互动与融合：构筑参观者与博物馆藏品沟通的桥梁（英文）

邢宇晨 李骜

摘 要：盡管从“以物为中心”转向“以人为本”的市场、公众、社会导向型机构，博物馆仍需立足藏品及其背后承载的文化价值，更好地服务社会、开展工作。从前期的情感沟通、视觉手段介入、多重感官调动等方面提升参观体验，构筑参观者与博物馆藏品沟通的桥梁，为中国博物馆具体实践操作提供多重、高效的可行性方案。

关键词：参观者 藏品 情感沟通 感官调动

Abstract Transforming from object-focused institutions to market-oriented， social-cared organizations， "real" objects still play a role in the inner core of a museum. This essay was undertaken to build and improve visitors' engagement with objects and clarify the reason of why those measures can succeed in museums. It then gave a clue to museums for building engagement in a more effective and comprehensive way， such as engaging before met， using visual assistance， and mobilizing all senses. Furthermore， this paper also illustrated with examples and designed some engagement activities using the real objects in museums.

Keywords visitors， objects， emotional communication， sense mobilize

0 Introduction

Although it is inevitable for museums in the new era to transform from object-focused institutions to market-oriented， social-cared organizations， objects still play a core role in the museum operation. An object， which bears many primary sources， is more convincing than any other secondary sources， such as research and records from the later time. Moreover， it could bring many actual benefits directly to visitors， such as producing good feelings， promoting aesthetic appreciation or bridging sense of identity.

However， visitors may be distracted by the rich world outside of the museum or the advanced technologies inside the museum and be robbed of the wonderful feeling of the "real" object. For that reason， museums have to try their utmost to encourage their visitors， especially the independent visitors， who are not limited by time or the group they are with， to engage with the object itself. To reach those goals， museums have to recognize that the "object itself" not only includes the physical appearance， but also the long history and profound cultural accumulation inside the object. In addition， without working with assistances， museums cannot promote visitors' engagement only by using the object itself. Hence， museums have to use whatever tools they have to help objects attract visitors' attention and to better present themselves.

Accordingly， this paper begins with the interpretation of the "objects themselves" and the feasible measures of the engagement with objects， followed by the major part of this paper which analyses the measures of facilitating independent visitors to engage with the objects and the reason why it could be achieved in museums.

1 Objects themselves

First of all， it is necessary to outline the "objects themselves". An object is an emotional agent， and can be "a thing， an intention， or a target for feelings or actions".[1-2] Moreover， objects can represent not only simply the visible material things， but also disembodied forms as well. Hence， an object already breaks away from the material crust and covers both visible and invisible forms of things. However， though there are many studies concerning the definition of an "object"， no final conclusion about what is the meaning of the "object itself" have been asserted yet.

Sandra Dudley mentions her experience of looking at a Chinese ancient bronze horse from Han Dynasty in her book and believes that the feeling of that object is "entirely as a result of its material characteristics" because she has no special knowledge of that kind of objects before.[3] It is true that the physicality of an object is powerful and indispensable， but the history and other intangible attribute of an object are also parts of the object itself. The reason of this is that if an object were excluded from its own history and culture， it would just be like a shiny box without a soul inside.

Continuing with the case of the Chinese ancient horse， this bronze object witnessed the changes of dynasties and bears as much wisdom as human beings through the years it spent by itself. However， without the patina and the history behind it， that horse is just like a coppery colour statue which can be bought anywhere. Moreover， if cultural heritage does not end at monuments and collections of objects， but also includes "intangible" and non-material dimensions， why should we separate stories from the object itself in a museum？ Hence， museums should break away from the superficies of the engagement of objects and build deep connection with the self-spirit of an object.

2 Creating engagement

For visual effect， museum sometimes despises the value of an object itself by using it like a storytelling assistive tool. For example， most museums scatter richly woven textiles， cowries shells and unusual coins throughout displays about trade across cultures and history， but never explore it in themselves. Those items' own particular epistemological or narrative potential may lie unexplored and unrevealed forever[3].

