2021年7月19日晚，曼彻斯特大学校长女爵士南希·罗斯韦尔教授为中国区校友举办了一场线上讲话，与广大中国校友分享了曼彻斯特大学近期的发展与收获，并与大家共同展望了未来曼彻斯特大学与中国更紧密的合作与联系，同时强调，面对危机，大学更应积极履行社会责任，发挥更大的社会价值。当晚，与南希·罗斯韦尔教授共同与中国校友见面的是全英最大的大学博物馆——曼彻斯特博物馆馆长Esme Ward教授。本篇带来曼彻斯特博物馆馆长Esme Ward教授发言稿:

• 很荣幸有机会与大家介绍李启鸿中华文化廊

• 它位于曼彻斯特博物馆正在进行的“你好未来”(Hello Future)博物馆扩建项目的中心，是英国领先和最大的百科全书式大学博物馆

• 超过450万件来自世界各地的文物，从考古学到动物学——人类文化和自然科学在同一个屋檐下

• 我们的使命是在不同文化之间建立理解，建立一个更可持续的世界。此项1400万英镑的项目将支持我们的愿景，使我们成为最具包容性、想象力和爱心的博物馆

• 我们相信，最好的博物馆，尤其是具有社会责任感的博物馆，不仅关心他们的藏品，也关心人、想法、信仰和关系

• 我们正在建造一个新的展览厅，一个与大英博物馆合作的南亚画廊，一个归属画廊，新的商店，咖啡店，祈祷空间和更多的厕所和设施

• 我们的整个顶层正在转变为教育工作者、环境慈善机构和研究人员的共同工作空间

• 在“你好未来”的中心位置，挨着南亚画廊的是李启鸿中华文化廊

• 李启鸿中华文化廊希望找到在曼彻斯特,英国和中国间的同理心和理解——我们认为它在解决偏见和提升认知和关于中国和中国人民的了解上有重要的作用, 将促进换位思考, 通过探索曼彻斯特和中国之间丰富的文化遗产的当代联系。李启鸿中华文化廊是曼彻斯特首个中华文化廊

• 我的同事、中华文化画廊负责人Bryan Sitch获得了为期一年的Hedley 基金用于研究曼彻斯特与中国之间的收藏和故事

• 基于与曼彻斯特大学曼彻斯特中国研究所和当地社区的密切合作，李启鸿中华文化廊将包括来自城市各地的罕见藏品，包括大学惠特沃斯美术馆和约翰·里兰兹图书馆的一些非凡藏品

• 在曼彻斯特，我们相信合作性的未来，这个画廊是一个集体的努力，是一个将许多对与中国和曼城华人社区合作感兴趣的曼大学者和组织聚到一起的绝佳机会

• 我们有一个跨学科的团队，与各种各样的在华合作伙伴合作，比如我们在国际友谊日的合作伙伴南京博物馆。它还包括大学的语言学家，包括多语曼城。画廊将使用多种语言

• 我们已经开发了一个在线翻译平台为展品翻译，汇聚参观者和社区力量(包括曼城中文补习学校)

• 这个画廊提供了一个独特的机会来强调合作并发挥英国最大华人社区，当然还有最大的中国学生群体作用，涵盖曼彻斯特和中国之间的研究

• 在李启鸿中华文化廊的中心位置，将会有一个聚会和活动的空间，这里将是曼彻斯特许多华人团体、社团和学生的中心。我们希望产生一种归属感

• 该博物馆有大量与学校的合作，将提供教学资源和培训项目

• 该画廊将不按时间顺序展示，而是采取主题方式，关注共同的价值观、关注和相互理解

• 应该承认英国和中国有几个世纪的紧张关系。教育公众了解我们共同的过去是很重要的。展览中相互关联的物品、叙述和档案的丰富性跨越了时间和地理的界限，将使我们能够建立联系

• 对中国文化遗产的参观者来说，希望这个画廊能够激发人们的认可和自豪感，同时也希望中国人民的贡献能够得到重视

主题是:

天堂、大地和灵性——我们如何共同生活在一片天空下?

• 我们将展示广泛的收藏，从美妙的天文学手稿到中国的行星图

• 曼彻斯特博物馆的风水指南针旨在探索中国的灵性和宗教信仰

自然世界

• 有哪些不为人知的连接英国和中国的自然界故事?

