Photo: Courtesy of China’s National Cultural Heritage Administration

China’s National Cultural Heritage Administration (NCHA) and other cultural authorities will co-launch a batch of activities to mark the International Museum Day on May 18, which will focus on a discussion of global museums’ role amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

Chen Mingjie, head of NCHA, said at a news conference on Saturday that Beijing, as the main venue of the event, will hold a series of activities including exhibitions, academic forums and promotional events. Other places across China also plan to launch related events to celebrate the holiday.

The year 2021’s International Museum Day is themed on “The Future of Museums: Recover and Reimagine,” which aims to share ideas on how museums should face and adapt to the multiple challenges during the pandemic and actively explore new directions and models for museum development in the future. 

According to a report released by UNESCO, due to the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, global museums were closed for an average of 150 days and their income saw a 40 to 60 percent drop. Chinese museums were closed for less than 30 days on average, the shortest closing time of all countries. China is also one of the 13 countries whose financial expenditures were not affected by the pandemic among the 87 countries that participated in the survey. 

Guan Qiang, deputy director-general of NCHA, pointed out that most co-hosted international events with other museums overseas will continue to use online modes. “This year will hold both online and offline events to promote the holiday,” he said.

An exhibition of Chinese cultural heritage is set to kick off in Beijing’s Capital Museum on May 18 and will last for three months. More than 50 sets of cultural artifacts from 23 museums nationwide will be put on display, Luo Jing, deputy director of the NCHA‘s department of museum development said at the conference. 

“This exhibition will combine cuttingedge technology such as Huawei’s Hetu technology in AR and artistic expression so that virtual reality and reality can mix,” said Luo.

The International Museum Day was established by the International Council of Museums in 1977 aimed to increase people’s awareness of the role of museums and promote the development of global museums. China joined in the council in 1983 and has officially celebrated the day as a main venue with various themes since 2009.