Speaking in front of a live camera, Du Yongwei presented a blue guitar with exquisite patterns of phoenix and peonies, woven into the instrument as cultural elements from Dunhuang’s Mogao Grottoes, a renowned UNESCO World Heritage Site in Northwest China’s Gansu Province.
“The images imitate elements from the murals of the Mogao Grottoes, which imply their specific meanings in Chinese culture,” Du, a 60-year-old inheritor of Dunhuang-painted sculpture craft, told the audience.
Tmall, China’s internet giant Alibaba’s online marketplace, collaborated with the Dunhuang Museum on Sunday to hold a livestream event at the replicated grottoes in the museum.
The two-hour livestream, which attracted more than 10,000 online viewers, introduced Dunhuang culture, and unveiled the stories and background of the Dunhuang-themed cultural and creative products.
“We’ve found that young people are keen on Dunhuang culture and they’re also willing to contribute their own power to cultural inheritance,” said Liu Chang, manager of the online flagship shop of the Dunhuang Museum on Tmall.
According to Liu, since the shop opened on Tmall on May 18, it has received some 500,000 visits, with 40 percent of visitors younger than 30.
T-shirts and skateboards with patterns of flying apsaras, mooncakes in the shape of the nine-colored deer, as well as other featured products, including phone cases and key chains, won their favor with new fashion elements.
“I couldn’t imagine this millennium-old culture presented on products in fashionable designs,” read a real-time comment.
As museums, monuments and historical sites across China embrace the digital age, a new upsurge in online exhibitions and livestreaming has added popularity to cultural and creative products. Many have joined hands with livestreaming platforms to offer online sales of their products to the public.
So far, more than 60 museums and cultural and creative stores, both at home and abroad, have opened online shops on Tmall with more than 700 million collective visits, said Liu Qian, who is in charge of the cultural and creative business on Tmall.
“Dunhuang culture is a treasure for the world, and 200 million users of Tmall are from Generation Z, so we hope to create more opportunities for young people to know about Dunhuang,” she said.
The Mogao Grottoes are home to collections of Buddhist artworks – more than 2,000 colored sculptures and 45,000 square meters of murals – in 735 caves carved along a cliff by ancient worshippers.
They were first constructed in 366. For more than 1,000 years, the site was a popular stop for travelers and a religious shrine on the ancient Silk Road.
A temple at the Mogao Grottoes in Dunhuang Photo: IC
