Summer "Cultural and Museum Venue Fever": How to Attract More Young People
2024-08-11
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[Reporter Investigation]
Guangming Daily reporter Zhou Shixiang
"Although the museum is still crowded at 6 or 7 in the evening, being able to 'check in' for free at Sanxingdui, a major IP with its own traffic in Beijing, is like listening to a dialogue between the past and the present, and between regions. It is worth it both academically and for viewing!" After watching the "Exploring the Ancient Shu Civilization - Sanxingdui and Jinsha" exhibition at the Beijing Grand Canal Museum, and appreciating the mysterious and magnificent ancient Shu civilization conveyed by more than 200 cultural relics, a young netizen left a message on the social platform.
With the arrival of summer vacation, cultural and museum venues in various places are once again on the rise, and more and more young people are planning to visit museums and exhibitions in their summer plans. However, some students also said that the visiting experience is accompanied by some "little disappointment": some of them are in hot demand and cannot get reservation tickets; some special exhibitions are rare, but tickets are often hundreds of yuan or even hundreds of yuan, and it is difficult for young people with limited financial resources to "make up their minds" to buy; some museums have niche and distinctive themes, but the exhibitions are too old, and the content settings and "storytelling" methods lack elements that attract young people... How should cultural and museum venues better meet the enthusiasm of young people to visit? How to further explore the "youth-friendly" method to promote the "two-way rush" of young people's pursuit of knowledge and exploration and the cultural services of the venues? The reporter conducted an interview.
Parents accompany their children to view the exhibition of rare insect specimens from around the world at Qingzhou Museum in Shandong Province. Photo by Wang Jilin/Guangming Photo
Summer camp children and students from the School of Economics of Changzhou University walked into the Huai Salt Culture Exhibition Hall hand in hand. Photo by Zhu Huanan/Guangming Photo
"Pampering fans" measures are frequently taken to make the exhibition more interesting
"Party A must arrive home before 5:30 p.m. every day. A fine of 10 yuan will be imposed for being late for one hour. Party B must go to bed at 12 p.m. Party B promises to study hard, love labor, and enhance independence." A "contract" displayed on the big screen in the main exhibition hall on the third floor of the Museum of Chinese Scientists, which just opened this spring, attracted many young people to stop. On the green grid manuscript paper, lines of childish handwriting are full of family affection. The "Parties A and B" of the contract are Peng Shilu, a famous scientist known as the "Father of China's Nuclear Submarine," and his granddaughter Peng Yao.
"Scientists often give people a serious impression, but this exhibit makes their family life more three-dimensional and shows their warm and amiable side." In the view of the museum's deputy director Meng Lingyun, using exhibition language that is easy for young people to understand and contagious is the key to telling the stories of scientists well.
Tsinghua University Art Museum has also put a lot of effort into making its exhibitions "adaptable to the youth". This summer, in the exhibition "Meng: From Qi Baishi to Huang Yongyu", Huang Yongyu's owl and frog, Qi Baishi's shrimp and other works were made into animated short videos. The exhibition hall was filled with the singing of birds, the calls of frogs, the frolicking of monkeys and the gurgling of water, bringing a visual and auditory feast to young audiences.
"Considering that the summer vacation will see a peak in student visits and study tours, we have specially planned the exhibition 'Meng: From Qi Baishi to Huang Yongyu'. In the exhibition, more than 270 animal-themed paintings and sculptures are on display. In the curatorial process, we have given special consideration to the acceptance of young people, weakened the context of art history, and highlighted the fun of the exhibits; in the organization and arrangement of exhibition design and space construction, we have also fully considered the perspective of young students. For example, 15 illustrations of Aesop's fables are interspersed in the exhibition hall, all placed in a relatively low position to facilitate young visitors to approach and take a closer look." Du Pengfei, executive deputy director of Tsinghua University Art Museum, introduced.
Digital and information-based presentations also attract young audiences. At the Chinese Scientists Museum, the spherical giant screen film "Chinese Science and Technology Civilization Exhibition (Prologue)" unfolds a series of magnificent pictures, from Dayu's flood control, the Dujiangyan Project, the 24 solar terms and farming seasons, to the smelting and casting of bronze ware, and the measurement of the meridian, making the "appearance" of ancient Chinese scientific and technological achievements intuitive and shocking; at the Shanxi Museum, the ancient Jin State cultural relic "Jin Gong Pan" in the animation was filled with water, and the ducks, fish, turtles and other animals in the plate were vivid and seemed to be swimming, making the audience feel the exquisite design of the cultural relics; at the Beijing Grand Canal Museum, the "More than the Canal" immersive experience exhibition makes the audience feel as if they are sitting on a big ship, following the light and shadow on the screen, and experiencing the slowly unfolding scenery of the Grand Canal, traveling through time and space, and taking in the past and present...
