“Our traditional culture and natural environment used to suffer from the aftermath of rapid urban expansion. But we learned from that and we’re now acting as a society to progress”

Vince Xie

SZ_DailyVince@163.com 

On the second thematic session of the UNESCO High-level Forum on Museums yesterday, Benoit de Saint-Chamas, director of the office of the president of the Louvre, shared his insights into urbanization and the protection of cultural property.

“Now, as I know, many modern museums in China are faced with many challenges from rapid urbanization. It’s a big headache for the government at different levels in China to build up a sound and healthy management mechanism for so many museums. Few of them can succeed in keeping a balance between the protection of cultural heritage and urban expansion,” said Saint-Chamas.

Since China implemented its national policy of reform and opening up, urbanization has been accelerating for three decades, which brought great economic prosperity and in the meantime caused the imbalance between social development and protection of heritage. In recent decades, cultural property in China has been lost and damaged without an efficient management and immediate accountability system to protect it.

“In my country, the government makes systematic and strict laws to protect cultural and natural heritage. We’ve also been through many difficulties over the years. Our traditional culture and natural environment used to suffer from the aftermath of rapid urban expansion. But we learned from that and we’re now acting as a society to progress,” said Saint-Chamas.

During the swift urbanization of China, museums have had to deal with more intricate social challenges. They can’t stand alone against the tide of huge changes. Modern museums, like the Louvre, have already built up their financial systems and have completed social links, he said.

Editor: Jane Chen