Cultural Production Research Articles

On Promotion Approach of ICH Tourism Resources in the Context of Digital Humanities: A Case Study of Shaoxing

Shaoxing, an important historical and cultural city and tourist destination in southern China, boasts rich ICH resources, including Shaoxing Opera, traditional brewing techniques of yellow rice wine, rural community theater performances, production of black felt hats, clay sculpting, tie-dyeing, the sacrifice to Yu the Great, and Shaoxing Pinghu tune. With the rapid development of the digital economy, Shaoxing is actively leveraging digital technology to promote the transformation and upgrading of ICH tourism resources, thereby fostering the integration and innovation of the cultural tourism industry. However, the preservation and transmission of traditional ICH face challenges such as limited dissemination channels and an aging audience. Amid the rise of digital humani-ties technology, this project provides new platforms and means for the promo-tion of ICH culture through digital acquisition and analysis, field visits and the construction of industry chains for research and study tours, and digital dis-semination. Specifically, the project utilizes big data to store and organize ICH resources, establishing an ICH database; they produce bilingual promotional videos through field visits and interviews, which are widely disseminated on new media platforms; simultaneously, adopting a combination of Chinese and English short videos and VR videos to present ICH to the public in a more vivid and intuitive manner, enhancing its visibility and accessibility. Moreover, this project emphasizes integrating ICH into cultural tourism products to drive in-novation and upgrading of such products. By establishing ICH research camps, creating ICH tour.

Ho Chi Minh in Political Theater and Cold War Propaganda

Abstract During the Cold War, decolonization gave rise to many new countries that struggled to define their place in the East-West confrontation. This was an especially urgent task for intellectuals who identified with new states. One such intellectual was Kateb Yacine, whose quest to look ahead was impaired by his revulsion at the postcolonial leaders of his native Algeria. His search for a secular national model found its object in Ho Chi Minh and the Communist-ruled Democratic Republic of Vietnam. Kateb's embrace of an imaginary Ho Chi Minh and a rose-colored model of the Democratic of Vietnam was particularly driven by his tortured relationship with France, the colonial master of both Algeria and Vietnam. Kateb detested the Islamic pan-Arabism of postcolonial Algeria and escaped to France and the Francophone world, where he discovered the revolutionary secularism of Ho Chi Minh and the anti-colonial stance of the Vietnamese, which he admired. Kateb used poetry, novels, and theater to express his admiration of Ho Chi Minh and Communist tyrants in the Soviet Union and China, revealing how Cold War cultural products could take many forms.

A Kansei-inspired product design approach for the Liao Dynasty Pagoda: bridging cultural heritage and physiological signals

The protection and inheritance of regional cultural heritage are important for local economic development and artistic prosperity. Excellent cultural and creative products (CCPs) can better preserve and promote the unique allure of Liao Dynasty Pagoda culture. The CCP's current development process relies heavily on designers’ subjective experiences, which can lead to a disconnect between CCPs and user needs. This work proposes a Kansei-inspired product design approach for the Liao Dynasty Pagoda culture by integrating multimodal physiological signals and the interactive genetic algorithm (IGA). First, multimodal physiological signalling experiments are conducted to identify cultural elements that resonate with users. Second, Kansei words are extracted from big data to understand users’ emotional responses to CCPs. Factor analysis (FA) helps identify users’ pivotal Kansei needs, whereas the analytic hierarchy process (AHP) determines the relative weights of these needs. Finally, the designer creates the initial morphological features on the basis of the extracted cultural elements. The interactive genetic algorithm with hesitancy-based interval individual fitness (IGA-HIIF) is then employed to construct the morphological design evolution system. This system predicts the most user-satisfying combination of design features, allowing the designer to refine, model, and render the final design.

The survival of survival auditions: The effects of cultural memes in the Korean TV broadcasting industry.

