HISTORY AT HOME

Due to restrictions placed on travel and public gatherings during the Covid-19 epidemic, nine museums in China have released “cloud exhibit” programs on short video app Douyin (Tiktok) so users may view collections like oracle bone inscriptions and the Mawangdui Tombs from the safety of their homes.

According to Taobao, 9 million virtual visitors saw Gansu Museum’s collections on the day of the program’s launch on February 20, compared with 10 million offline visitors at the museum annually. The program allows users to explore the exhibition hall using VR technology, with livestreamed guided explanations.

Many Chinese museums have been digitizing their treasures in recent years to better serve visitors who do not have the time or money to travel to these exhibitions in person. The state-run Xinhua News has expressed hopes that recent events can encourage more museums to explore this option and create more realistic VR tours “to make ‘cloud exhibitions’ into a trend” after the epidemic.