Reposted from: Chuang E Hui
Last time we discussed that the market for theme exhibitions is very large. For exhibition design companies, there should be confidence in transforming from subsistence-oriented enterprises into improvement-oriented enterprises. This brings up a question: as an exhibition design company, how should one do the work well and seize the market? If we regard a theme exhibition as an exhibit, then in my view the soul of this product is theme interpretation. Today we invite Mr. Ji Lude to discuss the path of theme interpretation.
Editor: When we talk about curating a theme exhibition, or what you call a concept exhibition, the term theme interpretation is unavoidable. Before discussing the path of theme interpretation, could you first explain what theme interpretation actually is?
Ji Lude: In 2007, during an event promoting the Shanghai World Expo, a very famous host said to me: If you were director of the Market Development Department or the International Liaison Department of the World Expo Bureau, I would know what you do. Now you say you are director of the Theme Interpretation Department, and I do not understand what this department does. Indeed, in my understanding, the term theme interpretation began with the Shanghai World Expo. We did not have this concept before. At that time, in preparing for the Expo, we learned from Japan's practice. Japanese Expo documents used the term Theme Development, and it was rendered into Chinese as theme interpretation.
Today, when discussing what theme interpretation is, we do not need to split hairs over the Chinese wording. I think it is more helpful to understand it from the English source. The word develop has two meanings. One refers specifically to developing an image, from invisible to visible, which can be understood as moving from abstraction to concreteness. The other is development and growth in the general sense.
Editor: In the curatorial context, can theme interpretation be understood as two steps: first, creating something from nothing, and second, growing something from small to large?
Ji Lude: From the viewer's side, developing an image is indeed a process from nothing to something. But the actual interpretation process is very complex. More precisely, it is a process of breaking open the topic and establishing the idea according to the nature of the project. At the beginning there is already a concept and a value judgment. It is not simply creating something from nothing.
Editor: Can these two steps be understood as planning and design?
Ji Lude: Precise definitions of industry terminology require a process. Personally, I think that compared with design, planning does emphasize breaking open the topic and establishing the idea more strongly. In fact, the term theme interpretation did not exist before, but exhibition design companies were still doing theme exhibitions. In that process, interpreting the client's concept was indeed completed by copywriters and planners.
Editor: But people now seem to have this view: real work depends on designers, while copywriters and planners merely perform decorative moves for clients and have no practical effect.
Ji Lude: Design is a form of creation that satisfies people's psychological and physical needs. But why design? Before design, there must be thinking. Generally speaking, design means shaping the form of a project whose goal already exists. Therefore, when many designers talk about exhibition project design, they talk about arranging visual symbols or changing object forms. They consider whether it should be Eastern or Western, avant-garde or traditional, simple or luxurious, close to the public or shocking, while giving little thought to the design goal, or assuming it has already been considered.
A concept exhibition is meant to disseminate certain values. Therefore, before concrete image design, there should be goal design. Why use these visual symbols? Why emphasize Eastern or Western style? Some may say that goal design is also the designer's work. That is understandable, but goal design has already gone beyond the traditional concept of design. In fact, it is planning. I once received a business card where planning was rendered as highlight. That is very good; it means pointing out the soul. Whether you call the process of analyzing and dissecting the goal planning or design, it is breaking open the topic and establishing the idea. Without this step, designers will have no coordinates for later work.
Let me give another example. In urban construction, planning and design are two concepts. Generally, planning concerns urban spatial layout, while design concerns individual buildings. Some people may say: I am a designer; I not only design buildings, but also design the spatial layout of streets and communities. This is urban design. But this only expands the concept of design. In reality, it is urban planning.
Editor: First determine, analyze, and dissect the goal, then do specific design. That is, as you said, first have a concept and then break open the topic and establish the idea. Will this lead to theme-first thinking? In fact, many projects do not have a clear goal at the beginning, and the pavilion name is determined only at the end. So where should one begin?
Ji Lude: Theme-first thinking has indeed been criticized by many people, and this is caused by history. In the past, due to needs of political management, the government issued creative signals with obvious orientation, requiring literary and artistic works to follow certain directions. Creators became exhausted, and society did not welcome it.