This study empirically analyzes the evolution of cultural products based on theoretical cultural discourse and evolutionary processes. We use data from 116 survival auditions aired in Korea between 2006 and 2017 to examine the cultural memes that shape the continued appeal of survival audition programs. Specifically, we discuss the influence of "memes" in cultural codes, namely, audience empowerment, experts' involvement, fair rewards, and career opportunities. The results of probit regression analysis with survival audition program reproduction as the dependent variable show that audience empowerment, experts' involvement, fair rewards, and career opportunities in survival audition programs influence the reproduction of cultural goods. The findings confirm all four hypotheses. The findings of this study have theoretical and practical implications. First, it enriches the theoretical discourse on the evolution of cultural goods by offering a meme-based explanation for their reproduction. Second, it has implications for industry practitioners involved in planning and producing cultural goods by identifying normative cultural codes that affect the longevity of these products.

Collective Art Activist Practice: A Pedagogy of Hope

In its intent and structure collective art activist practice as a form of cultural production is pedagogical because it combines the creative power of the arts to move us emotionally with the strategic planning of activism necessary to bring about social change. Given that the goal of art activism involves some form of social action, working collectively becomes an important part of the educational process. Drawing from personal experience teaching an art activist classes as a collective in a corporate university the essay explores two questions: What does collaboration mean in artistic activism, and what can we learn about collective pedagogy for our increasingly diverse classrooms where critical DEI practices of teaching and learning in higher education should be enacted? The essay discusses the possibilities of collective pedagogy as a pedagogy of hope in the Freirian sense as well as some of the tensions and contradictions of this practice. It advocates for collective pedagogy as a prefigurative practice as it provides a space for participatory democracy as a way of living and being to be enacted in classrooms that are diverse.

Product design driven by biosensors: Improving interactivity and user experience

Product design has increasingly become the process of creating stronger relationships between people and products while improving utility and emotional involvement in today’s fast-paced technological environment. Biosensors that measure physiological and neurological responses have been revolutionary tools in this field. To establish the biosensor-driven design methodology to enhance interactivity and user experience in cultural and creative product design. The device employs electroencephalography (EEG), a sophisticated biosensor, to capture users’ emotional states and preferences as they interact with various cultural elements. The pleasure-arousal-dominance (PAD) model is used to evaluate EEG data. To extract consumers’ perceptual image semantics for product design, factor analysis is used concurrently. An Intelligent Sea Lion Optimization (ISLO), combined with a Resilient Long Short-Term Memory (RLSTM), evaluates user interaction, reducing fatigue from repeated interactions. Designers employ cultural factors to inform the first product prototypes, and the system iteratively refines ideas by matching them to the emotional demands of users. The results indicate the effectiveness of integrating user feedback into interactive design processes. As a result, the ISLO-RLSTM method performed better in RMSE at 1.58, MAE at 1.22, and MSE at 2.17. This approach demonstrates the way biosensors can revolutionize product creation and improve user experiences by bridging the gap between functional design and emotional engagement.

Sensory activation or distraction? Investigating tourists’ processing of aesthetics and authenticity at “New Type” bookstores

ABSTRACT The newly emergence of “New Type” bookstores as Internet celebrity attractions was criticized as desecrating for transient visual consumption. This study aims to reveal whether and how the “New Type” bookstores reflect existential authenticity from the perspective of multisensory aesthetics. This study adopts a mixed-methods design. 454 samples were gathered using the questionnaire containing “Sensory Experiential Elicited Protocol”-based questions and Likert scale questionnaires. Results show that Human interaction, meaningful visual symbols, spiritual atmosphere, cultural creative products, and pleasant aromas are the primary sources of aesthetic experience. Both the interaction quality and perceived cultural similarity positively affect aesthetic experience, further prompting existential authenticity. The findings suggest the “New Type” bookstore is a place where tourists can also profoundly experience aesthetics and authenticity via multiple sensory dimensions, providing implications for the construction of cultural tourism space.