• 展示视觉上令人惊叹的收藏考古学，植物学和自然史；我们的植物标本馆在中国收集了超过2500个标本，我们与索尔福德布里奇沃特皇家园艺学会(RHS Bridgewater)有密切的合作关系，后者刚刚开放了一个独特的从中国获得灵感的中华河畔花园

纺织城

• 解释贸易和帝国的故事，它们让我们走到一起，展示从未见过的令人惊叹的丝绸纺织品，讲述鸦片战争的故事

身心灵

• 将探讨我们如何分享健康生活的方式，特别是随着我们年龄的增长，并基于年龄友好的研究合作和伙伴关系，以及我们的治疗传统和医学从彼此那里学到什么

保护环境

• 我们如何努力建设一个可持续发展的世界?

• 强调前沿的中英河道生物多样性，曼彻斯特博物馆是世界上第一个碳友好博物馆，正在与杭州的低碳博物馆建立合作伙伴关系

塑造大环境

• 解读毁灭前的北京颐和园, 借鉴曼彻斯特城市研究所与中国各地合作伙伴在可持续生活方面的工作

• 探索曼彻斯特和武汉的姐妹城市体验: 自1986年以来，曼彻斯特和武汉结为姐妹城市。最近，我们联合了两位艺术家，一位来自武汉，一位来自曼彻斯特，共同创作了一幅新的艺术作品，反映了他们的城市的本质和特点

• 武汉艺术家Daisy Chen，湖北美术学院研究生和曼彻斯特艺术家Jan Randen Bautista，曼彻斯特艺术学院毕业生，从各自的城市保持几个月的短信和信件交流

• 这里有一些博物馆自己的收藏，包括保存完好的风水指南针

未来……

• 为了让李启鸿中华文化廊更加精彩，我们最近聘请了获奖的诠释设计师——Image Makers，他们在中国各地都有丰富的工作经验，并以其戏剧性的身临其境沉浸感和人性化而闻名

• 我们已经等不及了——计划和策划会议(就像这次一样)来继续良好状态

• 我们有兴趣尽可能多地分享我们的研究和故事，并定期更新——关注曼彻斯特与中国之间的历史故事和链接

• 遗憾的是，我和我的同事们目前无法访问中国，但同时我们的藏品可以旅行。我们精彩的黄金木乃伊巡回展从美国到中国，近日，“遇见木乃伊”特展在北京中华世纪坛艺术馆拉开大幕，全部藏品出借自英国曼彻斯特博物馆，共107件古埃及文明的展品中，包括6具珍贵的黄金木乃伊、12件镀金彩绘木乃伊面具、珠宝首饰、陶罐、莎草纸文件等殉葬品，精彩、完整的目录翻译，是首次对世界上最好的希腊罗马木乃伊和肖像收藏之一进行世界巡演，让首都观众得以足不出户领略四大文明古国之一的古埃及历史悠久且最富神秘感的传统木乃伊丧葬文化

• 李启鸿中华文化廊和博物馆的其他部分将于2022年10月开放，我非常希望您能来参观。我们相信，如果我们做得对，将生活经验、研究和收集结合在一起将像炼金术一样，成就更大的同理心和理解，我们希望这就是我们现在正在创造的未来

Below for English speech script by Professor Esme Ward, Director of the Manchester Museum

• It is such a privilege to have this opportunity to talk to you about the Lee Hai Kung Chinese Culture Gallery

• It sits at the heart of  Hello Future, a transformational project for Manchester Museum, the UK’s leading and largest encyclopedic university museum

• Over 4.5 million objects from all over the world, from archeology to zoology - human cultures and natural science under 1 roof

• Our mission is to build understanding between cultures and a more sustainable world. This is £14 million pound capital project will support us in our vision to become the most inclusive, imaginative and caring museum you might encounter

• We believe museums at their best, especially socially responsible museums, don’t just care for their collections but for people, ideas, beliefs, relationships too

• We are building a new Exhibition Hall, a South Asia Gallery in partnership with the British Museum, a Belonging Gallery, new shop, café, prayer space and many more toilets and facilities

• Our entire top floor is being transformed as a co working space for educators, environmental charities and researchers who share our mission, but right at the very heart of hello future next to the South Asia Gallery sits the Lee Kai Hung Chinese Culture Gallery

• It  seeks to build empathy and understanding between Manchester, the UK and China - we believe it has a crucial role to play in tackling prejudice and developing awareness and knowledge of China and Chinese people it will promote perspective taking- by exploring the rich heritage and contemporary links between Manchester and China and is the first gallery devoted to Chinese Culture ever in Manchester

• My colleague Bryan Sitch, Curator of the Chinese Culture Gallery, was awarded a year long Hedley Fellowship to research collections and stories linking Manchester and China

• Developed in close collaboration with the Manchester China Institute at The University of Manchester, and local communities, it will include rarely seen collections from across the city including just some of the extraordinary collections held in store from across the University’s Whitworth Art Gallery and John Rylands Library