But this is not simply a methodological issue; value choice is also involved. Any work, including a comprehensive artwork such as an exhibition, certainly has a purpose before creation begins. From this perspective, I think theme-first thinking is unavoidable. What we should oppose is forcing certain ideas onto audiences, administrative intervention that does not understand art, especially attempts to use artists' creation to prolong the life of old ideas that have no vitality. This causes artists' resentment. But we cannot separate the vitality of a work from the soul of the work, nor can we deny the meaning of the work's soul. Many aesthetic studies point out that the vitality of literary and artistic works does not lie in ornate words or appearance, but in whether the work reflects life and resonates with people. Artists who label works Untitled, before creating them, do they truly have no feelings about life, no support for anything, and no opposition to anything?
Some also say: why make it so complicated? People who visit exhibitions are just looking for fun. But viewers may have a playful mindset; can the creators have the same mindset? Can you really play around and produce the project?
In addition, it is true that many projects do not have a very clear goal at the start, and the pavilion name is determined only at the end. But this refers to the specific expression. The idea is clear from the beginning. When one searches thousands of times for someone, before finding that person, the searcher already knows in the heart what that person is like.
Editor: So the first step of theme interpretation is breaking open the topic and establishing the idea.
Ji Lude: Roughly speaking, breaking open the topic means establishing a certain value. This establishment may be done first by the client and then understood by the service provider, or the client may not have established it and may establish it together with the service provider. Establishing the idea means, based on the result of breaking open the topic, organizing an exhibition main line centered on a certain value judgment.
In actual planning, however, breaking open the topic and establishing the idea are not sharply divided into first and second steps. Often, the idea is established while the topic is being broken open, and the two are integrated.
Editor: According to your analysis, as the first step of theme interpretation, breaking open the topic and establishing the idea are obviously critical. Could you discuss specifically how to do this?
Ji Lude: This is a topic with much substance. I very much hope planners in exhibition design companies can summarize together what they do first when they receive a project.
I will share some reflections.
First, if the client gives a topic, there may be multiple angles when we interpret it. Which angle to choose requires careful thought.
For example, waste is a resource in the wrong place. I think this sentence is not an idea but a concept, namely what waste is. It does not say what we should do and does not clarify a value judgment. This sentence can be interpreted from two angles. One angle is: do not throw waste away; if you put it in the right place, it becomes a resource. If one needs to create a Dagang waste treatment exhibition hall or a recycled materials exhibition, this angle can be adopted to spread the green concept of resource recycling. But there is another angle: any resource, if placed wrongly, becomes waste. Here, resources may be material resources or human resources. The client may of course borrow this sentence and require the exhibition to present a methodology, revealing that many awkward matters in the world arise from problems in our thinking.
Another example is people by the river. This is a scene. If a client gives this requirement in a project and asks designers to design it, what would you do? From what angle would you understand the topic?
People by the river has at least three angles. First, harmony with nature and comfort. In a pavilion showing the beauty of life, design from this angle. Second, people by the river easily get their feet wet. If it is an integrity and anti-corruption exhibition, interpret it from this angle. Third, the narcissus mentality, a little narcissistic. If the exhibition is about health, including physical and psychological health, understand it from this angle: one should often look into the river water and discover one's problems in time.
Editor: It seems that even if there are multiple angles, the client's project often helps us choose one.
Ji Lude: Yes. Understanding the client's intention is extremely important.
Second, it is necessary to understand the client's value requirements. Some projects have a clear nature, such as integrity exhibitions, historical memorial halls, and former residences of famous people, so they can have relatively clear task books. But if a small project sits under a large project, such as pavilions of participants in a World Expo or a specific project in a theme park, the sub-theme and idea of the small project must be determined according to the overall theme.
The client's values ultimately must conform to the mainstream social values of the time and focus on topics most people care about. For example, the Shanghai World Expo theme of cities and life considered that the world was passing the midpoint of urbanization. The theme of Expo 2017 Astana was Future Energy, and the theme of Expo 2020 Dubai was Connecting Minds, Creating the Future. These reflected the host countries' judgments about issues of concern to the international community.