Portrait of traditional dance in wedding ceremonies amidst modernization as social identity in South Sulawesi, Indonesia

Purpose This study aims to explore the South Sulawesi traditional dances in wedding ceremonies as key instruments for social identity construction, cultural heritage preservation and community-based economic growth. By examining the interplay of these dances within wedding ceremonies, the study aims to illuminate how artistic performances uphold ancestral values while adapting to contemporary social dynamics. Design/methodology/approach Amidst the forces of globalization and technological advancement, this research uses qualitative case study research to capture the cultural essence of traditional dances. Using thematic analysis, the study reveals the dynamic interplay between tradition and modernity, highlighting the roles of cultural preservation and the construction of social identities. It discusses the implication of the potential of these dances as sustainable cultural tourism products, balancing economic benefits with the need for authentic representation. Findings The findings reveal that traditional wedding dances in South Sulawesi serve as powerful symbols of cultural identity, with distinct dances like Tari Paduppa and Tari Lalusu being performed during specific parts of the wedding ceremonies. These dances convey values such as gratitude, respect, unity, and social hierarchy. Furthermore, the findings highlight the role of these performances in sustaining the livelihood of artists and their potential as cultural tourism products. Additionally, parents, schools and government-led festivals jointly create a supportive ecosystem that encourages intergenerational participation. Despite challenges posed by global entertainment trends, stakeholders adapt performances through selective modernization, ensuring that authenticity and heritage value remain intact. Originality/value This study highlights the resilience and adaptability of traditional wedding dances as multifaceted cultural expressions that simultaneously foster social identity, economic viability and heritage continuity. By demonstrating how local communities integrate these dances into broader educational, familial and policy structures, the research contributes to discussions on intangible cultural heritage and offers practical insights for similar preservation efforts.

How Laws Impact Our Lives And Cultural Practices As Society Changes

Law and culture interconnect with one another, each impacting and guiding the other in complex, dynamic and symbiotic relationship. Legal systems are not empty frameworks in which states must be shaped to live in ongoing relations of domination and control but are enmeshed within, but constitutive of, their cultural, social, and historical conditions. This research, brings out the two-sided relationship between law and culture: how legal norms embody and stabilize cultural values while law is an instrument of ‘cultural change.’ The first section discusses the socially constructed and culturally relative nature of legal norms and shows the same using the interaction between law and law and the contention that laws are also socially constructed and culturally relative. It goes on to investigate how the law is a cultural artifact, and to see legal systems as the product of histories and cultures that articulate the social values out of which they emerge. The study in particular analyses how the law creates and forms the identities of citizen, gender, race, and the nation. In addition, the research relates the place of law in power and in authority exercised, the role of law in pursuing justice and its potential to bring about social change. This work shows the importance of the study of legal systems by making culture the object of study to have a basis for understanding how Laws affect society through the acceptance and acceptance of norms, change promotion and legal aid defence of rights and justice.

How arts and cultural districts can support diversity, equity, and inclusion in their organizations and neighborhoods

ABSTRACT Arts and cultural districts (ACDs) in the United States are geographically demarcated areas that concentrate arts and cultural production and consumption, often as part of a creative or cultural economy strategy. We know little about how these organizations handle issues of diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) in their organizations, neighborhoods, and communities. In this article, we share the results of a national survey of ACDs about their work with regards to DEI. We find that, in general, organizations have prioritized and made more progress on implementing actions where they can pivot quickly, such as programming, rather than longer-term actions like building a more inclusive membership base or diversifying the volunteer population. However, respondents’ answers were mixed on how often they evaluated their own efforts, and the findings suggest a need for continued work—both in research and practice—to understand and advance DEI within arts and cultural districts.

