Visualising and revitalising traditional Chinese martial arts. Visitors’ engagement and learning experience at the 300 years of Hakka Kungfu
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/LHT-05-2018-0071 |
| Published date | 17 June 2019 |
| Pages | 273-292 |
| Date | 17 June 2019 |
| Author | Patrick Lo,Holly H.Y. Chan,Angel W.M. Tang,Dickson K.W. Chiu,Allan Cho,Eric W.K. See-To,Kevin K.W. Ho,Minying He,Sarah Kenderdine,Jeffrey Shaw |
Visualising and revitalising
traditional Chinese martial arts
Visitors’engagement and learning experience
at the 300 years of Hakka Kungfu
Patrick Lo
Faculty of Library, Information and Media Science, University of Tsukuba,
Tsukuba, Japan
Holly H.Y. Chan, Angel W.M. Tang and Dickson K.W. Chiu
Faculty of Education, University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong
Allan Cho
Humanities and Social Sciences Division, University of British Columbia Library,
Vancouver, Canada
Eric W.K. See-To
Lingnan University, Hong Kong
Kevin K.W. Ho
School of Business and Public Administration,
University of Guam, Guam, USA
Minying He
Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Kowloon, Hong Kong
Sarah Kenderdine
Laboratory for Experimental Museology, EPFL,
Lausanne, Switzerland, and
Jeffrey Shaw
School of Creative Media, City University of Hong Kong,
Kowloon, Hong Kong
Abstract
Purpose –The purpose of this paper is to examine how the emergent 3D interactive media technologiesare
used as a viable tool for enhancing visitors’overall experiences at an exhibition entitled, 300 Years of
Hakka Kungfu –Digital Vision of Its Legacy and Future (Hakka Kungfu Exhibition) –presented and
co-organized by the Intangible Cultural Heritage Office of Hong Kong, International Guoshu Association
and the School of Creative Media, City University of Hong Kong.
Design/methodology/approach –A questionnaire survey in both online and paper-based formats was
used for identifying visitors’experiences in the interactions with the multimedia technologies. For this
research study, a questionnaire, consisting of 26 items, was set out to measure the visitors’experiences at the
Exhibition. Since the Exhibition was about presenting a centuries-old Chinese cultural heritage, Hakka
Kungfu via the use multimedia technologies, in the context of establishing a dialogue between the past and
present, the researchers included questionnaire items that were devoted to enquire about the level of
understanding, knowledge and enjoyment, and visitors’new knowledge about Hong Kong history and culture
was successfully disseminated to the respondents at the end of the questionnaire.
Library Hi Tech
Vol. 37 No. 2, 2019
pp. 273-292
© Emerald PublishingLimited
0737-8831
DOI 10.1108/LHT-05-2018-0071
Received 1 May 2018
Revised 15 November 2018
Accepted 6 December 2018
The current issue and full text archive of this journal is available on Emerald Insight at:
www.emeraldinsight.com/0737-8831.htm
The authors would like to express their gratitude to Hing Chao, International Guoshu
Association, LCSD Intangible Cultural Heritage Office and CityU ACIM for their supports toward
this research project. Without their ongoing supports and assistance, this research project would not
have taken place.
273
Traditional
Chinese
martial arts
Findings –A total of 209 completed questionnaires were collected at this Hakka Kungfu Exhibition.
The findings reveal that the exhibits did attract people at all ages. This Exhibition gave the visitors a sense of
interest and wonder in the object and information presented in the Exhibition. Findings of this study also
reveal that this Exhibition has successfully attracted a large number of female visitors, as well as visitors who
have never taken any martial arts training. In addition, visitors’Exhibition experience was found to be
memorable, as well as enjoyable. Furthermore, visitors’experience within the Exhibition suggested that it
was entertaining, as well as educational. By creating a long-lasting impact on the minds of these Exhibition
visitors about the connections between and relevance of traditional Chinese Kungfu, their collective cultural
identity, as well as the contemporary society we live in. The Exhibition exemplified the successful integration
of the presentation of Kungfu as a form of cultural heritage with engagement-creating technology, in which
technology is unobtrusive but effective.
Originality/value –Although it is already a global trend for the museums to integrate multimedia
technologies into their exhibitions, research on the situation and feedback of multimedia technology used in
the museum exhibitions in Hong Kong is scarce as well as scattered. Findings of this study could help identify
various factors involved in audience participation, thereby exploring the possibility of building a contact
point/space for traditional Chinese Kungfu as an intangible cultural heritage, via the integration of the latest
media technologies. In particular, the development of multimedia technologies has become increasingly
important to museums, and museum professionals have been exploring how digital and communication
technologies can be developed to offer visitors a more interactive, personalized museum experience.
In general, despite the growing interest in deploying digital technology as interpretation devices in museums
and galleries, there are relatively few studies that examine how visitors, both alone and with others, use new
technologies when exploring the museum contents.
Keywords Hong Kong, Museums, Virtual reality, Chinese martial arts, Hong Kong Heritage Museum,
Museum visitors
Paper type Research paper
Introduction
In recent years, there has been a significant increase in the use of virtual reality (VR) and
motion capture technologies amongst museums and galleries worldwide for a variety of
purposes, ranging from purely educational to financial incentives. In particular, interaction
and engagementbetween visitors and exhibitionsaim at enhancing visitors’overall museum-
visiting experiences. Accordingto the International Councilof Museums (ICOM, 2013) Code of
Ethics for Museums, a vital obligation of museums is to develop their educational role to
disseminate and promote cultural information and knowledge to society. Rather than only
collecting, conserving and displaying artifacts to visitors, the coremissions and functions of
museums have shifted toward revealing the stories and knowledge behind the artifacts on
display (Alexander and Alexander, 2008). Furthermore, museums increasingly emphasize on
enhancing visitors’experiences, including cognitive, affective, reflective and recreation, by
engaging them in different levels of mindful (education and learning) activities, as well as
other non-mindful (recreation and social) activities (Chan, 2009). The exhibitions have been
thereby transformed from object-centered to people-centered and idea-oriented (Hein, 2000).
In this new context,museums have become a communal place forboth social networking and
educational purposes, which demonstrate the visitors’engagement, as well as contributing to
knowledge construction (Black, 2005; Jeffery-Clay, 1998).
In recent years, many museums in Hong Kong have become more visitor-oriented, in
terms of setting up exhibitions that incorporate new forms of interactive storytelling and
gaming components, with the aim of enriching experiences that could satisfy diversified
visitor needs. This study was set out to examine how various emergent media technologies
could be deployed for enhancing visitors’overall experiences at an exhibition entitled,
300 Years of Hakka Kungfu –Digital Vision of Its Legacy and Future, which was presented
and co-organized by Intangible Cultural Heritage Office of Hong Kong (see Table I),
International Guoshu Association and the City University of Hong Kong (CityU).
Hakka, literally “Guest F amilies,”refers to the descendants from central China who
migrated to the Southernparts of China at a time of political unrest centuries ago (Chao et al.,
2016). Theylive today in a wide range of areas includingthe provinces of Guangdong, Jiangxi,
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