BRICS documentary highlights member museums

A stone carving on display at the Liangzhu Museum in Hangzhou Photo: VCG

Ahead of the BRICS summit 2023 to be held on Tuesday in Johannesburg, South Africa, the trailer of History Illuminates the Future: My Museum Story, a documentary jointly produced by the five BRICS countries, has recently been released to show how "local museums" can reflect cultural diversity in Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa - the chair country of the year. 

Set to be distributed by China Global Television Network (CGTN) on its channels on  platforms like YouTube, the upcoming production tell the stories of five unique museums in BRICS countries such as the world's first museum dedicated to space culture - Russia's Konstantin E. Tsiolkovsky State Museum of the History of Cosmonautics. 

Aiming to walk viewers through BRICS countries' "major contributions to the world's human attainments," the documentary, according to cultural sociologist Chu Xin, tries to show a particular story through each museum from the BRICS countries. 

While the achievement of the world's first human heart transplant surgery will be displayed through the story of the South African museum, the episode about China depicts the country's 5,000 years of cultural consistency by introducing Hangzhou's Liangzhu Museum. The episode will show the transformation of the Neolithic  Liangzhu site's beauty from a depiction of history to a presentation of modern aesthetics fulfilled in the Hangzhou Asian Games' torch design. 

The City Palace Museum and Inhotim Museum will respectively appear in the Indian and Brazilian episodes, during which the importance of "sustainability" and "nature balance" in the cultural sector will be highlighted. The Indian museum is evidence of the sustainable use of a country's cultural legacy as it dwells upon the 450-year-old Palace. Compassing a botanical garden, Brazil's Inhotim Museum is the world's most famous outdoor art facility. 

Chu told the Global Times that there are differences with time and space, these museums are highlights of the "deep roots of civilization" that gave birth to BRICS countries' "localized cultural characteristics." 

"BRICS countries' diversity and convergence are like the multi-colored radiance of a rainbow, Anil Sooklal, ambassador of Asia and BRICS at the Department of International Relations and Cooperation, once said to describe the interaction between the five BRICS countries. 

Previously, Kids and Glory, another BRICS-themed documentary, was launched in 2019 during the 11th BRICS Summit in Brazil. Directed by Chinese feature film Mountain Patrol's director Lu Chuan, Kids and Glory tells how the universal language of sport binds the children of the five countries together. 

It was the first BRICS documentary coproduction. Film and TV market insider Lu Jingci told the Global Times that beside the friendship on display, the production also reveals a future "collaboration model" between BRICS countries in the entertainment industry. 

The cultural cooperation among BRICS countries is far from focusing solely on entertainment. 

In 2015, an agreement was signed by BRICS countries to enhance cultural cooperation . Besides culture and arts, sports, media and traditional Chinese medicine were denoted as fields for development. In 2022, an action plan (2022-2026) aimed to facilitate the agreement, was signed in Beijing, with some fields like cultural heritage, theaters and libraries specified as areas of collaboration. 

Li Qun, vice minister of culture and tourism and head of the National Cultural Heritage Administration, said China has dedicated itself to "furthering BRICS cultural collaboration" since exchanges in civilizations can "overcome cultural barriers" and span "cultural divergence."     

"Such modern collaborations are the result of BRICS countries' own cultural confidence and inclusive mindset," Chu noted. 

Currently paying a state visit to South Africa, Chinese President Xi Jinping will attend the 15th BRICS Summit in Johannesburg, which is scheduled to end on Thursday.