BRICS Alliance of Museums
According to General Secretary Xi Jinping’s important instructions on strengthening our cultural exchanges with the fellow members of BRICS and the Action Plan for Implementing the BRICS Intergovernmental Agreement on Cultural Cooperation , the National Museum of China (NMC) led the efforts to found BRICS Alliance of Museums and convened the first conference of the Alliance at the NMC in October 2018.
The representatives of the museum community from the five countries signed the Declaration of the Founding of BRICS Alliance of Museums, adopted the Constitution of BRICS Alliance of Museums, and reached a consensus that the BRICS Alliance of Museums shall be founded with the NMC Director Wang Chunfa serving as the first Rotating President of the Alliance.
During the Conference the BRICS Alliance of Museums also conducted supporting academic forums on the two themes of Smart Museum Construction: Opportunities and Challenges and Function and Mission of the BRICS Museums Against the Background of Globalization and Counter-globalization.
International Alliance of Museums of the Silk Road
In response to General Secretary Xi Jinping’s proposal for co-building the Silk Road Economic Belt and the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road and in an endeavor to strengthen mutual learning among the civilizations and enhance the people-to-people ties of the countries and regions along the Belt and Road, the Ministry of Culture of China released the Action Plan for Cultural Development along the Belt and Road (2016-2020) , which aimed to improve the cultural communication and cooperation mechanism along the Belt and Road and advance the construction of five alliances including the International Alliance of Museums of the Silk Road. In May 2017 the International Alliance of Museums of the Silk Road was established. In June 2018 the Secretariat of the Alliance was relocated into the NMC, with the NMC functioning as the President Member of the Alliance and the NMC Director as President of the Alliance. By February 2021, the Alliance has 163 member units, including 53 international organizations and 110 Chinese organizations.
In November 2018 the NMC led the efforts to convene the First Conference of the International Alliance of Museums of the Silk Road in Fuzhou, capital of Fujian Province, which was attended by the representatives from more than 30 museums of over 20 countries.
At the conference the Framework Agreement on Exhibition Cooperation of the International Alliance of Museums of the Silk Road was signed, and the Constitution for the First Conference of the International Alliance of the Museums of the Silk Road was discussed and adopted. In addition to the four deputy president members from China, four international organizations have been included as deputy president members of the Alliance at the conference. Besides, the website of the International Alliance of Museums of the Silk Road was launched, with the address being www.musesilkroad.com.