It is true that every object that has been going through the test of the time has its own power to grasp the visitors' attention. However， constraints do exist. Level of visitors' attentiveness， which drop off over time， and limited exhibition space all determine that museums cannot cover every single object in their exhibitions. They have to shove objects into big narratives. Nevertheless， it does not mean the object itself cannot be engaged with by visitors. Museums can be relied on to regularly replace the theme of exhibitions and make sure that visitors can engage with each object in different times.

Moreover， the engagement of objects themselves actually can start before the moment when visitors physically step into the museum. Museums can work effectively to encourage participation by telling visitors that they could engage within the museum， such as sending out flyers to potential visitors and using traditional media and new media to show their accessibility and approachability. In addition， visitors can engage with the objects themselves more if they have prior knowledge and thoughts[4-5]. Hence， the engagement is not just an action when visitors face the real thing. It is a process which starts before they meet and will not end after they have separated.

After visitors arrive， the museum also needs to use exhibition environment and aid tools to help them engage with the objects. Some scholars say that environmental assistance are very often， more harm than good， and museums should "abandon every interpretive program"[6]. However， museums should insist on using those measures to catch visitors' attention as well as make objects more clear. Furthermore， those measures are just the harbinger of the object. Museums still have to focus on strengthening the main attraction of the engagement： the object itself. A museum can facilitate visitors to participation by explaining objects' own stories and material characteristics， and mobilize the various senses of visitors， such as sight， smell， touch， taste， and hearing， to engage with the objects themselves.

3 Engagement measures

The measures， which may facilitate independent visitors to engage with the objects themselves in museums， can be discussed in three parts： the preparation before visitors arrived， the visual assistance of tools and the mobilization of various senses of objects after visitors step into the museum.

3.1 Engaging before met

If museums want to lead visitors to engage with the object itself， only to changing the form of the exhibition is not enough. It should start before visitors arrived. The reason for this is that visitors will engage more with those objects if they step into the museum with interests and knowledge of the objects themselves. It could reduce the sense of distance and let visitors become more involved in the communication with objects.

However， most of museums today in China does not focus on promoting their objects to the public， but more likely to draw their attention by holding forums or events. In addition， official websites are very light in content： pictures are small and watermarked in a way makes them unclear; the texts are blunt and simple and there are no audio or videos about the exhibitions and the objects. Taking the Tang West Market Museum as an example， in 2017， it became the first and only non-state-owned museum being rated as a national first-class museum at the time in China. However， on the official website of the museum， there are only 14 object records， visitors can not have a clear look at any of them. All pictures are small with low resolution， and some are also watermarked or with no details and extra introduction[7]. It may lead to a negative impact， and people may not be interested in physically getting close to the objects or cannot build awareness of those objects before they step into the museum.

In order to change this situation， museums could create a bond between objects and visitors and let potential visitors feel acceptance and closeness. For example， they can provide an online "eye opening tour" to introduce their objects. Using three-dimensional images， vividly demonstrated words， audio and videos， research and field data of their important objects， museums could provide different levels of engagement activities for their independent visitors. Moreover， museums could create some animated film for their objects， just like the Palace Museum in Taipei which makes many treasures come to live by designing animated films.

Museums could also design some online games for their potential visitors， as what the British Museum is doing right now， to immerse a visitor himself in objects in recreational activities. For instance， on the British Museum's website， children could get close to the objects' physical characteristics in the "Little or Large" game （Figure 1） and the "Piece by Piece" game by comparing their height with the objects and piecing them together. Learning from this， museums could use their unique and exquisite objects motivating visitors' initiatives. In particular， the target participator should not just be limited in children， but also include adults.

Furthermore， museums can also let independent visitors learn about objects through the agency of the media. Both mass media and new media can be a route of transmission， knowledge on the objects can spread rapidly around the public. Social media， such as Facebook， Twitter and Weibo， is also a good platform for visitors getting object knowledge as well as being able to discuss those objects with staff from the museum and other visitors.

