Yujia Jing
Museum, Galleries and Heritage Postgraduate Researcher
Project Title: Museum, Identity, and Place: Local Museums in National Historical and Cultural Cities in China
Supervisors: Professor Rhiannon Mason and Dr Joanne Sayner
I am a final-stage PhD student in museum and heritage studies and currently focus on writing up my thesis. I got my Bachelor degree on cultural relics and archaeology in Nankai University, China, and studied further in museum studies in George Washington University, USA. Now I focus on the research on local museums in the Chinese context.
Project Description
My research project is about the role of museums in local development in Chinese cities. My case study museums are state-funded local from different regions in China, showing the similarities of and differences between local museums and the themes of their displays. These local museums are not only the places displaying historical and cultural objects but engage in cultural development, identity construction, and local tourism. Using display analysis methods and collecting visitor questionnaires, I investigate the themes and meanings of museums’ permanent history displays and how visitors think of the history and culture represented in the displays. I regard local museums as important public institutions for the cultural and economic development of cities.
My research interests are wide and around the roles of museums as public institutions for people and societies. I am interested in how museums reflect and respond to political, social, and cultural contexts and issues. Many stakeholders, both public and private, are engaged in the making of museum displays and heritage sites. I am interested in investigating their effects and influences on museums and other cultural institutions and organisations. I always believe that museums are for people, so I am also interested in their relationship with different groups of people and how they influence people’s life
PRESENTATIONS
‘Governmental custodianship of heritage: presentations and interpretations of heritage in local museums in China’, 7th Conference of Association of Critical Heritage Studies, 3-6 June 2024, Galway, Ireland.
‘Presentations of colonial pasts and heritages in the Qingdao Municipal Museum’, research workshop ‘The Politics of Remembrance: The Commemoration and Heritagisation of Colonial Occupation in Contemporary China’, 21 June 2023, Newcastle University, Newcastle.
