Intangible Cultural Heritage as a Catalyst of Constructing Private Museums

Abstract

The development of ecomuseums and community museums in China over the past few decades has impacted the adaptation of the new museology as derived from Western contexts. However, these museums have been constructed and discussed within official heritage and museological discourses. This article suggests the need to reimagine and reframe the new museology employed in China, calling for an investigation into the bottom-up and alternative museological practices that intangible heritage practitioners conduct. Intangible cultural heritage (ICH) practitioners predominantly sustain and articulate their cultural traditions' values and vitality. Drawing on policies for heritage protection and local development or revitalisation, many ICH practitioners energetically participate in heritage-making and utilisation. They exert their power over ICH management by creating their own museums for self-representation and product commercialisation. Beyond privileging expert judgements and the received knowledge that scholars and official museums produce, ICH practitioners seek to freely define heritage value and demonstrate heritage authenticity within their own spaces. Drawing on the influence of critical heritage studies, this article is built upon a literature review and empirical case studies of two private museums in Guizhou and Guangxi provinces, China. It explores the museumification of ICH and contextualises the initiatives of ICH practitioners in the construction of private museums or non-official museums. It demonstrates how ICH acts as a catalyst for the diversification of museological practices, and how private museums founded by ICH practitioners become their vehicle for safeguarding ICH in situ.