Hungarian lives and breathes museums
Print Edition
Steven Back, a Chinese-speaking Hungarian who has lived in Shanghai for nearly two decades, has visited more museums in China than most Chinese.
鈥淚 don鈥檛 remember the exact count, but it is definitely over 1,000,鈥 he told Shanghai Daily after returning from a tea museum in Lishui, east China鈥檚 Zhejiang Province.
鈥淟ishui is the second tone rather than the fourth tone commonly pronounced with the character Li. Did you know that?鈥
Back鈥檚 frequent visits to museums throughout China stem from his role as CEO of Shanghai-based Back & Rosta, which specializes in cultural digitization and intelligent museum solutions. He is also the Hungarian National Museum鈥檚 general representative in China.
These two roles have given him the unique opportunity to see, and in many cases participate in, the development and growth of China鈥檚 museums while also working with many others across the country.
鈥淐hinese museums have developed so fast in the last 10 years or so, and they have a very high standard and requirement for digitization since they launched the Smart Museum initiative in 2012,鈥 he said.
鈥淐hina is very much at the forefront of museum digitization.鈥
He has also worked on numerous international collaborations with Chinese museums, including an ongoing exhibition at Hungary鈥檚 M贸ra Ferenc Museum in Szeged.
鈥淭he Jade Armor of Immortality 鈥 Treasures of Han Period China鈥 exhibits 111 fine artifacts from the Han Dynasty (206 BC-AD 220), including a full-body jade armor used in emperors鈥 burials, as well as other jade objects, lacquerware, ceramics, bronze wares, seals, stone carvings and coins.
When the exhibition opened at midnight on Hungary鈥檚 Museum Day in the summer, it drew about 10,000 people on the first day.
The exhibition will travel to another Hungarian city after Szeged, with more European cities planning to host it.
鈥淗an Dynasty marked a period of remarkable economic and cultural prosperity and the birth of the ancient silk road,鈥 Back said. 鈥淚t was also a time for lavish funeral rituals.鈥
The exhibition is an international collaboration that includes several Chinese museums and institutes, including the Shanghai Museum.
Shanghai Museum 鈥渋s the best professional museum in China in terms of international collaboration, international reach and research,鈥 he said.
鈥淚t has very deep knowledge and years of scientific research on preservation. It also has many creative artifacts in the museum shops 鈥 among the earliest to have creative souvenirs in the shop. Now there are many great ones across the country.鈥
It was at the 2010 World Expo Shanghai that Back created an early version of a smart guide to museums for mobile phones.
鈥淚t was so crowded, and all the countries wanted to show their best cultural products to the visitors in a short period of time,鈥 he said.
鈥淪o it had to be very efficient. We worked with many national pavilions to create a smart guide.鈥
The Hungarian first visited Shanghai in 2004 for a research project on intercultural relationship 鈥 why culture differs from each other. Without much knowledge about China, he stayed for a few months, only to find the country more mysterious and intriguing.
鈥淚 lived close to the Hungarian National Museum, so it was natural for me to be interested in history and culture. You can explore so much in China and for the many similarities and differences we have. I never get bored,鈥 Back said.
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