Telling a story from painting to pixel
Telling Images of China is an exhibition of early modern and modern paintings from one of the world's finest collections of Chinese art - the Shanghai Museum. The thirty-eight figural works were selected by a team of curators, including Professor Shan Guolin and Mr Ling Lizhong of the Shanghai Museum, and Dr Shane McCausland of the Chester Beatty Library, Dublin. They include scrolls and albums by artists - both pre-eminent and obscure - active in the Ming (1368-1644) and Qing (1644-1911) dynasties, and the twentieth century.
A guided tour of the exhibition was written and recorded by Dr Shane McCausland. This audio visual guide was available on kiosks at the exhibition and on iPod mobile devices - allowing visitors to listen to descriptions and background information on each work while viewing the actual painting. The entire exhibition was also made available on the Library's website to allow visitors to prepare before visiting the exhibition or to re-cap on details of the individual works after visiting the exhibition.
This is the first exhibition in Ireland to develop an interactive guide to the exhibition and to make this available on the web, on mobile audio visual devices and on interactive kiosks in the exhibition.
Dr Michael Ryan, the Director of The Chester Beatty Library, is always looking for ways to enhance the visitor experience and has been the first director of an Irish national cultural institute to embrace the use of digital technologies in a museum and exhibition space.
You can view the online version of the kiosk interactive at www.cbl.ie/china