In China's real environment, it is important to understand and value political lines and government policies. For example, when creating a pavilion in a coastal open city, one needs to understand the nature, theory, strategy, and achievements of national opening up. If creating an exhibition hall for the Shanghai Free Trade Zone, one must understand free-trade thinking, the policies China intends to adopt, and which issues have not yet reached consensus and therefore cannot be displayed. If creating a high-tech industry pavilion, one needs to understand industrial policy and which industries are currently planned for development.
If creating an Urban New Workers Theme Pavilion, one must correctly understand China's current urbanization phenomenon and the meaning of human modernization. One should not solidify peasants' identity or misuse the concept of migrant workers.
If creating a museum for a certain ethnic group, the client often gives only the name of the ethnic museum. Planners must understand the differences among race, nation, and ethnic group, and must have a certain view of ethnicity. The exhibition can present colorful culture, special customs, clothing, and interesting history. But if the interpretation is poor and the ethnic group is read as an independent social entity, political risks may arise.
Editor: In that case, planners need to know a great deal.
Ji Lude: Yes. Third, breaking open the topic and establishing the idea require knowledge support.
Planners need broad knowledge and relatively solid related theory. Planning is not a simple technical operation, and it must not contain hard errors. Especially for humanities and history museums, breaking open the topic must rely on professionals. For example, for the Along the River During the Qingming Festival exhibit in the China National Pavilion at the Shanghai World Expo, planners carefully studied Song history, consulted experts, made field visits to Kaifeng, and researched the various people, objects, houses, and streets in the painting. Without this research and knowledge support, how could the work be so full and so vivid?
Lack of knowledge can even create jokes in topic interpretation. There is a true story. In the late Qing imperial examination, Chinese and foreign political history were added to the content. One examiner asked candidates to compare Chinese and Western historical events with the essay topic Xiang Yu and Napoleon. At that time, all candidates did not know who Napoleon was. One candidate began by writing: Xiang Yu had the strength to pull up mountains; how could he be unable to lift a broken wheel? He then argued: if a wheel is already broken, it must be light; any ordinary man can lift it, so why use Xiang Yu? To use Xiang Yu to lift a broken wheel is a waste of great talent; a hero has no place to use his abilities, his strength cannot be applied, and the result is not evident. How can this be called knowing people and using them well? This is a deviation in topic interpretation caused by lack of knowledge: the intended comparison of tragic heroes in China and the West became a criticism of improper use of talent.
Editor: But there are many types of venues. Museums, science and technology museums, and planning halls require all kinds of knowledge. No team can master so much knowledge.
Ji Lude: Yes. No team can master all knowledge. The solution is, first, planners must have the ability to understand and organize information, namely learning ability and logical analysis ability. Second, for highly specialized venues, the client often organizes its own expert team, so the service provider needs to strengthen communication with that expert team.
Editor: At this point, I feel communication between the client and service provider is very important. You said just now that one must understand the client's project positioning and value judgment, but in actual work, the client often has no clear idea and is only a project investor. Moreover, Chinese and foreign clients differ greatly in project briefs. When we previously interviewed foreign pavilions at the Shanghai World Expo, we found that many foreign national pavilion organizers were very hands-off. During bidding, they sometimes gave only a few broad keywords as content guidance, such as green and sustainable, and later rarely interfered with the planning and design teams.
But in some Chinese projects it is not like that. Sometimes, although the tender document is simple, the project owner later makes many repeated changes and interventions. Do you think Chinese clients do not themselves clearly know what they want to display?
Ji Lude: Communication between client and service provider is very important. This is my fourth reflection. Sometimes the client has a clear theme; sometimes the client truly does not know what needs to be done.
But apart from exhibition projects launched blindly, especially projects hastily decided by administrative officials who want achievements during their term and launch projects for the sake of projects - these may die naturally during the planning period - apart from such projects, if an exhibition project has gone through feasibility study, then it exists for a purpose and has value needs. If the client is not very clear, the service provider can build consensus on project value through communication.
