China's State Administration of Cultural Heritage (SACH) released the country's plans to celebrate International Museum Day on May 18 at a press conference in Beijing on Thursday.
The main activities for the day will be held in Shanghai this year while hundreds of smaller related events will be held in provinces and cities across the country, including Beijing, Jiangsu Province and the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, according to Guan Qiang, SACH's deputy head.
To better fit with this year's International Museum Day's theme - "Hyperconncected Museums: New Approaches, New Publics," the celebration in China will focus on the impact that the Internet and digital technologies have had on people's museum experiences. This will include a mobile phone video competition to showcase people's memories of museums around the country and the debut of an AI museum project, according to the SACH.
"The AI museum project is part of the agreement SACH reached with Baidu at the World Internet Conference held in Wuzhen, [East China's Zhejiang Province] last year," said Luo Jing, an official from SACH's Museum Department, at the press conference.
The AI museum project includes functions such as a smart map to help plan a visitor's itinerary in a museum as well as exhibit displays, according to Luo.
A total of 100 museums as well as 210 cultural events will open free to public in Shanghai around May 18 to celebrate this year's International Museum Day, Chu Xiaobo, deputy head of the Shanghai Municipal Administration of Cultural Heritage, noted at the press conference.