3.2 Using visual assistance

Apart from measures outside the museum， using an exhibition environment to create an ambiance and an appropriate amount of assistance is also needed， thus visitors can engage with the objects themselves. The clarity of the exhibition environment is a significant part among the rest. It allows visitors to concentrate on what matters - engaging with collections and creating their own meanings - rather than trying to work out what is going on.

Hence， for a better engagement， museum needs to provide orientation for their visitors and create coherence between the environment and objects. In addition， visitors may suffer from "museum fatigue" physically and mentally， and lose their concentration on objects themselves. Therefore， museums should also control the display rhythm in a flexible way. For instance， they can use different kinds of showcases and variable exhibition route to change the mood of visitors and keep their attention focused on objects.

Light is a useful tool to draw visitors' attention to the object. A lit path in a relatively dark environment with the spot light on the object can become an effective way of attracting visitors' eyes to the object itself. In addition， the light can also affect visitors by conveying a mood. Light from different angles may create different effects. For instance， side lighting could highlight the texture and the outline of an object. While a bunch of light from the bottom of an object makes people feel heaviness from the object. Hence， museum could create different atmosphere and emotional appeal according to different types of objects. For example， they can use footlight to show ritual bronzes， and sidelight to illustrate jades as well as ivory and bone carvings. However， an issue need to be addressed is the reflection should be prevented， because even though it is easy to deal with， it is still a common problem in many museums. For example， in the ancient Egypt exhibition of the New Walk Museum in Leicester， a pottery bowl is totally occluded in the big square spot. This kind of issue， severely impact visitors to engage with the objects themselves， should be solved as early as possible.

Moreover， other assistance， such as magnifier， plane mirror and even a simple vitrine with four-sided glass can help visitors to engage with the objects. For instance， museums in China in particular， should use magnifiers to enlarge jade silkworms， jade cicadas and other small objects. They should also set plane mirrors to show the back or bottom of objects， which are vitally important in both front and back （or top and bottom）. The independent showcases， of course， are indispensable tools. Those vitrines encourage visitors to engage with the object by moving around it.

The lack of context may also lead visitors to misunderstand an object. Even though some museums start to spread objects' knowledge ahead of arrival， visitors still need texts and pictures to help them to engage with objects in a right way. However， the communication of labels in the museum， always just gives brief and general information. Hence， rather than the direct and unemotional words， museums need to use vivid words and images as the tools for the engagement of objects. The advantage of this approach is that the contexts， which are composed of pictures and texts， may draw visitors' attention to the detail of object， and drive their bodies to engage with the object by following their eyes moving from objects to pictures and texts， and back again.

Furthermore， it is necessary for museums to attract and inspire visitors to obtain what they want from the objects by texts. One of the effective ways to achieve this mission is to use questions. The New Walk museum performs well in this aspect. For example， it places some leading questions on texts， such as "Can you guess...？" and "If you were..." to encourage visitors to think about the objects in their own way. It is useful for museums to ask such open-ended questions to their visitors and to inspire them to find their own answers about the object.

Hence， concerning about zodiac tomb figurines for example， museums could ask "Why has his well-preserved joint tomb only got ten figurines of the Chinese zodiac？" "Can you find which two pieces are missing？" and "What do you think about the missing pieces？" Besides， a creatively written label is also useful for museums to encourage visitors to engage with the objects themselves. Taking a creative label about a black-glazed tea bowl as an example：

I am a black-glazed tea bowl. In the past， I felt terribly lonely when nobody drank tea from me for ages. But since I have been here things everything has changed. I have found my place. I am here for you.

Many people look at me and see different things depending on their personality and mood. My yellow decoration reminds them of fire， a gigantic explosion. Then it's only disease， death， noting - Apocalypse. But…the yellow imprint is in a leaf shape. So， there is still hope for new life. What about you？ What do you feel when you look at me？ [8]

Using anthropomorphic words to give life to an object， this measure worth being implemented by museums. However， museums should control the level of those tools， and cannot let those assistance detract visitors from objects themselves. For example， it may have baneful influence of the information covered wall which is inside the showcase， and the touch screens in front of the showcase. It is true that most museums are facing this kind of issue， and those assistance may indeed reduce the visitors' attention to the objects[9]. However， completely removing the detracting tools is impractical， but the museum must minimise the detracting tools or adjust those things in order to draw visitors' attentions to the objects themselves， such as to move the texts outside the vitrine.

