Yangzhou museum expands cultural display

Yangzhou's Arts and Crafts Museum opened a new pavilion dedicated to works of intangible cultural heritage on Nov 30.

The exhibition hall now displays a wide range of regional treasures that represent some of the Jiangsu city's finest traditions. The pavilion focuses on three separate cultural aspects; ancient storytelling, traditional music and opera, and regional culinary practices.

Su Huaping, manager of the museum, believes the new pavilion excellently represents local culture.

"Yangzhou features an abundant array of cultural resources in various fields including folk literature, traditional handicraft, folk performance and ancient opera."

The museum has come to possess an array of valuable exhibits through the generous donations of locals. These include a drum, an opera costume, puppets, and musical instruments.

In the section depicting on Yangzhou storytelling, several local legends are elegantly illustrated. These include the story of Emperor Yang, second emperor of China's Sui Dynasty (581-618), and the touching story of a local girl who sacrificed herself after saving her mother's life.

The Yangzhou music section displays numerous unique instruments such as local percussion master Li Zhengcheng's bamboo drum. Additionally, visitors can enjoy several stunning operatic costumes, ones previously worn onstage that have been charitably donated by Yangzhou Opera Group.

The culinary section of the pavilion includes examples of Yangzhou's three famed knives; kitchen knives, pedicure knives, and special razor blades. The exhibit also displays some of the region's most famous dishes. Museum curators are currently producing informative audiovisual material to accompany the exhibition.

Su hopes to create an immersive museum experience for visitors allowing a deep understanding of how intangible cultural heritages such as paper-cutting, lacquerware and jade sculpture work are saturated in Yangzhou life. Su plans to invite local experts to give demonstrations and walking tours at the museum.

A further part of these interactive plans is the inclusion of QR codes beside key exhibitions that offer museumgoers access to additional information.