Editor: Indeed, sometimes the client has only a general idea and needs the service provider to infer it. After the service provider proposes a concept system, the client makes choices, agreeing with some and rejecting others.
Ji Lude: At that point, communication skills are key.
The China general manager of Landmark, a US company, once discussed this phenomenon. In an article titled Ten Reflections on Building Theme Parks in China, he said that one must actively guide while also waiting for the client's clear instructions, which requires superb balancing skills. In many cases, you cannot get the instructions you need for your work, so you must put forward guiding opinions until you and the client establish a common view and help them put forward requirements.
Editor: The service provider follows the client's original motivation to create a plan, lets the client gradually recognize the thinking in the plan, and then lets that thinking become the client's own requirement for the service provider.
Ji Lude: As for the difference you mentioned between Chinese and foreign clients' task books, I feel it may only be a phenomenon. A thick task book does not necessarily mean clear thinking. A foreign client's tender topic may be simple, but the client may have a range in mind. If the service provider exceeds that range or goes astray, the client will know. My fifth reflection on breaking open the topic and establishing the idea is that the client's identity characteristics must be fully considered. An enterprise image hall must conform to the enterprise's characteristics. A regional pavilion must, as much as possible, conform to the region's cultural and historical characteristics.
For example, the pavilions of provinces, municipalities, and autonomous regions at the Shanghai World Expo were without doubt displays of regional subcultures, rather than simply discussions of how cities make life better.
The theme of the Heilongjiang Pavilion was Ice and Snow Make Us Different. Initially they considered Urban Renewal, because Heilongjiang is a major resource province, but its three major resources - coal, forests, and oil - had begun to be exhausted. Later, perhaps because that topic was not suitable for display and was more suitable for a forum, they changed the angle of interpretation to the current theme. The coldest region in the country is, of course, different.
The theme of the Shanghai Pavilion was Everlasting New Horizon. Earlier ideas included Supreme Goodness Is Like Water and Inclusiveness Like the Sea. Because Shanghai is a city of migrants and emphasizes openness, water's openness and inclusiveness were used to describe Shanghai. Later, it was changed to Everlasting New Horizon, choosing another angle that seemed more enterprising. On the surface, this theme is contradictory: it wants to be everlasting and also new. This contradiction may reflect Shanghai's urban spirit better than water.
On the international stage, China's pavilions need to reflect Chinese culture. At this point, differences between Eastern and Western cultures must be considered. Chinese culture strongly emphasizes the struggle between good and evil and the role of conflicts among people in historical progress. The struggle between good and evil often runs through many stories. At Expo 2012 Yeosu Korea, among the pavilion films I saw from various countries, only the China Pavilion film presented conflict between good and bad people. All other films either discussed contradictions between humanity and the environment or praised the significance of the ocean to humankind. In fact, children's films such as Calabash Brothers, Black Cat Detective, and Havoc in Heaven are also full of struggles between good and bad people, with positive characters upright and stern. Whether such cultural characteristics are appropriate is another matter, but Chinese psychology always carries a desire for gratifying justice, with villains punished and good people ultimately rewarded.
Editor: At Disney in the United States, mice are cute. In China's Black Cat Detective, mice are villains.
Ji Lude: My sixth reflection is that establishing the idea requires systematic thinking. When designing the main line, specific content must be combined with the broader environment. One must not present a particular piece of content in isolation.
For example, in the former residence of a famous person, when introducing that person's deeds, the exhibition should use the era in which the person lived as background, so that visitors understand the environment in which the famous person emerged and where the person's fame lies. Chengdu Wuhou Shrine has a Three Kingdoms Museum. Starting from the background of division and unity among the Three Kingdoms, it introduces the politics, economy, culture, and military affairs of the period. Against such a background, people can easily understand why a figure such as Zhuge Liang appeared. Although the museum as a whole is somewhat thin because of limited exhibits and the display appeal is not strong, its main line is very clear. If visitors carefully read the texts in the museum, they can understand that period of history.
The Aurora Museum in Shanghai introduces jade, but it does not simply display jade objects. Instead, it introduces jade from the angles of material, craftsmanship, form, and pattern. Visitors can see jade processing, aesthetics, customs, and cultural accumulation in different periods, thereby gaining a three-dimensional understanding of jade.
