CRI听力:Virtual Museum Can Help Preserve Tibetan Culture: Expert

An international forum on the development of Tibet is now underway in the city of Lhasa.

Themed as the opportunities and choice facing Tibet, the two-day forum has drawn over 40 international observers to share their expertise on how to better develop China’s most underdeveloped frontier regions.

Among the hot issues being discussed at the forum is how to preserve and protect the intangible Tibetan culture, which could be at high risk of eroding away in the process of modernization.

Dr. Stephanie Tesio from the University of Ottawa, Canada brought forth the example of the Inuit people in Northern Canada and how their nomadic way of life and other intangible culture have been preserved through a “virtual museum”.

For more on the concept of this virtual museum and its potential application to help preserve the intangible Tibetan culture, CRI’s Hai Peng sat down with Dr. Tesio to file back this interview.

Questions:

1, one of the key arguments you made was that contrary to the common belief that modern technology essentially undermines and erodes a certain people’s traditional culture, it could actually work to facilitate the perseveration and inheritance of it, can you explain this?

2, you talked quite extensively on the concept of virtual museums and their advantages in more effectively preserving the indigenous people’s culture, can you tell us what exactly is a virtual museum and how it works?

3, Aside from giving access to the rest of the world to the learning of the intangible culture of the Tibetan people, what does this digitalization of their culture richness brings to their own communities?