Engaging TV documentary attracts young people to museums

Li Zhenya is unaccustomed to the success of his videography team. After all, he heard only criticism when they first set out to make their pioneering documentary.

The documentary, "Glory is Back," tells captivating tales of the cultural artifacts in Dunhuang, a northwestern Chinese city renowned for the Mogao Grottoes UNESCO World Heritage Site. Following its release, it received overwhelmingly positive feedback from the public.

Li's journey began in 2015, when he and his friends formed a creative videography team in an industrial park in Changsha, central China's Hunan Province.

As the team's general director, Li has a profound interest in bridging the gap between museums and young people. He believes that although some youths are intrigued by cultural heritage, they often feel overwhelmed by the extensive knowledge required to appreciate the exhibits in museums and cultural centers.

"Our team hopes to use our innovative skills to encourage more young people to embrace museums, transcending the barriers of time and space," Li said, adding that his vision entails crafting a new style of documentary that combines the lightheartedness of a variety show with the profound knowledge offered by museums.

The first challenge the team faced was determining how to bring innovation to existing cultural heritage. Immersing themselves in a vast sea of cultural and historical information, they delved into literature to acquire as much knowledge as possible.

It didn't take long for the team to realize that the disconnect between Changsha and Dunhuang went beyond physical distance. A few team members resigned due to the difficulty of adapting the sheer quantity of information related to cultural relics and museology in Dunhuang into a TV show.

During sleepless, anxious nights, Li found solace in the memories of the "cultural guardians" he had met on a field trip to the Dunhuang Academy. "For documentary production, they are the best guides one could ask for," Li said.

With the support of a diverse group of professionals from several disciplines and specialties, Li's team developed their creative concepts swiftly.

Using reenactments, advanced computer graphics, animation and other storytelling methods, they skillfully recreated scenes from ancient life, incorporating music, cuisine, sports and other areas derived from canonical literature.

"After watching 'Glory is Back,' it seemed as if I had traveled back in time and encountered the ancients once again," said Lin Yin, a fan of the documentary.

Buoyed by the success of their first cultural program, which seamlessly merged museum exhibits with inventive videography, the team has embarked on a journey to create more programs at other historical sites across China.

"We aim to deepen our understanding of culture, allowing us to establish a platform for interaction between exceptional traditional culture and younger generations. We will persist in this endeavor and bring museums closer to a wider audience of young people," Li said.