23 August 2013

The Shangai Film Museum opened its door to the public

A view of Shangai Film Museum. Photo: Tilman Thürmer / COORDINATION ASIA Ltd.

Given their predominant role in shaping the culture and the costumes of contemporary societies, preserving movies and audiovisual material became more and more an issue in the Cultural Heritage world.

Many institutions and museum worldwide are involved since many years in this activity. The particular nature of this kind of heritage, namely its multimedial nature, poses challenges as well as opportunities to museums who wants to fully explore the possibilities given by this medium.

One of the latest institutions which got involved in this area is the Shangai Film Museum, which unveiled last June to the public.

Located in downtown Shangai, this museum features 4 floors, with over 70 interactive installations. The overall set-up of the museum was developed by Coordination Asia, a specialized agency for design and architecture of public spaces. 

Inside this museum, Shanghai’s most successful film studios are showcased thanks to a mix of design, technology and multimedia. For example, "The River of Dreams", a 50-meters long interactive stream of movies, gives the visitor a walk through the history of Shangai's film production from 1949 onwards. According to the agency which ideated this installation, "through a touch and play application, the visitor can catch films in this stream and learn more about them".

In short, given the particular kind of cultural heritage it has to deal with, the Shangai Film Museum represents an interesting vision on the concept of museums and technology.
In fact, it has been defined as a "vivid and living environment", where "an audience of professionals and non-professionals can interact and exchange knowledge and inspiration"

More informations and in depth views over the solutions showcased by the Museum can be found in the official website of Coordination Asia and in this feature article. 

Have a look as well at Pinterest board dedicated to the Shangai Film Museum by following this link.

Stefano Sbarbati