Technology widens horizons for little-known Chinese museums

Exhibits displayed in lesser known Chinese museums will soon attract a wider audience base from across the world with the help of modern technology.

Five more Chinese institutions, Hubei Provincial Museum, Huaren Contemporary Art Museum in Chongqing, Long Museum in Shanghai, Nationalities Museum of Central University for Nationalities in Beijing and Suzhou Museum in Jiangsu province, have been included in the Google Cultural Institute. With this the number of Chinese cultural institutions working with Google has reached 15.

With the addition of five new partners, Google Cultural Institute will hold more than 40 new digital exhibitions, provide over 1,300 new high-resolution images and organize five new museum view tours this year. Google's new gigapixel technology, which is 1,000 times clearer than the 1-million-pixel cameras, will make it possible for online viewers to see each and every detail of artwork shown on its platform.

Amit Sood, director of the Google Cultural Institute, said the criteria for choosing the right partners is that the institutions should mainly focus on art, heritage, history or wonders of the world. It is not the priority for Google to seek more followers, but rather help the museums reach a larger audience. To this end, the Google Cultural Institute will allow the museums to put the content shown also on the museums' websites or social network platforms by using Google's application programming interfaces technology.

"In the next five to 10 years, China will become the largest market of museums. There will be many more museums to come in the future. But we would identify which would come first in terms of virtual tours," he said.

Zhang Jieru, co-founder of Huaren Contemporary Art Museum, said that they would feature the exhibition on Google Cultural Institute by displaying root carving works based on the Chinese classic novel Outlaws of the Marsh, which is one of the fine representatives of Chinese traditional culture.

"People should share art works and knowledge, instead of making profits out of them. With Google's technology, we can share with people all over the world what we think is of great value," she said.

Hubei Provincial Museum features exhibitions of Chinese traditional musical instruments such as the ancient chimes. People could only visit these in the museum in the past. But now with Google's technology, global viewers can view them on their computers. If future technology permits, people may also enjoy the sound of these ancient musical instruments on their mobile phones or tablets, according to the staff at the Hubei Provincial Museum.

Jinsha Site Museum based in Chengdu of Sichuan province is displaying exhibits dating back to BC 1600-1200, and was not known beyond Chengdu. But after it teamed up with the Google Cultural Institute two years ago, it has gained in reputation and become and integral facet of local tourism, according to Xiao Feige, communication director of Jinsha Site Museum.

"We are the first Chinese museum to use Google's street view technology. It has helped a great deal to show our exhibits to the global viewers. With the help of the Google Cultural Institute, we can work with other organizations, get more digital images and thus better promote Chinese cultural history," she said.

Founded in 2011, the Google Cultural Institute has worked with more than 700 cultural organizations worldwide, among which 85 are located in the Asia-Pacific region. Well-known Chinese art institutions such as Today Art Museum and Ullens Center for Contemporary Art in Beijing have also been included in this project.