24-hour museum is an interest camp. The more than 300 specimens presented here are carefully selected from the 270,000 collections of animals, plants and minerals that appear in Zhejiang, and some of the exhibits are planned to be updated from the massive collection every quarter.
"Innovating exhibitions, promoting the revitalization and utilization of collections, and protecting, inheriting and displaying the outstanding achievements of Chinese civilization are the responsibilities and responsibilities shouldered by our museum people." Yan Hongming said that the Zhejiang Natural History Museum has previously mobilized the participation and enthusiasm of potential audiences through crowdfunding, crowdsourcing, and crowd-creation. This 24-hour museum opening is a new expansion attempt nationwide, while using the collection of live museums and venue resources, focusing on serving the "double subtraction" of education to help "double mention", and practicing the contemporary mission of "a museum is a big school".
Guangming Daily ( 2022-07-19 07 edition)
Source: Guangming Network - Guangming Daily