The first session of the C.E.A. Museums Cooperation Initiative 4th Dialogue brought together seven experts and leaders from various museums and cultural and artistic fields to explore how museums cultivate creativity and innovation under the theme "Museums as catalysts for creativity". Not only do museums’ artifacts inspire visitors, but their architectural design also fosters inventiveness. Furthermore, an exhibition serves as an important nexus of creative talents, enhancing the overall atmosphere of innovation.
Yang Yao, Director of Tianjin Museum
Achieving creativity in museums requires our concerted efforts and attention to multiple dimensions, such as the expansion of knowledge graphs, ensuring the safety and legality of cultural relics, innovation in museum design, and exploration of the sources of artistic creation. The construction of museums in the new era faces many challenges, however, we are well prepared to meet them.
Xiaoting Xie, Director of Suzhou Museum
Museums are not black boxes. While museums traditionally use darkness to enhance exhibits, Mr. I. M. Pei, in his design of the Suzhou Museum, introduced natural light, creating a warm environment that quickly connects the museum with the audience. Museums are evolving from passive observation spaces to interactive dialogues between visitors, collections, and environment.
Guangjian Jia, Chinese Painting Artist, Vice Chairman of China Artists Association
Museums are a sanctuary for artists as well as a classroom. Experiencing the ancients' pursuit of artistic conception and their praise of natural beauty, and appreciating the brushwork techniques, color application skills, and composition layout, allow me to draw on the wisdom of the predecessors in my painting practice, enrich my artistic expression methods, and gradually create a personal style.
Katie Chan, Chairwoman of the Art Concept Culture Institute
The West Kowloon Cultural District comprises 40 hectares with 17 venues! I firmly believe that Hong Kong's continued success hinges not only on its economic prowess but also on its commitment to fostering creativity and innovation. In this regard, museums play a pivotal role.
Jingwen Zhang, Deputy Director of Nankai University Museum
With the advent of the information age, the concept of "intelligent museums" has gained widespread acceptance. To truly bring cultural relics to life and meet the needs of contemporary audiences for active, exploratory, and personalized knowledge experiences, museums must continuously reform their approaches to cultural knowledge production and innovate their service paradigms.
Tess Davis, Executive Director of the Antiquities Coalition
During the 2011 Egyptian Revolution, when thieves threatened the Cairo Museum, in the midst of the chaos, brave Egyptians linked hands to form a human chain around it, risking their lives to save its priceless collection from looters. This heroism, which was repeated time and again throughout the country, inspired us to act.
Paolo Tassinari, Graphic Designer, Founder of Tassinari/Vetta, Trieste
We all understand that we live in a hectic society, and we all agree that communication has become impoverished over time. So, the term creativity has lost most of its power and it is often considered as a good ingredient for any everyday recipe–this is a very marketing-related thing. Enzo Mari used to say that there is no word today more obscene, more unhealthy than creativity. Quite obviously, we need to go more in depth in order to overcome such a judgement, maybe go back to the origins.