A CONCEPTUAL PAPER ON VISUAL CULTURAL INTERPRETATION OF SELANGOR IDENTIFICATION DEVELOPMENT

This conceptual study analyses the visual cultural depiction of Selangor's identity, emphasising how visual aspects embody the state's cultural, historical, and social essence. The study examines critical enquiries: What are the principal visual icons of Selangor? In what manner do these symbols communicate cultural and historical narratives? How do visual features amalgamate traditional and contemporary facets of Selangor's culture? Prior research has emphasised the importance of visual identity in place branding and cultural representation. Past studies examine how designers employ visual tools to express urban identities, highlighting the relationship between design decisions and cultural significance. Previous research examine value creation in cultural businesses, highlighting the significance of meaning-making in cultural products. This paper presents a paradigm for analysing Selangor's visual identity through semiotic and cultural perspectives, building on previous observations. The process entails a qualitative examination of visual artefacts, such as governmental emblems, architecture, and public art, to interpret their denotative and connotative significances. Research indicates that Selangor's visual identity is a dynamic fusion of its rich legacy and current advancement, embodying a balance between multicultural customs and contemporary development. This study enhances comprehension of the role of visual features as cultural signifiers, providing insights for policymakers and designers in cultural preservation and place branding. This article elucidates the visual semiotics of Selangor, establishing a platform for further research into the visual depiction of regional identities.

AI-Assisted Cultural and Creative Product Design Framework and Case Study

This paper presents an AI-assisted design framework for the development of cultural and creative products, using the Ya Chou Yue, a renowned artifact from the Shandong Museum, as a prototype for designing a cultural creative doll. The framework is structured around key steps: clarifying design objectives, creating a design plan, generating AI images, and revising the design plan. The final design outcome illustrates the practical application of AI in cultural product development. This study highlights both the advantages and limitations of AI technology in the design process, offering new approaches and methodologies for the cultural and creative industries. Furthermore, it contributes to the ongoing efforts to promote cultural heritage and innovation through AI technologies.

Exploring the field of cultural production: The development of Pentigraf in Indonesia

Exploring the field of cultural production: The development of Pentigraf in Indonesia

Afropolitanizing the local: how cultural imperialism is rewriting the narratives of African entertainment industries

ABSTRACT In the last few years, Africa has emerged as a resurging force in global pop culture with artists from the continent and the diaspora working to bring African entertainment media to the rest of the world. While the rest of the world is now catching on, Africa and much of her diaspora were already plugged in to music, fashion, food, film and other cultural products and trends from the continent. Despite this growth in the globalizing force of African pop culture, there is not much research on what this means for Africa’s culture industries in the domestic and global front. Using postcolonial theory, I present analyses on the attention that Ghanaian and Nigerian entertainment media are getting globally. I argue that although African pop culture and entertainment media is being globalized rapidly than ever before, it is imperative to pay attention to the way that this trend is coloured by the Western Gaze, cultural imperialism, afropolitan logics and the displacement of African continental consumers and audiences of these culture industries. I draw attention to the broad trends in these influences while using specific examples to illustrate how this trend is unfolding.

A superhero or an incompetent? Representations of international mediators in local cultural products

A superhero or an incompetent? Representations of international mediators in local cultural products

Bilateral Interaction between Mainland China and Hong Kong Audiovisual Products under the Perspective of Cross-cultural Communication

At the present time, the dissemination of media represents one of the most significant methods of facilitating communication between disparate locations. The dissemination of cultural and creative products expressed in audiovisual formats facilitates cross-regional communication, thereby reinforcing the common culture within the group. Hong Kong, China and Mainland China represent distinct regions of the Han Chinese Cultural Circle. They not only reflect the cultural attractions within this cultural circle through a variety of media communication, but also respond to external cultural influences in the context of globalization. The latest figures indicate that Mainland China represents the largest outlet for Hong Kong's audio-visual products. However, the dissemination effect of Mainland products in Hong Kong is generally less pronounced than that of products from the United States and Japan. In particular, the United States has utilized the brand name of Hollywood films to disseminate its culture and values on a global scale through cross-cultural communication. While the shared culture provides audiovisual products with a lasting communication advantage in both Hong Kong and the Mainland, it can also be used at a later stage to further promote in-depth cultural exchanges and dissemination between the two places through policies, cooperation and cultural adaptations. However, this approach also faces challenges, including the USA's cultural leadership within traditional cultural circles.