• In Manchester, we believe the future is collaborative and this gallery is a collective endeavour and a wonderful opportunity to bring the work of academics across the university campus together with the many organisations that are interested in working with China and with Chinese communities in the city

• We have an interdisciplinary team and are working with a whole range of partners in China. This includes in partners in China such as Nanjing Museum who we partnered with for the International Day of Friendship. It also includes linguists across the University including Multilingual Manchester. The gallery will be multilingual

• Already, we have developed an online storage translation platform for collections translations, crowd sourced among the visitors and communities (including Chinese supplementary schools across the city)

• This gallery presents an unique opportunity to highlight collaboration including research between Manchester and China and draw upon the largest Chinese diaspora community in England and of course the largest Chinese student population

• Right at the heart of Lee Kai Hung Chinese Culture Gallery, there will be space the gathering and activity within the gallery - a hub for Manchester’s many Chinese groups, societies and students. We want to engender a sense of belonging

• The museum is well known for its work with schools and there will be teaching resources and training programs to accompany the gallery

• The gallery will not be chronological display - instead it will take  a thematic approach with a focus on shared values and concerns and mutual understanding

• The history of Britain and China has had centuries of tensions that should be acknowledged.  Educating the public about our shared past will be important. The richness of the interconnected objects narratives and archives on display - which reach across time and geography will enable us to build connections.

• For visitors of Chinese heritage and want the gallery to inspire recognition and pride - and for the contribution of Chinese people to be valued

So the themes are:

HEAVEN EARTH AND SPRITUALITY -  how do we live together under one sky?

• We will we draw upon a wide range of collections from absolutely stunning astronomical manuscripts to Chinese planetary charts

• Feng Shui compass conserved at Manchester Museum to explore Chinese spirituality and religion in design

NATURAL WORLD

• What are the untold stories of the natural world that link Britain and China?

• A chance to draw upon the visually stunning collections archaeology, Botany and natural history our herbarium has over 2500 specimen collected in China and we have a close partnership with RHS Bridgewater in Salford who have just opened a unique Chinese-inspired Chinese Streamside Garden

TEXTILE CITIES

• Explaining the stories of trade and Empire that brought us together  from showcasing stunning silk textiles never seen before to telling the shameful story of the Opium Wars

CARING AND HEALING

• Will explore how are we share ways to live healthy lives, especially as we age, and draw upon age friendly research collaborations and partnerships and what our healing traditions and medicine have learnt from each other

PROTECTING THE ENVORONMENT

• How do we work towards a sustainable world?

• Highlight the cutting-edge biodiversity restoration in canals in China and Britain, and Manchester Museum is the world’s first carbon literate museum is building a partnership with the Low Carbon Museum in Hangzhou

SHAPING THE LANDSCAPE

• Opportunity to explain the summer palace in Beijing before destruction, to draw upon Manchester Urban Institute’s  work with partners across China on sustainable living

• Perhaps unsurprisingly an exploration of the twinning experiences of Manchester and Wuhan: Our 2 cities have you been twinned since 1986, we recently co-commissioned a new artwork from 2 artists one based in Wuhan and one in Manchester to reflect on their nature and character of their cities as they emerged from lockdown last year called Touching from a Distance

• Daisy Chen (Wuhan artist), graduate student from Hubei Academy of Fine Arts  and Jan Randen Bautista (Manchester artist) a graduate from Manchester School of Art sent messages and correspondence back and forth for several months - from their respective cities

• Here are some of the museum own collections including the conserved Feng Shui compass

Going forward …

• We have recently appointed Image Makers – award-winning interpretive designers. Image Makers are very experienced in working across China and known for their dramatic immersive and humanising

• We can’t wait for it to take shape – planning and curatorial meetings (like this one with students across the University) of building momentum

• We are interested in sharing as much of our research and narrative as possible and regularly post updates - with a focus on historical narrative and links between Manchester and China

• Whilst me and my colleagues are sadly unable to visit China of the moment, in the meantime our collections are able to travel.  Our extraordinary touring Golden Mummies Exhibition travelling from the USA to China - opening at Beijing World Museum the Chinese Millennium Monument in July 2021 – wonderful, fully translated the catalogue and first-ever world tour one of the world’s best collections of Greco Roman mummies and portraits

• The Lee Kai Hung Chinese Culture Gallery and the rest of the museum will open in October 2022 and I dearly hope you will visit. We believe that if we get it right, bringing lived experience, research, and collections together will be like alchemy and will encourage greater empathy and understanding. And that we hope is the future we are creating at this moment.