Cultural connections gain fresh life

In 2016, the Treasures of China exhibition was taken to the Museum of Islamic Art in Qatar, bringing China's Terracotta Warriors to people in the Gulf state for the first time. Over 70,000 visitors flocked to the exhibition in three months, and children created clay sculptures based on the warriors in workshops after seeing the exhibition.

Xu says that, in planning for exhibitions in BRI countries, it is essential that curators bring over cultural relics with elements that local audiences will be familiar with, or connect with in some other way. In this spirit, she chose some plates with Arabic characters for the exhibition in Qatar. For Southeast Asia, it was the ornamentation art from Beijing's Summer Palace that people could relate to, as they understand more about Chinese culture.

"At present, the exhibitions we have held in the BRI countries are mostly focusing on China's iconic cultural exhibits and about general history to help the local audience gain a basic understanding of Chinese culture," Xu says. "We would like to make more exhibitions that can deepen their understanding."

Xu says that Chinese audiences, in turn, have been increasingly interested in cultural relics and art from other BRI countries. For instance, the Splendor of Asia－An Exhibition of Asian Civilizations in 2019 in Beijing, showcasing 451 items of cultural relics from all 47 countries in Asia, including China, as well as the ancient civilizations of Greece and Egypt, proved a hit with Chinese audiences.

In a similar vein, cultural relics from Afghanistan that were put on tour in China for two years from 2017 made an impact. When they were exhibited in the Forbidden City, more than 8,000 visitors came each day.

"We have a splendid plan of curating a series of exhibitions of cultural relics and artworks that Chinese audience are not quite familiar with from BRI countries, including Pakistan, Iran, and Iraq," says Xu, adding that the first exhibition from Syria will kick off a two-year tour from June, starting from Shenzhen in the south.