The baffling variety of the vast collection found at the National Archives of Publications and Culture (NAPC) might pleasantly surprise visitors—classics from thousands of years ago, newspapers and magazines published before the founding of the People's Republic of China in 1949, yellowing packages of different cigarette brands, cassette tapes from the 1980s when pop music started to thrive on the Chinese mainland and DVDs of foreign films like the 1939 Hollywood blockbuster Gone With the Wind… Their diversity records and carries on China's traditional culture and communication with others.

Rather than a museum, a library, an exhibition center or a gallery, the NAPC is something much more, something that cannot be pinned down by one category. Preserving all kinds of literature and art resources embedded with historical and cultural value, the archives serve as a collection, exhibition, database and an overall haven of cultural communication.

"The archives are created in line with current international GLAM (an acronym for galleries, libraries, archives and museums) concepts and are part of an innovative cultural project that builds a comprehensive cultural venue integrating a range of functions and demonstrating Chinese insights," NAPC Curator Liu Chengyong told China News Service, adding that the institution is referred to as "a gene bank for the seeds of Chinese civilization."

Liu said the NAPC plays an important role in continuing the line of Chinese culture, strengthening the public sense of cultural confidence, displaying China's national image and promoting communications among civilizations. "It will become a new cultural landmark of the country," he added.

An amazing collection

Following three years of construction, the NAPC was inaugurated in July last year.

The institution comprises the Beijing headquarters and three branches in Shaanxi Province's Xi'an, Zhejiang Province's Hangzhou and Guangzhou in Guangdong Province. The locations were chosen based on their prominent place in Chinese history.

Beijing HQ is home to more than 16 million copies and editions of various publications, as well as inscribed bronzeware. The collection generally embraces 10 categories, including texts created with the woodblock printing technique, stamps, books that are thousands of years old, documents related to Chinese revolutionary history, religious literature, Chinese editions of foreign classics, and so on.

Visitors have a host of exhibitions showcasing different aspects of the Chinese civilization to choose from. For example, an exhibition titled the History of Chinese Currency presents and explains in detail the evolving history of money in China. From the earliest cowrie shell coins, the metallic currency during the Qin (221-206 B.C.) and Tang (618-907) dynasties, and the world's earliest paper currency used in the Song Dynasty (960-1279), to the first set of renminbi notes released in 1948 and the latest digital renminbi.

The three branches assume the responsibility of preserving all kinds of literature, art and other resources of important historical and cultural value mainly according to their locations—the Xi'an branch focuses on the culture in the country's western region, displaying cultural heritage items along the ancient Silk Road; the Guangzhou branch on the Lingnan culture found in the southern provinces of Guangdong and Hainan and Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, covering iconic heritage such as Cantonese Opera; and the Hangzhou one on the Jiangnan culture, which prevails in the region south of the lower reaches of the Yangtze River.

More than 10,580 book, newspaper and magazine publishers, as well as numerous folk art collectors from all over China, have conducted surveys on ancient literature, art and other resources and contributed their archives from different periods. As of now, the national archives have altogether collected over 25 million items.

"The exhibition helps me gain a deeper understanding of our history from different aspects," Wang Jiaxi, a college student in Hangzhou, told Beijing Review on her recent trip to the NAPC's branch there. "I was shocked by the perfect combination of ancient and modern—in terms of the technologies the exhibition applies as well as the architecture and interior design."

The QR codes accompanying each item on display also impressed Wang. By scanning them with a smartphone, visitors can learn the detailed stories behind the exhibits. The archives have also turned to hi-tech, such as augmented reality and glasses-free 3D displays, to improve the overall visitor experience.

Communication is key

As a platform for communication, the NAPC also hosts public seminars. For example, in August last year, Wang Shu, designer of its Hangzhou branch and the first Chinese national to win the Pritzker Architecture Prize, the world's most prestigious architecture award, shared with audiences the branch's design concept and construction process.

The location used to be an abandoned mine in the suburbs of Hangzhou, which served as China's capital for more than 140 years during the 12th and 13th centuries and was one of the richest and most developed places in the world at that time. Wang recreated the Song Dynasty's painted screens in his design for the project and incorporated depictions of mountains and rivers, typical elements in ancient Chinese paintings, and turned the whole complex into a modern-day Song-style structure.

Moreover, the NAPC caters to the needs of international visitors and plans to host international cultural events. "It will also strengthen exchanges and cooperation with world-renowned libraries, museums and art galleries, as well as establish bilateral and multilateral exchange and cooperation mechanisms to promote cultural exchange and dialogue among civilizations," Liu said, adding that the institute welcomes experts and scholars engaged in archival research from all over the world, Sinologists and young cultural ambassadors in particular, to conduct field exchanges and jointly carry out research on cutting-edge archival topics.

"It can serve as a bridge for exchange and mutual learning between China and the rest of the world, and open a window for the world to understand China and for China to understand the world," Liu concluded.

(Print Edition Title: Recording GLAMour)

Copyedited by Elsbeth van Paridon

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