Examining the Suojia Ecomuseum and the Nandan Ecomuseum in China Yi, Sabrina Hong 2013, Examining the Suojia Ecomuseum and the Nandan Ecomuseum in China, in ACAC 2013 : Proceedings of the Asian conference on arts and cultures, Srinakharinwirot University, Bangkok, Thailand, pp. 168-177. Attached Files Name Description MIMEType Size Downloads Title Examining the Suojia Ecomuseum and the Nandan Ecomuseum in China Author(s) Yi, Sabrina Hong Conference name Asian Conference on Arts and Cultures (2013 : Bangkok, Thailand) Conference location Bangkok, Thailand Conference dates 13-14 Jun. 2013 Title of proceedings ACAC 2013 : Proceedings of the Asian conference on arts and cultures Editor(s) Supasetsiri, Prit Mahavarakorn, Supak Publication date 2013 Conference series Asian Conference on Arts and Cultures Start page 168 End page 177 Total pages 10 Publisher Srinakharinwirot University Place of publication Bangkok, Thailand Keyword(s) China ecomuseum examination community-based cultural inheritance Summary China hosts some 55 ethnic minority groups, which together account for 8.41% of the Chinese population. These populations reside in predominantly Ethnic Minority Villages presenting great value and culture of their heritage, with living landscape, festivals, architecture and costumes, but the actual living conditions are very poor. Since the 1990s, China has adopted French concept 'ecomuseum', for the conservation of some ethnic villages to relieve the conflict between poverty and heritage conservation. ln short, this concept involves the creation of open-air museums keeping buildings and people in their original sites, with local communities serving as curators managing their own sites, which necessitates democracy in the conservation and interpretation processes. The concept seems ideal for the Chinese government, with its bilateral objectives of heritage conservation and poverty alleviation, without necessitating the relocation of any or buildings. However, does this concept really work? It remains unanswered and the subject of little academic research. In order to examine how successfully these ecomuseums are being managed, two projects has been selected for case studies - the Suojia Ecomuseum and the Nandan Ecomuseum. In-depth field studies have been conducted at the two ecomuseums, involving the methodologies of site observation, documentation and semi-structured interviews. This paper reviews the ecomuseum development in China, and then provides detailed critiques and overviews of the Suojia Ecomuseum and the Nandan Ecomuseum in terms of their backgrounds, management structures, programs and activities as well as pertinent issues. Based upon these descriptions, it is·identified that the two cases have different management structures and focuses: 1) the Suojia Ecomuseum has been under the management of government authorities whilst the Nandan Ecomuseum has been operated by local villagers, and 2) the focus of the Suojia Ecomuseum has been improving living conditions for the residents, while in Nandan Ecomuseum cultural inheritance has been operated as a core program. However, there is a lack of financial support in both cases. All these issues lead to a discussion that the Nandan Ecomuseum has made greater achievement in terms of being community-based. The conclusions are hence drawn as to the suggestions to Chinese ecomuseums--the sustainability and success requires local villagers as curators as well as external financial assistance. In addition, another and more urgent need is to pass the ethnic cultures and their values to the next generation. ISBN 9786162960291 Language eng Field of Research 120107 Landscape Architecture 120199 Architecture not elsewhere classified Socio Economic Objective 970112 Expanding Knowledge in Built Environment and Design HERDC Research category E1 Full written paper - refereed Persistent URL http://hdl.handle.net/10536/DRO/DU:30055238 Document type: Conference Paper Collections: Faculty of Science, Engineering and Built Environment School of Architecture and Built Environment   Unless expressly stated otherwise, the copyright for items in DRO is owned by the author, with all rights reserved. Versions Version Filter Type Tue, 27 Aug 2013, 10:41:10 EST Tue, 27 Aug 2013, 11:37:38 EST Thu, 01 May 2014, 14:46:10 EST Fri, 02 May 2014, 09:44:46 EST Fri, 02 May 2014, 09:45:24 EST Mon, 05 May 2014, 09:30:34 EST Mon, 19 Jan 2015, 12:07:16 EST Filtered Full Citation counts:   Cited 0 times in TR Web of Science Cited 0 times in Scopus Search Google Scholar Access Statistics: 342 Abstract Views, 2 File Downloads  -  Detailed Statistics Created: Tue, 27 Aug 2013, 10:41:10 EST

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