The Shanghai Jewish Refugees Museum is a very unique venue. It reflects a special history and plays a very important role in China-Israel relations. Such a venue should not merely tell a few small stories that happened in Shanghai's Hongkou area at that time, and even less should it put photographs of Chinese and foreign dignitaries visiting the museum or the curator's personal curatorial reflections in prominent positions. Instead, it should combine the World War II background to express the kindness of ordinary citizens, a kindness shared around the world and of the greatest value.
The Daqing Museum in Heilongjiang begins with Wang Jinxi's family background, displaying the class hatred and national hatred of ordinary Chinese people at that time, and then turns its main line to show the hardships of industrial development in the early years of the People's Republic. Perhaps this serves educational needs. But the change in the fate of lower-class civilians during social turbulence and the difficulty of early industrial development are two main lines. If they must be placed together, the message becomes: after the poor stood up, they worked hard, and therefore industry could develop. But is this combination of display content and broader environment truly scientific and objective? Was the miracle of the Daqing Oilfield really created by the feeling of having stood up?
Similarly, when planning museums about farm tools, weddings, chopsticks, and similar topics, one should be good at connecting these specific objects with the social background that produced them. In other words, use the objects to tell the matter, rather than display the objects in isolation. If a place needs to create a rice, corn, or wheat museum, it should connect the crop with local social, economic, and cultural development; otherwise it becomes an agricultural knowledge exhibition.
Editor: It seems that breaking open the topic and establishing the idea require correct thinking methods and certain skills. They place high demands on curators and are not decorative tricks. I know that writing articles also requires establishing an idea. I think each World Expo has a different idea. For example, Expo 2010 Shanghai had the theme Better City, Better Life because China was undergoing intense urbanization, had many experiences and challenges in that process, and therefore used this theme to discuss the issue through the World Expo and learn from other countries' experience.
Expo 2015 Milan had the theme Feeding the Planet, Energy for Life because Italy is an agricultural power, agricultural development is an important national strategy, and its food culture is very rich and a major selling point. Could you be more specific and discuss breaking open the topic and establishing the idea for specific World Expo themes?
Ji Lude: The topic interpretation of the China Pavilion at the Shanghai World Expo went through repeated changes. The first interpretation was in the task book issued by the Expo Bureau in 2005. It was very simple, requiring the pavilion to reflect the combination of history and modernity, show Chinese people's contributions to human civilization, embody expectations and pursuits for the future, and organize Chinese elements. These words were very general and did not say what the China Pavilion was. At that time, there was indeed no experience.
Then, after the registration report of the Shanghai World Expo was approved, planning for the China Pavilion had a clearer expression: Millennium Capital, Silk Road, Beginning of the Century, Future China. Behind this expression was the idea that Chinese urban development has a very long history, so the topic was interpreted from the perspective of time. In the third stage, the term Chinese Wisdom began to appear. At that time, it was believed that as the host country's pavilion, the national pavilion should reflect Chinese wisdom, while the Theme Pavilions should reflect human harmony. Later, the China National Pavilion gradually became clearly defined as Chinese Wisdom in Urban Development. This was the result of breaking open the topic for the China Pavilion.
After the topic was broken open, what was the exhibition's main line? How should Chinese wisdom be reflected? Different ideas followed. The Shanghai Academy of Social Sciences proposed one plan: Chinese cities have five major functions - defense, market, ritual, land, and residence - meaning that Chinese cities have wisdom in military affairs, economy, culture, construction, and living. This was one exhibition main line.
Later, the concept was further clarified around the sixteen Chinese characters meaning self-improvement, great virtue bearing all things, learning from nature, and harmony in diversity. This was another idea and another main line. But it still discussed Chinese wisdom in isolation, without combining the birth of wisdom with its application. Why did such wisdom arise, and why should we discover and praise it today?
