On January 25, a netizen in Wuhan, Hubei Province, broke the news that his child had accidentally smashed 1.3 million yuan worth of cultural relics at the museum when he participated in an off-campus winter camp activity. Although the matter was still negotiated under the auspices of the police, the topic of what responsibilities students, off-campus institutions and museums should bear was immediately on the hot search.
Surveillance footage shows that some students and teachers were visiting the exhibition hall of the private museum, surrounded by glass display cases, and in the middle of the exhibition hall there was a half-person-high booth with a small statue of a figure. But the statue was not touched, but instead a humble sculpture of a 1-meter-tall figure in the corner of the exhibition hall, a boy was suspected of touching the sculpture when he walked over, and the sculpture suddenly cut off at the waist, and the upper part fell and smashed.
Drop smashed exhibits
After the incident, due to rumors that the parents involved said that the sculpture was worth 1.3 million yuan, the museum demanded compensation, so it triggered heated discussions.
There are many netizens who think that although the child does not understand things and has damaged the museum's exhibits, the museum has casually placed cultural relics in the corner of the wall, and there is no cordon, and there is also a problem of improper protection. Some netizens even accused the museum, a cultural relic, the child can be broken into two pieces with a casual touch, and then ask for high compensation, is there a suspicion of "touching porcelain"?
The staff of the museum, whose online name "Piece Jiang Zhou", said in response to the internet that what was broken was a town tomb figurine, and the museum never said that the item was worth 1.3 million yuan; the child took the initiative to admit the mistake at the first time, and the child and the parents also apologized to me at the police station; as for the statement that the museum was not well protected, in fact, the venue has a "no touch" sign, and even the Metropolitan Museum of New York will put the exhibits outside, and entering the museum should have a sense of awe.
As seen in the museum surveillance video
Judging from the fermentation process of this matter, the reason why the relevant parties have aroused such a big hot discussion lies in whether there is a correct posture in the face of the incident.
The museum should do a good job in the protection of exhibits, which is the basic requirement for a museum's exhibition capacity, such as glass display cabinets, cordons and the constant reminder of security personnel in the exhibition hall.
Involved in research institutions, organizing students to visit museums is an educational behavior, and how to visit museums in a civilized manner is also an important part of education. If a student damages a museum exhibit, the institution has a certain responsibility for supervision.
Students who break up exhibits should recognize the seriousness of the problem, visit the museum should strictly abide by the requirements of the museum, and students and guardians should take the initiative to bear the liability for compensation if they violate the management regulations and cause losses.
If the relevant parties can face the incident with an attitude of taking the initiative to take responsibility, I believe that they will be able to obtain a complete solution to the matter to the greatest extent, so as to give the parties involved and the whole society an education and warning.
Incidents of bear children destroying museum exhibits are not uncommon, but how to face and solve them is a science.
Remember that in 2020, an exhibit worth about 450,000 yuan in the Shanghai Museum of Glass, "Dream Castle", despite the cordon and glass cover, was also damaged by a child in the running and fighting, because the artists in the United States could not return to China to repair, and could only be exhibited in an "imperfect" posture.
Before and after the Shanghai Museum of Glass's "Dream Castle" was destroyed
Coincidentally, a few years ago, an exhibit at the Shanghai Museum of Glass called "Angels Waiting" was also broken by a small audience. In the on-site monitoring, it can be seen that the work hanging on the wall was dragged down by the small audience "fun", although there is a police cordon in front of the work, but the two parents not only have no supervision, but also take pictures with their mobile phones. Afterwards, the Shanghai Museum of Glass rebranded the damaged work as "Fold" and displayed the video of the damaged work next to it to warn the audience of a civilized visit.
The museum wrote in its copy: "Between the trade-off between exhibition and non-exhibition, we finally decided to expose the work to the public with the damaged appearance of the work. In this way, we hope to warn the audience and warn ourselves, and in this way enhance the audience's awareness of civilized visiting and respect and love for the artworks. ”
"Angel's Wings" was damaged before and after
The museum's collection belongs to the whole society, all mankind, visiting the museum is also to educate children to cherish the crystallization of human civilization and love the exhibits, which is the common responsibility of the museum, parents and children, educational institutions and society. How much the damaged exhibits are worth, how much the bear children and parents have to compensate is not important, what is important is that through such a tragedy, the civilized etiquette of visiting the museum can be more popularized, and I hope that everyone will learn what responsibility is in regret.