Du Pengfei said that in order to enhance the interactivity and interest of young visitors to the exhibition, Tsinghua University Art Museum held a variety of art experience activities. "For example, in conjunction with the special exhibition 'The Art of Pottery: Ceramic Art in the Exchange of Ancient Eastern and Western Civilizations' currently on display in our museum, we have launched a 'The Beauty of Handmade: Pottery and Clay Sculpture' ceramic art experience class for visitors over 16 years old; at the same time, we invited the Muguang Chamber Orchestra of the Experimental Middle School Affiliated to Beijing Normal University to bring the audience a concert called 'Awakening the Musical Instinct of the 18th Century'."
The activities of famous cultural and museum venues in various places are also very interesting. Zhejiang Provincial Museum organized young visitors to create plant oil paintings using plant materials when the works of painter Sha Qi were exhibited; Shaanxi History Museum designed a series of themed courses on "Qin and Han Civilizations", where young visitors could experience the daily life of the ancients, Chinese medicine culture, incense culture, etc. through interactive games, fun challenge games, and group PK.
Hohhot's first college student sculpture invitational exhibition. Photo by Ding Genhou/Guangming Pictures
"Inside and Outside the Great Wall" Beijing Great Wall themed photography exhibition was held at the Capital Library. Photo by Du Jianpo/Guangming Photo
“Two-way interaction” brings surprises, and the threshold for participation should be lowered
How do young people react to the enthusiastic "fan-pampering" measures of major venues? The reporter learned that for many young students, visiting exhibitions has become an extracurricular cultural lifestyle, and they welcome such exhibitions.
Xiaodong (pseudonym), a student at the School of Liberal Arts of Beijing University of Chemical Technology, said that with the arrival of graduation season, many of his classmates went to the Central Academy of Fine Arts Art Museum to watch the graduation exhibition, "taking photos and making pictures" in the avant-garde art space and forwarding and sharing them. "College students account for a large proportion of the exhibition audience, and their way of viewing exhibitions is also constantly affecting the internal balance and development of art. For example, due to the 'photo-taking and check-in craze', the 'Internet celebrity museum' has emerged in recent years. In order to meet the needs of young audiences, some curators and artists have increasingly emphasized immersive exhibitions. When visitors enter the exhibition hall, it is like stepping into another time and space. Innovative themes and works not only attract visitors, but also trigger their deep thinking. This is a reflection of the joint efforts of visitors and art creators."
"If I have nothing to do on weekends, I will visit nearby art galleries. I will also check in at art exhibitions at the Convention and Exhibition Center and calligraphy exhibitions at the Henan Museum," said Xiao Liang, a senior at a university in Zhengzhou. "During the exhibition, some cursive calligraphy works were difficult to identify, so I played a little game with my friends - guessing what the word was based on the context and the shape of the word, and then using the image recognition search tool on the phone to check who got the answer right."
Many museums' big IPs also make young people never tired of them. An undergraduate student from Beijing Normal University said that his favorite traditional cultural IP, besides the Investiture of the Gods, is the Palace Museum's cultural creations: "They have both a sense of design and an organic combination of classical beauty and modern beauty, which is particularly practical." An undergraduate student from Beijing University of Chemical Technology said: "The most impressive traditional art IP is the 'Meditating Arhat', which is one of the 'Eighteen Arhats underglaze color' of the China Ceramics Museum. It became popular because of its 'speechless' expression and is called the 'Silent Bodhisattva' on the Internet. Similar ones include the 'Painted Pottery Neck Shrinking Figurines' of the Shaanxi History Museum and the 'Yellow Glazed Pottery Hu Man Figurines' of the National Museum of China, which have all approached young people in various ways. I think these efforts to promote traditional art and cultural relics can blend tradition with modernity and make cultural relics 'live'."
However, there are also "little disappointments" besides the surprises.
