Which museum for what China? The socio-political role of museums in the post-Communist transition. The case of Shanghai.


Marzia Varutti, PhD candidate, IUED Geneva, varutti1@etu.unige.ch

The research addresses the changing socio-political role of Chinese museums in the framework of the post-Communist transition. Encompassing the social, political, economic and artistic spheres, museums prove to be a privileged point of observation of the processes of political and social change. The roles that museums are called to perform as well as the extent of social participation can be legitimately regarded as indicators of social development and democratisation.  All the more in a country like China, undergoing a profound process of change.
Over the last decade, China has being witnessing a sensible increase in the number of museums, notably in the cities of Shanghai and Beijing. Why have museums suddenly become so important? What are the purposes of the current public endeavour in the museum field? What functions are Chinese museums called to perform?
Starting from the basic hypothesis that a systemic change is affecting museums in China, this work points at two major research purposes: first, to assess what is changing, and second, to understand the reasons of change.
The research focuses on museums in Shanghai, one of the sites where the above mentioned transition is the fastest and most patent.  However, museums in Beijing as well as in Sichuan and Yunnan Provinces are also included in a comparative perspective. The process of transition affects several aspects of the museum. These include the actors involved, the approach to the museum object, the technologies applied, the ‘language’ of the museum, the meaning that is conveyed through exhibitions as well as museum audiences. These distinct but complementary aspects of the museum are studied in the aim of re-constructing the very concept of ‘museum’ in China. The underlying idea is that a deeper understanding of the changes affecting the system of museums contributes to shed light over the highly complex process of transition that is transforming Chinese society as a whole.

Contacts:

Reference institution in Switzerland:

IUED – Graduate Institute of Development Studies
20, Rue Rothschild
Case postale 136
CH -1211 Genève 11

Partner institution in China:

Prof. Lu Jiansong
Department of Cultural Relics and Museology
Fudan University
200433 Shanghai