Museum of Wu

Museum of Wu 吴中博物馆

The Museum of Wu is an over 18,000 square meter museum located in the Tantai Lake Scenic Area, on the south side of the Grand Canal (a World Heritage Site) and the Baodai Bridge (a national key protected cultural relic unit), dedicated to Wu culture. The Museum is committed to building a high-level and distinctive regional cultural complex, and aims to be a leading platform for the exhibition, research, and learning of Wu culture. The museum uses the cultural Wuzhong District, beautiful Taihu Lake, and poetic Jiangnan area as thematic guidelines to organize its exhibitions, education, public service, and more. In addition to the permanent and temporary exhibition halls, the museum also has public spaces such as the Education Center, Lecture Hall, Function Room, Shop, and Cafe. The overall arrangement aims to fulfill the functions of education and public service required for all modern museums. The first floor of the Museum is mainly used for temporary exhibitions, education, and public service, while the second floor is chiefly for permanent exhibitions. The two temporary exhibition halls on the first floor focus on the special exhibitions of Wu Land and Jiangnan culture, as well as rotating in exhibitions from both home and abroad. The second floor’s permanent thematic exhibition include the “Archaeological Surveys of Wuzhong” and “Ballads, Hymns, and Eulogies of Wuzhong”. Such exhibitions give comprehensive academic explanations of Wu culture and Wu Land culture. On its was to becoming a major cultural complex, the Museum of Wu not only houses antiquities and exhibits culture and art, but also serves as a space for public learning and communication by combining exhibition, education, cultural experience, and cultural consumption.

Field Trip Information

MEDIART 101 Introduction to Media and the Arts: Students were introduced to the architectural design of the museum, and some objects of interest in the displays. This visit to such a large museum full of artistic relics such as the above mentioned ballads, artifacts, and cultural pieces helped enrich students’ understanding of media and the arts by connecting it to the stories of historic artistry.