The Liaoning Provincial Museum was recently invited to participate in the Liangzhu Cultural and Creative Bazaar of the third Liangzhu Forum in Hangzhou, East China’s Zhejiang Province. This cultural and creative bazaar gathered 43 leading cultural institutions from around the world, presenting a transcontinental cultural and creative feast, and facilitating in-depth dialogues on mutual learning among civilizations and creative integration. The museum’s participation in the Liangzhu Cultural and Creative Bazaar marked a new phase in its cultural and creative endeavors—a shift from “product output” to “cross-cultural dialogue”.
The Liangzhu Cultural and Creative Bazaar aims to highlight the profound heritage of China’s outstanding traditional culture, and the latest achievements in its creative transformation and innovative development. During the event, the Liaoning Provincial Museum served not only as a showcase for cultural and creative products, but also as an interpreter of Chinese civilization and Liaoning’s regional culture. Through cultural and creative products inspired by cultural relics, the museum engaged global audiences in an in-depth exchange on aesthetics and history, manifesting the remarkable continuity, innovation, and inclusiveness of Chinese civilization.
The museum’s exhibition area was located in the China-Foreign Cultural Exchange and Mutual Learning Hall. The design of its exhibition area represented an upgrade from “displaying objects” to “creating an immersive space”. Artistically segmented, the entire space positioned the cultural and creative products at the intersection of their historical contexts and contemporary life scenarios. This presentation mode not only highlighted the aesthetic value of the products, but also fully demonstrated the creative process of extracting cultural genes from cultural relics, and transforming them into contemporary aesthetics.
Among the numerous exhibits, two highlights exemplified the Liaoning Provincial Museum’s creative thinking in exploring and transforming intellectual property (IP). The first was the cultural and creative derivative products of Lady Guoguo’s Spring Outing, and the second was the “renewed creation” of Court Ladies Adorning Their Hair with Flowers. The museum placed special emphasis on the cultural and creative derivative products of its flagship IP, Lady Guoguo’s Spring Outing. This was not merely a presale event, but a meticulously curated “cultural preview”. These debut products proactively set cultural topics, transforming public anticipation into an in-depth exploration of the grandeur of the Tang Dynasty, and embodied the museum’s design philosophy for cultural and creative products development: “Based upon academic research, guided by the market, and aligned with time.” Lady Guoguo’s Spring Outing is scheduled to be exhibited at the Liaoning Provincial Museum by the end of 2025, synchronizing with the release of new cultural and creative products to celebrate the upcoming Year of the Horse.
As the museum’s “star IP”, the series of cultural and creative products inspired by the Tang Dynasty painting Court Ladies Adorning Their Hair with Flowers by Zhou Fang, has progressed from “product development” to “in-depth value cultivation”. On display was a series of products such as painted screens, hairpin accessories and co-branded gift boxes, inspired by cultural symbols like the high buns, floral hairpins, and attire of the court ladies depicted in the painting. They are not only “usable” items, but also “readable” cultural texts, precisely conveying the Tang Dynasty’s aesthetic fashion of “plump cheeks and a round figure, and rich and varied beauty”, as well as its highly confident social atmosphere. A visitor from Hangzhou said, “It’s like holding the confidence and splendor of the Tang Dynasty in your hands.” These cultural and creative products vividly embody the museum’s philosophy of “bringing cultural relics out of display cases, integrating history into daily life, and infusing them with new vitality”.
The Liaoning Provincial Museum’s exhibition area attracted the gaze of visitors throughout the event, with many products earning significant recognition and acclaim, particularly from international visitors. The innovative design and exquisite craftsmanship of the museum’s cultural and creative products were highly praised, achieving a unity between cultural and practical value.
The participation in the Liangzhu Forum signifies the Liaoning Provincial Museum’s successful transformation from a “guardian of cultural relics” to a “cultural storyteller” and a “value co-creation platform”. Through cultural creativity, the museum has achieved a triple elevation of value. First, it has offered a deep exploration of cultural values. The museum has transformed the profound results of academic research into tangible and relatable aesthetics for the public, completing a cross-media cultural narrative. Second, it has actively delivered social values. Through the flexible link of cultural and creative industries, the museum has helped China’s outstanding traditional culture gain widespread understanding and recognition, particularly among Generation Z, and has actively engaged in cultural innovation and promotion. Third, it has conducted a systematic exploration of industrial values. The museum has successfully explored a sustainable development path of “industrialization of cultural and creative industries, and industries based upon cultural creativity”, empowering economic and social development through culture. In the future, the museum will continue to promote the “living” inheritance of cultural relics through innovative design.
