Public Benefits or Commercial Gains: Chinese Museums’ Online Activities in the Covid-19 Age

Abstract

During the Covid-19 lockdown from the end of January to March 2020, museums in China were forced to temporarily close, consequently devoting more attention to online activities. Apart from official websites, many museums increased their online activities on China-based video livestreaming platforms such as Kuaishou, Douyin and Bilibili, etc., as well as on the audio livestreaming platform Himalayan. Other online activities were carried out via social media and e-commerce platforms including WeChat, Vlog, Taobao, Tianmao, Jingdong, Meituan and Tencent. Shaanxi History Museum (SHM) represents one of the typical examples of cultural institutions that bolstered their online activities during the pandemic. This article explores the effects of Chinese museums’ livestreaming activities, which constituted the core of their online initiatives during the pandemic. By reviewing different types of livestreaming activities carried out by museums, as well as conducting online surveys, face-to-face interviews and analysing data surrounding the Shaanxi History Museum, it will critically discuss the advantages and disadvantages of Chinese museums’ livestreaming activities, with potential implications for museums in China and worldwide. Ultimately, it suggests that Chinese museums’ development of online activities relies on applying a systematic, diversified and digitalisation-driven communication strategy.

Keywords:

• online activities development
• Museum livestream
• museum strategy

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Yang Jin

Yang Jin is a professor and doctoral supervisor at the School of History and Culture at Shaanxi Normal University. She is the peer mentor for the NextGen Training programme, sponsored by the American Getty Leadership Institute and the Chinese Museums Association. She has headed up many research projects funded by the National Social Science Fund and Provincial Social Science Fund in China. She has 28 years’ working experience at the Shaanxi History Museum. Her research areas include cultural relics, history and museum studies. She has published five books and over 100 articles.

Liang Min

Liang Min is Deputy Head of the Research Planning Department at Shaanxi History Museum, where she has been working for 12 years. She is a 2018 Chevening Scholarship winner and earned her Master’s degree in Museum Studies from the University of Leicester, UK. She is a member of ICOM and Vice Secretary General of Regional Museums Committee of the Chinese Museums Association. She is currently engaged in coordinating the academic activities and enhancing the scientific research of the Shaanxi History Museum through planning, managing and participating in different research projects.