Genèse et développement des premiers musées chinois. Enjeux patrimoniaux, scientifiques et esthétiques (1860-1949)

This study focuses on the development of museums, and of their art and archeological collections in China between 1860 and 1949. In the first part (“Thinking and experiencing the museum: multiple roots”), we sought to approach the subject from a broad temporal perspective which could make it possible to tackle different issues raised by the creation of museums in China while trying to consider them as the results of an evolution of local practices and discourses as well as of techniques and perceptions coming from the West. We chose to investigate the sensitive relationship to objects which, through its evolutions, restructure both the sphere of knowledge and the one of emotions. The second part (“Building and developing: the rise of the first museum institutions”) adopts a chronological approach to understand the main stages of the development of museums in China, from the last decades of the Qing dynasty with the establishment of the very first institutions by Westerners, up to the efforts of the Central Museum in Nanjing to mount an exhibition on the eve of Mao's takeover. The third part (“Exhibiting and appreciating: the metamorphosis of the gaze”) focuses on exhibition devices and methods, with the aim of shedding light on the technical aspects and the sensitive response implied by the entry of Chinese art objects into the museum space-time. This research work adopts a transdisciplinary approach to offer a global overview of the museum phenomenon during the Republican period.

Aesthetics · archaeological collections · art collections · Chinese museums · heritage · Material culture · museum collections · museum exhibitions · museum history · museum visitors · Qing dynasty · Republican China · Chinese history and philosophy · Libraries and Information Services · Museums and Cultural Heritage

• Pastimes

  Shana Julia Brown•Pastimes•2011

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• Museums in China

  Tracey L-D Lu, Tracey Lie Dan Lu et al.•Museums in China•2013

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