Rockbund Art Museum 上海外滩美术馆

“Zomia” is a term that groups the region of highlands overlapping Yunnan, China and several countries in Southeast Asia. There, certain ethnic groups, particularly those who practice swidden (slash-and-burn) agriculture, have preserved their local culture by residing away from state control and influence–– though this ability and desire to remain independent is ever-changing. What happened when the works of those who once refused to come down from the mountains began to exhibit at the Yunnan Museum of Minority Nationalities for the first time? Was this exchange mutually beneficial, a compromise, a travesty, a fiction?

The talk will investigate not only the more traditional museums in Yunnan, but also the concept of an eco-museum. Starting in the late 1990s, the construction of eco-museums began in six villages across Yunnan— each focusing on a different officially recognized nationalities. We will look at the Jinuo Eco-Museum in Baka Village, Xishuangbanna Dai Autonomous Prefecture as a case study, and further consider the parallel booms in ethnic nationality museums and tourism in Yunnan.

“左米亚”是一个术语，用来描述与云南和部分东南亚国家中重叠的一片高地地区。在那里的一些民族，尤其是以刀耕火种农业为主的民族，由于地理原因长期远离中原文化的影响，成功地保存了当地文化。当那些不愿离开自己故土的人，首次将表现刀耕火种的作品在云南少数民族博物馆展出的时候，发生了什么？这个关系是互利的，妥协的，讽刺的，还是虚构的？

这次讲座不仅将展示云南的传统博物馆，还将探索有关文化生态村的概念。从90年代末开始，云南的六个村落开始建设各自的文化生态村，每一个村落都专注于研究不同于官方认知下的民族概念。讲座将以西双版纳傣族自治州巴卡村的基诺文化生态村为例，进一步探讨云南少数民族博物馆与旅游业相辅相成，共同兴起的繁荣。