“Museum Fever”: Reimagining the Museum‐Public Relationship in Contemporary China

ABSTRACT

Over the past century, the museum‐public relationship has been (re)imagined in China. From the 1860s to the early 21st century, the Chinese state has played an active role in shaping the role and function of museums. Utilized for social education and the enhancement of the “quality of citizens” (1860s–1940s), state propaganda and mass mobilization under Communism (1950s–1970s), and patriotic education and cultural nationalism (1980s–2008), the museum in China has acted as an important vehicle in maintaining and furthering periodic political directives. The Chinese state's role in imagining the museum and the museum‐public relationship has remained prominent. With the recent museum development boom in China, the country has witnessed a shift in public attitude toward museums. We argue that a greater diversification of driving forces, including national cultural policies, the integration of the museum into the public cultural service sector, museum professionalization, and media intervention, have contributed to reshaping the museum‐public relationship in contemporary China.