3.3 Mobilizing all senses

The aforementioned assistances are mainly to help the visitors to engage with objects by their visual sense. Nevertheless， "sight is the least personal of the senses".[2] Independent visitors can get intuitive feelings of some objects' quantitative and qualitative information， such as the height， colour and shape by their eyes， but they can neither feel the weight of an object nor hear or smell it. Moreover， appearances can be deceptive. For example， a cane may look heavy， but actually， it can be very light. Hence， the museums should give visitors the opportunity to smell， hear， touch， feel and engage all their senses in appreciating the objects themselves.

Regarding to the measures of improving the engagement of visitors' sense of smell in the museum， for instance， when looking at the Indonesian fish men's cauldrons， museums can let their visitors smell sea cucumbers. As a result， visitors may gain more subtle engagement with the object itself. Hence， displaying an incense burner which is common in a Chinese museum exhibit line， which can effectively be fulfilled by letting their visitors "smell" it. Museums could recreate ancient perfumes used by ancient nobilities on the basis of literatures， and use it around the showcase.

The engagement of taste and hearing for visitors can also be improved in museums. The museum could ask musicians to play the instruments which are displayed， and use multi-media tools to record the music and play it around the object itself. For example， the visitors could hear the ethereal sounds of the Xun （Chinese ocarina）， which is the earliest wind instrument in China， and the deep sounds of bronze bells， which represents the power of ancient nobilities. Museums can also recreate the ancient wine and pastry according to the literatures and unearthed pastries， and let visitors to feel the ancient taste. The taste may not comfort the visitors， but it must be a memorable experience. It gives the chance for visitors to engage with the objects themselves deeply.

Visitors can only remember 10% of things they hear， 30% of reading activities， 50% from sense of sight， but 90% of what they do. It is true that， as many museums claim on their texts， many objects are vulnerable， and "over time， natural oils and dirt from our hands can damage even the strongest stone" （the label in the British Museum）. However， it does not mean visitors cannot feel the texture of an object. Independent visitors for example should be allowed to use their fingers to feel the stitches on copied brocade while they are looking at the original object. Museums can also use height adjustable flat glass showcases to exhibit the delicate necklaces， vest pendants， crotch straps and dresses， and put a mirror opposite them. Independent visitors can stand behind the showcase and adjust the glass case to the right height of them and enjoy their new look in the mirror.

Nevertheless， those measures may be useful， but it is not enough for the visitors to engage with the objects themselves. The most essential and important sensory system is skin. Touch creates the direct connection between the object and the visitors' skin， and gives visitors the opportunity to examine the real object[10]. Hence， it is a necessity for museums to let visitors touch objects， or move a step further： to use an object as whatever it has been used before. With well trained staff or volunteers， museums could achieve this goal. There are many successful cases of hand-on activities. For example， the British Museum provides daily hands-on activities for free in many galleries， such as the Living and Dying Gallery， the China and Southeast Asia Gallery， and the Roman Britain Gallery. Independent visitors can join in whenever they want between 13：00 and 16：00 and without booking in advance. Picking objects up， turning them around to see them from every angle， the hand-on activity can give independent visitors a better engagement with objects.

Moreover， beyond touching an object， using it is the ultimately perfect experience for an independent visitor. The most useful way is to use them. A museum can facilitate the visitors to engage with objects themselves. La Roche writes about the experience of handling an ancient mirror in the British Museum. She recalls that， it makes her connect with the original user and image the scene of many years before， a Greek or Roman lady surveyed herself in front of the mirror[11]. Hence， through using the object in the museum， visitors can engage with the spirit of the object itself， establish an intimacy with the antiquities and bring it back to real life.

