A seminar for curators, organized by the Yellow River Museums League, recently took place in Yushu and Xining, located in Northwest China’s Qinghai Province. The event aimed to foster high-quality development in the Yellow River basin, attracting over 90 curators from more than 50 museums situated in the provincial regions along the Yellow River, as reported by the media.
The Yellow River basin, known for its abundant historical, cultural resources, and relics, is the cradle of museum development in China. The Yellow River Museums League, established in December 2019, currently has 72 member museums. Since its inception, the League has successfully integrated regional cultural resources, relics, and personnel through cross-provincial coordination mechanisms such as seminars, symposiums, and academic forums. Additionally, member museums have engaged in deep exchanges and cooperation by organizing exhibitions and developing culturally creative products like blind boxes, as noted by Wang Jinxian, curator of the Qinghai Provincial Museum.
At the seminar held in Yushu Tibetan Prefecture, home to the Three-River-Source National Park, eight representatives from the Yellow River Museums shared their academic research and practical experiences. Zhang Deshui, deputy curator of the Henan Provincial Museum, discussed the smart display of its resources, audience’s interactive experience from internet plus convergence media cases, the creation and application of cultural IPs, and the protection and dissemination of Yellow River culture.
Similarly, Shi Ce, deputy curator of the Gansu Provincial Museum, showcased its series of culturally creative products titled “Arrival of the Magic Horse,” which uses the bronze galloping horse as its prototype. He highlighted how products like these can serve as essential vehicles for cultural communication between museums. Centered around the theme of “integrating culture and tourism,” Wang Yongjun, deputy curator of Shandong Provincial Museum, presented its cultural and tourist studies tours and introduced selected exhibits. Moreover, curators from the Weifang Museum in Shandong Province and Tianshui Museum in Gansu Province proposed “promoting intensive and collective development” and shared creative ideas for telling compelling Yellow River stories.
Xiong Wei, deputy curator of the museums and social relics department at the National Cultural Heritage Administration, emphasized the crucial role of the Yellow River Museums League in promoting ecological protection, high-quality development of the Yellow River basin, and revitalizing Yellow River culture.
The Yellow River, China’s second-longest river, originates from the Bayan Har Mountains on the Qinghai-Xizang Plateau and flows eastward through nine provincial-level regions before emptying into the Bohai Sea. It spans 5,464 kilometers and covers an area of 795,000 square kilometers. Its northern location in China means it carries a significant amount of loess and sand, which inspired its name.
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