After further discussion, in August 2008 the main line later seen by visitors took shape. Contemporary China had encountered many difficulties during the peak of urbanization. In the words of some experts, if these difficulties had occurred in certain countries, they would have caused huge social turbulence and governments might have collapsed, but China did not experience major turbulence. Why? Because of Chinese wisdom. The planners of the China Pavilion established the idea and designed the main line from this angle. This main line could be specified at three levels of wisdom. On the 49-meter level, it mainly reflected the wisdom of the Chinese nation in resolving contradictions among people: people-oriented, harmonious development. On the 41-meter level, through displays of ancient and modern Chinese urban construction, planning, transportation, and landscape, it mainly reflected the wisdom of the Chinese nation in resolving contradictions between people and cities: harmony between humanity and nature, learning from nature. On the 33-meter level, it mainly reflected the wisdom of the Chinese nation in resolving contradictions between people and nature: taking with principles and using with restraint. These three pairs of contradictions corresponded to three Theme Pavilions: Urbanian, City Being, and Urban Planet. In the Theme Pavilions, contemporary humanistic ideas and scientific and technological achievements from around the world were presented; in the China Pavilion, the main display was the wisdom of the Chinese nation in facing these three challenges.
Editor: The theme of the Kazakhstan Expo was Future Energy. If you were planning it, how would you break open the topic?
Ji Lude: Kazakhstan's theme was Future Energy, with three sub-themes: clean energy, the 3R approach, and social equity. Its three values were very clear: meeting humanity's energy challenges with appropriate energy, an appropriate way of life, and appropriate relationships among people. None of these three kinds of appropriateness can be missing. We should establish the idea with this understanding. A good pavilion should fully reflect all three.
When interpreting this topic, it is best to understand the meaning of the United Nations concept of sustainable development: economic development, environmental protection, and social justice. These are the three pillars of sustainable development recognized by the international community. I believe Kazakhstan selected its three sub-themes with this in mind. When establishing the idea, one must find the logical relationship among these three pillars.
Editor: The theme of Expo 2020 Dubai is Connecting Minds, Creating the Future. I feel this theme is very abstract and broad. It does not talk about energy or the importance of water resources, although with the characteristics of a Middle Eastern country one might expect such themes. What is the relationship between this theme and the country's strategic development?
Ji Lude: Dubai's successful bid shows that its theme was approved by the Bureau International des Expositions. Personally, I think this theme is very smart. In what ways is it reasonable? It expresses concern about the current international environment. Undoubtedly, the theme of the Kazakhstan Expo was highly realistic, because humanity indeed faces an energy crisis. But the international community has long warned about the energy crisis, and the United Nations has held many meetings. Why has consensus still not been reached? The 2009 Copenhagen global climate conference argued for 13 days and ended without result. In December 2004, the Indian Ocean tsunami caused a great disaster.
At that time, some people said the main reason was insufficient cooperation among countries around the Indian Ocean and insufficient exchange of meteorological information. Put simply, conflicts of interest caused insufficient consensus in the face of crisis. Behind those conflicts was insufficient connection among different countries and cultures. People were not thinking about the same things, and therefore lacked common action in the face of common human crises. Whether energy, food, or the large-scale emergence of refugee issues, behind these problems is a lack of cooperation among countries. In other words, relationships among people are the prerequisite for all problems, including the relationship between people and nature. Dubai is located in the Middle East, neither East nor West, so it calls out to people: I am a hub connecting East and West; come here to communicate.
Editor: If you were a design company planning the China Pavilion for Expo 2020 Dubai, where would you begin establishing the idea?
Ji Lude: The main line of the China Pavilion at Expo 2020 Dubai would certainly follow two principles. First, it must have international thinking and values with which the whole world can agree. Second, it must tell Chinese examples. Connecting minds means communication in culture. Why has China not fallen apart for thousands of years? Why is China the only civilization in the world that has not been interrupted? Since Qin Shi Huang, writing has been standardized and cart tracks unified. This is the foundation. With this foundation, the Chinese nation has continuously integrated. If there had never been common thinking or values accepted by all, there would be no Chinese nation today. Stories can be told one by one from this perspective.
Editor: After breaking open the topic and establishing the idea, after explaining the concept and forming the exhibition main line, is the next step design? That is, the next step is designing the logical structure of the exhibition main line and then enriching it with content.