A new partnership between Museums Victoria and Chengdu's biggest museum could open the doors to joint exhibitions that take Victorian and Chinese history around the world.
Yesterday in Chengdu, Premier Jacinta Allan joined leaders at Chengdu Museum to witness the signing of a five-year Memorandum of Understanding and launch a new golden era of cultural exchange.
The Chengdu Museum in the capital of Victoria's sister-state of Sichuan Province is home to nearly 200,000 treasures spanning the Neolithic period through to the Republic of China.
It has won countless national awards in China, and its five-storey galleries vividly tell the story of the ancient Shu civilisation - one of China's richest cultural legacies.
Victoria's partnership with the museum now opens the doors to shared projects and exhibitions that could unite the Museums Victoria collection with ancient artifacts, refined calligraphy, traditional paintings and relics that narrate Sichuan's past.
The partnership is also set to boost research collaborations, digitisation projects, staff exchanges and professional training, bringing people and their expertise together.
Museums Victoria, Australia's largest public museum group, draws more than two million visitors each year to Melbourne Museum, Immigration Museum, Scienceworks and the Royal Exhibition Building - while caring for a collection of more than 15 million items.
Chengdu itself is world-famous as the home of the giant panda, recognised by UNESCO as a City of Gastronomy for its Sichuan cuisine and hotpot, and celebrated for its teahouses and laid-back lifestyle.
In Victoria's China Strategy, creative industries is a sector that sets Victoria apart.
Launching the strategy in Beijing this week, the Premier said, "we want more partnerships with China's cultural institutions - and a KPI for my visit is to return home with a new one."
Sichuan province has a population of approximately 83.4 million people and is one of the fastest growing Chinese economies with a GDP of $1.24 trillion in 2023.
As stated by Premier Jacinta Allan
"Museums mean visitors and visitors mean jobs."
"Let's bring together thousands of years of Aboriginal civilisation with thousands of years of Sichuan culture."
"Half a million Victorians have Chinese ancestry - I want our museums to tell that story, too."
As stated by Acting Minister for Creative Industries Danny Pearson
"Victoria is the arts capital of the nation - and this deal proves it. Our museums are world-class, and now they're going global."
As stated by Lynley Crosswell, Chief Executive Officer, Museums Victoria
"We are delighted to sign this agreement with Chengdu Museum - focusing on advancing academic and cultural exchange. A partnership like this highlights the important role museums play as custodians of heritage and as platforms for international collaboration."
