Emily Rafferty

A Ding

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Wherever you see Emily Rafferty, president emeriti of the Metropolitan Museum in America, at the UNESCO High-level Forum on Museums in Shenzhen, she’s surrounded by curators and reporters. Rafferty’s red suit and earrings perfectly matches her elegance.

Together with the British Museum in London, the Le Louvre Museum in Paris and the Elmi Tash Museum in St. Petersburg, the Met is considered one of the top museums in the world. No wonder Rafferty has become one of the spotlights of this forum.

During the forum, many curators represented by Markus Hilgert, director of the Pergamon Museum in Germany, highlighted the implementation of technology including VR and 3-D printing in museums. Rafferty is also an advocator of this trend.

“We do not consider technology as a threat to physical museums at all and I think technology can be appropriately used in developing museums. As the museum acts as an educational tool to influence the public, we should make the best use of technology to strengthen the educational function of museums,” she said.

In Rafferty’s eyes, technology also enhances international communication around the world. “Technology allows us to enlarge our partner circles and makes museum objects come alive to the public. Visitors can get access to the information and cultural background of the objects easier than before,” she said.

This is the first time for Rafferty to come to Shenzhen. “Shenzhen should play a bigger role by enhancing international cooperation between museums and protecting cultural diversity through the development of museums,” she said.

As for suggestions to curators in this young city, Rafferty believes in the power of firsthand experience and encouraged professionals in this industry to visit museums all around the world. “I think the best thing for your professionals to do is to travel around the world and see what is going on in those museums,” she said.

At the opening day of the forum, Rafferty said to the Shenzhen Daily that President Xi Jinping’s letter to the UNESCO forum on museums shows the government’s support for the development of museums.

Rafferty pointed out that the shared mission of museums is to mobilize global conscience to protect and promote the preservation of collections.

In terms of challenges faced by museums in today’s world, Rafferty thought funding, safety of collections, visitors and staff, political and natural disasters are the main concerns.

Editor: Jane Chen