Blending past with present

Some museums in China have turned to their collection of cultural relics for inspiration to design modern cultural products. In fact, some of these designs are quite popular with consumers. Finding the right traditional cultural elements to fit into profitable business models is the key to success. And the profit earned from the cultural industry can be used to protect the historical relics and spread traditional culture, says an article in China Youth Daily. Excerpts:

The Palace Museum in Beijing has designed an earphone in the shape of a coat bead, a kind of decoration for senior officials during the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911). And a Sichuan museum has made biscuits in the shape of bronze masks unearthed from the Sanxingdui ruins, said to be between 3,000 and 5,000 years old.

The innovative earphones and the biscuits have been lapped up by consumers. Consumers have said that they enjoy the happy marriage between history and consumer products, and that the designs are cool and convey rich cultural and historical meanings.