Black Myth: Wukong": The Internationalization of Chinese Games

This study focuses on the globalization pathway of the Chinese game Black Myth: Wukong, exploring how it achieves the global dissemination of traditional Chinese culture and commercial success through the modern gaming industry. Using a case study approach and combining qualitative and quantitative data, this research comprehensively analyzes the entire process of Black Myth: Wukong from its development in 2020 to its global release in 2024, with a particular emphasis on how its technological innovation, cultural symbol reconstruction, and cross-cultural communication strategies have driven its success in the international market. The study reveals that Black Myth: Wukong employs advanced gaming technologies such as Unreal Engine 5 and ray tracing, which not only achieve breakthroughs in visual and interactive experiences but also bridge the gap between Chinese culture and global players through the modern reinterpretation of cultural symbols (e.g., Sun Wukong, demons, and monsters). The game has sold over 20 million copies worldwide, generating total revenues exceeding $961 million, making it a benchmark case for the internationalization of the Chinese gaming industry. Furthermore, the research highlights the core challenges of cross-cultural communication, including differences in cultural background understanding and the diversity of symbol reception. It proposes strategies such as localization adjustments and cultural re-creation to address these challenges. Additionally, the study summarizes key success factors for Chinese cultural products in the global commercial market, including the integration of cultural innovation, technological support, and marketing strategies.

Language Practices and Preferences of Young People in Wartime Ukraine

This article presents the results of an analysis of current trends in language use among young Ukrainians based on data from representative sociological studies of recent years. It underscores shifts in language skills (proficiency in Ukrainian, Russian, English), communication preferences, and engagement with cultural content. The wartime language practices and choices of young Ukrainians mirror the socio-cultural shifts within society, related to the changing linguistic landscape, emotional and cognitive responses to the Russian language due to Russia’s military aggression, an inclination towards Ukrainian cultural products, and the increasing use of Ukrainian and English online.

Reimagining Art and Design Education: An AI-Enhanced Interdisciplinary Project-Based Pedagogical Framework

This study investigates the paradigm shift in interdisciplinary art and design education driven by artificial intelligence (AI) advancements, proposing an "AI-Interdisciplinary-Project" pedagogical model validated through the empirical case of Guyi Garden cultural product design. By integrating generative AI technologies (e.g., Stable Diffusion), a STEAM-E (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, Mathematics, and Ethics) knowledge framework, and agile project-based learning, we establish a dynamic pedagogical cycle comprising three innovation layers: AI-accelerated cultural symbol extraction (40% efficiency gain), human-AI co-creation workflows (reduced design iteration cycle to 5.3 days/prototype), and ethically constrained social validation (82.4 user satisfaction score). Empirical results demonstrate significant educational outcomes, with a 27% enhancement in students' interdisciplinary collaboration competence and the development of 8 commercially viable product prototypes, while effectively bridging traditional architectural motifs with contemporary design paradigms. The research further articulates a "techno-humanistic equilibrium" framework supported by an open-source toolchain ecosystem, providing replicable strategies for AI-era design education innovation. Its applicability extends to rural intangible cultural heritage revitalization and inclusive product development, catalyzing synergistic evolution among educational, industrial, and cultural ecosystems through techno-cultural hybridization.

The application of digital people in cultural and creative products in the context of artificial intelligence

Introduction: One of the most significant advancements in the contemporary creative sector is the integration of digital technologies and artificial intelligence (AI) in the design and development of cultural and creative products (CCP). It investigates the use of AI-driven digital technologies, focusing on their role in enhancing aesthetics, streamlining design processes, and improving user experiences in CCP.Methods:The applies advanced AI methods, including the Penguin Search Optimization Malleable Decision Tree (PSO-MDT), and shape grammar techniques. Shape grammar is utilized to derive design guidelines for artistic and cultural objects, while MDT predicts the most suitable design elements for cultural products. The Intelligent Product System (IPS) is employed to optimize the design process for CCP.Results: The demonstrates that optimized designs achieved through these AI methods exhibit scaling values approaching near-maximum levels, signifying improved aesthetic and functional outcomes. This validates the effectiveness of AI in enhancing cultural product designs.Conclusions: The transformative potential of AI-driven digital technologies in fostering innovation within the creative sector. By emphasizing the application of advanced AI methodologies, it offers valuable insights into improving the aesthetic and practical attributes of CCP and guiding future developments in this field.