Combining their own collection with the rich ancient culture， museums in China could create unique experience for visitors. For instance， there are many ancient instruments in museums. Bronze bells for example are common in Chinese museums， but no museum allows their visitors to touch or play them. To facilitate engagement， museums could set a precedent in this area. By striking them， each of bells could generate two tones. There is also a groove which could control the level of the tones inside the bell. Visitors can know more internal knowledge of those objects only by striking and turning them over. Moreover， it is a necessity to play the bells by visitors themselves because the Chinese ancient music （before the Warring States Period） just has five tones （without two halftones）. Visitors could enjoy the engagement process and try to explore the missing tones.

Other than bronze instruments， bronze mirrors for example can also create special experiences for visitors， especially with those inlaid shells. What is unique about these kind of mirrors is the front of it is plain coloured but the back is decorated by seashells， and both sides of the mirror were polished. To look at it， visitors may be attracted by the embossing images which cause the rich three-dimensional sense. However， it feels smooth in reality. Hence， museums can give visitors the chance to examine what they thought and use it to image the years it spent by allowing visitors to touch and use it. Based on many intangible cultural heritages， independent visitors could also use ancient clay mould to create a figure or use glazed pottery abacus-beads to play a counting game.

4 Conclusion

This essay was undertaken to build and improve visitors' engagement with objects and clarify the reason why those measures can succeed in museums. It provided a clue to museums to help them build the engagement in an effective and comprehensive way. It started with the discussion of the objects themselves which are not confined to the physical appearance， but also can be engaged with the inner meaning. It was then， laid out the measures in general and especially asserted that the engagement process must start before visitors met the objects. In addition， assistance should be used in an acceptable range to improve the engagement， and the museum should mobilize all the senses of visitors to feel the object itself. It also designed some engagement activities using real objects in museums. Introducing the media measures， using internet effectively and mobilizing sight， hearing， smell， taste， touch and all kinds of sense， museums in China can finally achieve its goal to engage their independent visitors with the objects themselves. However， the discussion of the "objects themselves"， the effect of an assistance towards objects and the balance between the engagement and conservation will never come to an end. The "making objects as a tool" （especially in the area of ancient instrument in China） has not been widely used yet. Hence， those questions should all be considered and examined in practice in the future.

References

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[2]Eilean Hooper-Greenhill. Museums and the interpretation of visual culture[M]. New York： Routledge， 2000.

[3]Sandra H. Dudley. Encountering a Chinese horse： Engaging with the thingness of things[M]// Sandra H. Dudley. Museum objects： Experiencing the properties of things. London： Routledge， 2012： 1-15.

[4]Graham Black. The engaging museum： Developing museums for visitor involvement[M]. London： Routledge， 2005.

[5]Helen Sanderson， Alice Cruickshank， Eugene McSorley. The eyes have it： Eye movements and the debatable differences between original objects and reproductions[M]// Sandra H. Dudley. Museum materialities： Objects， engagements， interpretations. London： Routledge， 2010： 89-98.

[6]Karen Nyberg. Some radical comments on interpretation： A little heresy is good for the soul[J]. On Interpretation， 1984（1）： 151-156.

[7]Tang West Market Museum. Recommendation[EB/OL]. （2019-05-16）.http：//www.dtxsmuseum.com/news_pic_list.aspx？category_id=30

[8]Wing Yan Vivian Ting. Dancing pot and pregnant jar？ On ceramics， metaphors and creative labels[M]// Sandra H. Dudley. Museum materialities： Objects， engagements， interpretations. London： Routledge， 2010： 189-203.

[9]Helen Saunderson. "Do not touch"： A discussion on the problems of a limited sensory experience with objects in a gallery or museum context[M]// Sandra H. Dudley， Amy Jane Barnes， Jennifer Binnie， et al. The thing about museums： Objects and experience， representation and contestation. London： Routledge， 2012： 159-170.

[10]Yi-Fu Tuan. The pleasures of touch[M]// Constance Classen. The book of touch. Oxford： Berg， 2005： 74-79.

[11]Constance Classen. Touch in the museum[M]// Constance Classen. The book of touch. Oxford： Berg， 2005： 275-291.

作者簡介：邢宇晨（1990—），女，从事博物馆展览策划工作，E-mail： yxing5@126.com。