The Senses in Recent Exhibitionary Practice in Chinese History Museums

Abstract

Mao-era history museums were drab and lifeless spaces with artifacts enclosed in glass cases, photographs lining walls, and numerous placards with text (often quotations from Mao) outlining for the spectator the correct historical narrative. In response to the rise of new media and new forms of popular culture since the 1980s, history museums in post-socialist China have sought to make their exhibits more entertaining, accessible, and fun, with the goal of reaching younger spectators whose daily lives are far removed from the lessons of the revolutionary past. Museums in China now draw on and stimulate all the senses in their many new exhibitionary practices: miniature models; multimedia dioramas; video narratives projected into 3D displays; music; video and film displays; artifacts that can be touched; interactive computer displays; and forms of ritual participation. This chapter explores the larger meanings of this move toward sensory exhibitionary practice in Chinese history museums. What are the implications of this turn toward the sensory? How does it change the spectator’s relationship with the past? And what are the ramifications for the representation of history, something the Communist Party has sought to carefully shape as part of its ideological and political legitimization?