"The utilization rate and standards of campus art galleries and museums are both high, and exhibitions are updated regularly, but the publicity of new exhibitions is still insufficient, and we cannot be the first to know when the exhibitions will be updated. In addition, there are not many channels for feedback on student needs. There is a lack of a unified information integration channel for exhibition information from cultural and museum institutions in the same city, which may cause us to miss some unique and niche exhibitions." said a college student in Zhejiang.
"High ticket prices discourage visitors from visiting exhibitions. Some special exhibitions are very important, but tickets that cost more than 100 yuan are prohibitive," said some of the students interviewed. Wang Zheng, a professor at the School of Architecture and Art of Beijing Jiaotong University, told reporters that the school has opened a "University Aesthetic Education Practice" course for all teachers and students in the school, organizing students to visit various art galleries to view works and write their thoughts. "In the process, we noticed that many exhibitions in cultural and artistic districts such as Beijing's 798 Art District are more in line with the tastes of young people, but since most of them are privately operated, many of them have high ticket prices. Some students may give up the idea of visiting because of the high cost, but if the ticket price factor is not considered, they are willing to go and have a look."
Enhance understanding, expand resources, and create a "cultural scene"
How can we make young people and venues "run in both directions" or even "walk in the same direction"?
Meng Lingyun believes that museums must first have a deep understanding of the interests and concerns of young audiences. In terms of theme selection, they can combine hot topics that contemporary young people are concerned about, find the intersection of science and technology, art, history and modern society, and cultural phenomena that young people like to see, and plan exhibitions that are contemporary and attractive. "For example, use social media platforms to attract the attention and participation of young audiences; cooperate with colleges and universities to carry out campus tours, lectures and other activities, and invite student teams to participate in exhibition planning and exhibition layout. In addition, the museum's current "youth volunteers" and other projects need to more accurately invite young students in professional fields to participate in the daily operations and event planning of the museum to enhance their sense of belonging."
"First, we should further leverage the role of museums as 'cultural sites' and enrich the experience projects for young audiences. 'Script killing' is becoming more and more popular now. Developing 'script killing' with the theme of museum exhibition content may bring higher cultural experience value. Second, we should expand communication channels and information release methods, such as integrating information on national scientist-themed museums in the 'Scientist Map' applet, and providing playable, viewable and usable functions. Third, through cooperation with well-known brands, we should develop IP derivatives with market potential, and pursue 'positive traffic' on youth themes while ensuring product quality, such as developing limited edition souvenirs, cultural and creative products, etc." Meng Lingyun suggested.
Xiao Liang made suggestions from the perspective of school-museum cooperation: "Many museums have their own small theaters, which can hold lectures, performances, and video broadcasts. They are often not fully occupied during non-holidays. Students from surrounding schools can be organized to watch or listen collectively, and special performances can be held for low fees or free of charge. On weekends and holidays, when museums are short of social education staff, more college student volunteers can be recruited to strengthen their manpower."
Bai Qianshen, a professor at the School of Art and Archaeology of Zhejiang University, said that compared with some well-known "big museums" facing the phenomenon of "hard to get a ticket" for reservations, many museums in provinces or cities with a large number of cultural relics also have very exciting exhibitions, but the number of visitors is not large. "For example, the Yecheng Archaeological Museum in Hebei and the Zoucheng Museum in Shandong have rich collection resources and distinctive characteristics. Therefore, first, it is recommended that local schools make full use of these resources to carry out research and study activities; second, it is hoped that the museums will further improve their exhibition updates and publicity efforts to attract more visitors. In this way, it can not only meet the needs of young audiences to quickly understand the local cultural characteristics when checking in at niche destinations, but also solve the problem of "uneven hot and cold" in reservation exhibition halls."
Meng Lingyun said that the new characteristics and new demands of young audiences in visiting exhibitions have also posed new challenges to the museum's resource aggregation capabilities. "Digital technologies such as VR and AR can enrich the intuitiveness, sensibility, interactivity and experience of exhibitions, but technology investment requires a lot of financial support. Museums must find a balance between technological changes and cultural innovation. At the same time, in order to make lectures, workshops, interactive experiences and other activities more diverse, we can actively seek cooperation with universities, enterprises, and social organizations to jointly create cultural products and services that meet the needs and interests of young audiences, and further expand the social influence and cultural value of museums."
Guangming Daily (August 6, 2024, 13th edition)
Source: Guangming Daily
