History’s price
Visitors pass through the facade of the National Museum of China on the east side of Tiananmen Square in Beijing. Photo: CFP
China's museums have enjoyed a mini-boom as interest in the country's often-damaged heritage grows. But despite the springing up of numerous new museums, many struggle with limited resources and financial hardships, according to a recent meeting held by the Chinese Museum Association in Taiyuan, Shanxi Province.
At the event, curators and experts shared their worries about the future of Chinese cultural development. By the end of 2011, there were 3,589 museums registered in the country, up from 2,200 a decade earlier, with a new one opening every three days.
But numbers alone don't bring culture. Many existing museums are shutting, or have been forced to cut back on services due to a lack of funds.
Zhang Guangshan, director of the State-owned Jincheng Museum in Shanxi Province, told the Xinhua News Agency that his building has remained closed for more than two years since there was no money for maintenance and repairs.
"The rain would creep through the roofs and walls. We're hoping to upgrade many facilities, including fire escapes, but are still waiting for money from the government," Zhang said.
Jincheng Museum closed in September 2010 for necessary fire code upgrades, estimated to cost 1 million yuan ($ 160,627), but local officials only doled out 600,000 yuan for roof maintenance. "Since we can't meet safety requirements, the museum only holds exhibitions around the building and some temporary indoor shows," Zhang complained.
Free to queue
Admission to State-owned museums and memorial halls registered with the cultural administrations was declared free in 2008, after a joint notice issued by four central government agencies, including the Ministry of Culture and the State Administration of Cultural Heritage (SACH).
This exemption excludes entry fees for historic sites and exhibits of cultural relics.
The financial losses after scrapping the admission fee would be covered by the central government, promised the notice, with different standards set and implemented in different regions.
The policy has attracted visitors but also put great pressure on museum services, particularly security, said museum operators. The Taihang Eighth Route Army Memorial, also based in Taiyuan, has been trying hard to secure professional employees, while smaller museums, where security is usually flawed, rarely hold displays of cultural relics for fear of theft.
"Apart from popular sites like the National Museum, which gets a disproportionate share of attention and financial support, many museums in small places, where there isn't a decent volume of visitors, have been forced to close," Liu Zheng, a museum expert with the China Cultural Relics Association, told the Global Times.
The rising number of museums does not reflect a significant increase in the country's cultural heritage, especially since some government-funded ones are just vanity projects for officials, said experts.
"Some museums are just neatly-decorated structures with nothing inside," said Sima Pingbang, a culture critic. "Some officials' plans for new museums are only intended to get a better grade in certain evaluations and competitions among cities, as well as to lure more visitors that will benefit the local tourism industry."
Large-scale public museums sometimes hold exhibitions that are dull and tedious, and some small local museums, especially those backed by communities, get little government funding and depend largely on renting their venues for private functions.
But Liu explained that private museums do a better job in coming up with creative ideas.
Private exhibits encouraged
The Ministry of Culture issued a regulation in 2006 to encourage the establishment of private museums. There are currently over 450 private sites established by individuals, companies and organizations in the country, accounting for some 13 percent of the national total.
"Successful private examples include the popular Guanfu Museum in Beijing, which was founded by writer and antiques collector Ma Weidu in 1996," Liu said, adding that it didn't start making a profit until recently.
Yao Yuanli, who runs a private museum on China's imperial exam system in Gaobeidian, Beijing, told the Global Times that his museum, which shows a collection of imperial exam tablets, has earned him little money since its establishment five years ago.
"Private museums contribute to the spread of culture and enrich people's life. But as far as I know it's common that private museums do not last long, and their ownership is always changing hands," Yao said.
Chen Jiqun, a painter renowned for oil portraits and landscapes and who lives in the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, told the Global Times that he failed to open a museum about nomads and their culture, in spite of support from local residents and their offer to help.
"The local government wants to drive the local economy in their own way. A museum, which could help preserve and popularize the nomadic culture, does not mean much to them," Chen said.
Laws on way
The SACH is working on a Museum Law draft to address these problems and will submit it to the National People's Congress next year for review, Liu told the Global Times.
"The law, if passed, will clarify responsibilities of government and museum operators, and there will be an evaluation system for museums to ensure their quality," Liu said.
Such laws often take years to wend their way through the system.
Moreover, State-owned museums in Sichuan, Shanxi and Shaanxi provinces have paired up with local private museums since 2011, in a pilot scheme to help upgrade exhibition quality and services while providing subsidies to support the development of private attractions.
"People want a richer cultural life than before. I'd love to see people learn and enjoy their visits to real museums that are designed to promote culture rather than meet economic goals," said Liu.
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