By Catherine Chen

Twenty-four Chinese emperors came and went within the two dynasties that began in 1420 and reigned for 600 years. Shockingly however, despite its longevity, only the Forbidden City (The Palace Museum, Gu Gong) in the centre of China, stands witness it all; able to tell its story to the next generation. However, what could not have been predicted is how this antique landmark, which just celebrated its 600th birthday, would still be able to provide a whole day’s fun for the younger generation. However, thanks to the Internet, it most definitely does.

With the continuous development of Internet, the words big data, VR, AR and AI appear constantly in our lives, and these technologies provide new business opportunities for the cultural and creative industries. As one of the first museums that launched its own cultural and creative products online, The Palace Museum has spearheaded the integration of culture and technology. The Internet-based cultural merchandise of the Palace Museum has lessened the gap between history and modernity by merging classical and novel elements. This poses a series of questions: Can each product encapsulate the meaning and history behind it or is it simply a form of entertainment? If so, does it cheapen the history of what it represents? Will this form of art become one of the major trends in the development of museums?

Prior to 2013, The Palace Museum was just an ancient, solemn and dreary historical attraction for the public. Since then, The Palace Museum has launched different kinds of cultural and creative products on online platforms. From apps, to stationary to makeup, this new avenue depicts the beauty of The Forbidden City for the modern generation. A series of photos and memes featured on their social media accounts enables the Museum to keep history in the public consciousness and these innovations have brought huge success. From 2013 to 2019, The Palace Museum developed over 10,000 kinds of cultural and creative products, with annual sales reaching upwards of 1 billion RMB. As evidenced by these numbers, a new era had emerged: The Palace Museum had become a social media phenomenon.

Superficially, the cultural and creative products are mainly for entertainment and publicity purposes. However, they are also an indirect way of creating more exposure for the original pieces, as these products have garnered more interest in the cultural relics themselves, and their subsequent histories. For example, the popular e-commerce site Tmall (an online shopping mall owned by Alibaba) promoted the museum’s merchandise on its website, which ultimately led to an increased public interest in the artefacts themselves. Moreover, due to the success of this partnership, many international museums have been inspired to join Tmall as well including: The V&A, The State Hermitage Museum of Russia, the French Réunion des Musées Nationaux, and the Museum of Fine Arts Boston. While, The British Museum, as the first international museum to list their products on the site, completely sold out within the first 16 days.

In addition, to its the success of commercial products, The Palace Museum has uploaded documentaries, variety shows and songs, all with the purpose of telling the story of The Forbidden City. The success of these internet-based products and wider visual engagement has boosted the economy around culturally and historically significant pieces alongside The Palace Museum itself.

This integration of the Internet and the traditional, cultural industry has established itself as a new, relatively untapped and lucrative market. The Internet offers opportunities for explosive growth and an increasing number of internet-based cultural enterprises and creative platforms continue to thrive in this new economy. The Internet not only changes the way the public is exposed to culture, but also reshapes the relationship between the cultural relic and the value placed upon it.

As of right now, the Internet, VR, AI and other digital technologies are being widely used in many different areas. Applying these technological innovations to the cultural sector will consequentially make more cultural and creative products and services accessible to the public, and the adaptation of history and culture for modern generations will help to bring the cultural industry into the modern era. This technology also offers consumers a more in depth and interactive medium for learning about history and culture than a typical museum would, and this unique opportunity enables generations young and old to experience the past in ways that would not have been otherwise available.

I would suggest that the resurgence of The Palace Museum serves as a guide for all those who wish to inspire a new generation and grow their audience. That in order to thrive, cultural sites must adapt and move forward into the digital age.

ST.ART does not own the rights to any images used in this article.