上海科技馆原创展览“星空之境”的宣传与推广（英文）

沈嫣

Abstract Exhibition is the core of museum operation， and the foundation of its educational function. As an important part of museums display， temporary exhibition has the advantages of theme-distinctiveness， time-effectiveness， and content-creativity， which adds to the glory of the permanent exhibitions in width and depth. It can attract different kinds of visitors to walk into the museum repeatedly and satisfy their multiple demands for science and culture. This article takes "Starry Sky Illumination"， the original exhibition carried out by Shanghai Science & Technology Museum as an example， in order to discuss its publicity and promotion work， introduce the ways and methods used in its propaganda， and probe into the publicity pattern of temporary exhibitions. The publicity and promotion of the temporary exhibition， especially original exhibition， plays an important role in making its influence stronger， reinforcing the connection between the museum and visitors and reflecting the foresight in related fields.

Keywords temporary exhibitions， original， publicity

0 Introduction

The temporary exhibition is one of the regular activities in the museum and it can enrich the permanent exhibitions and attract more and more visitors to come into the museum. If the permanent exhibition is considered as the foundation of the museum， the temporary exhibition should be the vitality of it. In order to make the exhibition and the museum more popular， it's necessary to pay more attention to the publicity and promotion work. In recent years， a large number of temporary exhibitions have become highly creative and be on different kinds of museums， among which can be roughly divided into two types： introduced ones and original ones. Whether the exhibition is permanent or temporary， a good curator should have professional knowledge， aesthetic foundation and distinctive point of view. He， to some extent， has the authority to choose the theme and exhibits. Moreover， he should also be able to express his ideas to visitors， provide a bridge to connect exhibits and visitors together and create a powerful context in between. There are a lot of ways on the publicity of the temporary exhibition， such as explanatory words， pictures and multimedia devices. Basing on the participation of the original exhibition "Starry Sky Illumination" by Shanghai Science & Technology Museum， author will summarize the methods used in the exhibition's publicity and promotion， as well as the advantages and disadvantages， hoping to give some suggestions.

1 Brief introduction of the exhibition "Starry Sky Illumination"

Based on the theme of astronomy， "Starry Sky Illumination" uses top astronomical photographs， rare meteorites and advanced multimedia devices to bring the beauty of the night sky to visitors. The whole exhibition has six parts. They are "China under the Stars"： photos of the starry sky taken in China; "One World， One Sky"： photos of the starry sky taken all over the world; "Starry Night Time-Lapse"： a time-lapse video showing the movement of the stars; "A Portrait of Celestial Bodies"： photos of deep sky objects; "Inner Cosmos" and "Digital Sky"： immersive experience of the starry sky and the outer space. Besides， it also displays astronomical specimens—meteorites and artworks—Suzhou embroidery of the stars and nebulae， all together give visitors a visual feast of both science and art.

2 Methods used in the publicity of the exhibition

Publicity can hardly be carried out without any carriers. During the promotion of the exhibition "Starry Sky Illumination"， the team mainly uses two types of carriers—"people" and "objects" and try to combine them together to maximize their strengths.

2.1 Publicity based on person

The team plays an important role in the exhibition planning and performing， as well as publicity and promotion. They wrote the text， searched for the highlighted news， chose the publicity channels and discussed the publicity plan. Since the team members know most of the theme， the content and the display of the exhibition， they are best qualified to be in charge of the designing and confirming the whole publicity work.

There were other departments cooperating with the team on the publicity. For example， the News and Information Center helped to contact journalists from newspaper， television and network， built up few publicity lines. The Exhibition Educational Service Department published popular science articles in astronomy and held lectures and salons， facilitates the scientific publicity of the exhibition from a scientific perspective. The Office helped with the preparation of the opening ceremony and exchanges， expanding the publicity impact both at home and abroad. During the operation of the exhibition， a group of volunteers were also recruited. They wrote feelings in-service and post pictures on WeChat moments， helping to enforce the publicity effort to some extent.

2.2 Publicity based on objects

If the exhibit features a strong personality， rich backgrounds and powers， it can be used as a best publicity carrier. It has great value from various fields， such as science， literature， art， anthropology， and so on. The publicity can introduce the exhibition to visitors from these different perspectives. "Starry Sky Illumination" brings in many works and devices from abroad as the highlights of the exhibition. They should also be the key points for promoting since they can arouse visitors' interests easier. Therefore， when introducing the Super Megastar （figure 1）， the team intensifies its two features： "the most advanced man-made night sky projector on earth" and "the first-time landing in China"， makes them into the Suzhou embroidery （figure 2） for the starry sky products， which offers a blend of science and art. In addition， the team also borrows ideas from other exhibits to promote the publicity， like top astronomical photography works， rare but realistic meteorites and visible astronomical data.

Besides， posters， flags， invitation letter， poster foldouts are also used as publicity carriers in the museum， parks nearby and the opening ceremony.

2.3 Publicity based on all useful resources

With the arrival of the new media era， the diverse dissemination carriers not only accelerate the creation speed of the display ways， but also shorten the distance between visitors and the museum. Under this circumstance， museums begin to employ a wider variety of platform for self-promotion， which now appears to be the following trends： more abundant information provided by its self-media， closer cooperation with social mainstream media， and more visitors favoured educational activities. The exhibition grasps the characteristics of the traditional and new media， and on the basis of them， formulate different publicity plans during different periods， trying to maintain the heat of the exhibition all along. During the two-month exhibition period， by means of media， the educational activities and academic conferences， attract 126 421 people visiting the exhibition， setting a new record in a certain period of time.

3 Highlights

The publicity of a temporary exhibition has its own features and highlights. The team of the exhibition takes actions to build a multilevel promotion net and attract a great many visitors into museum. In summary， it has the following highlights and advantages.

3.1 Taking advantage of timing to create vivid news

The exhibition "Starry Sky Illumination" has made full use of the opening ceremony， making eye-catching news to attract peoples' attention. Then the team seized the opportunity of holidays when massive amount of visitors flowing into the museum， organizing two educational activities： "guide tour by the curator" and "zoo in the night sky"， and playing astronomical related movie Night on the Galactic Railroad. In addition， the team invites famous starry sky photographer to give the lecture telling visitors experience about the star chasing. Through such a face-to-face communication， visitors will be able to have a deeper and more profound understanding on the theme， the core and the meaning of the exhibition. At the last day of the exhibition， the team also invited one of the most important guests， the inventor of the Super Megastar to the spot， to introduce the stories behind making such an advanced device. Through different news ideas， they not only highlighted the key exhibits of the exhibition， but also expressed the curator's opinion to the public.

3.2 Taking advantage of the particular setup of the organizer

Among various temporary exhibitions in China， few is related to astronomy. Therefore， the exhibition "Starry Sky Illumination" has filled the gap to some extent. The rarest thing is that， it has transformed the obscure astronomical knowledge into aesthetic displays by technological and artistic means. On the other hand， being one of the research results in stages of Shanghai Planetarium， one of the branches of Shanghai Science & Technology Museum， the exhibition also represented the research achievements in astronomical field. Under the current situation， the team combined the exhibition and the construction progress of the planetarium together to conduct the initial publicity and has received good effects.

3.3 Taking advantage of visual effects

The whole exhibition can be divided into six parts. Each part has different focuses， but the similarity is， the curator presents a visual feast by many stunningly visual exhibits. For instance， the first two parts show 110 starry sky works from 20 countries at home and abroad. Except the beauty on their own， the curator adds some extra light to strengthen the effect. Another example is the use of time-lapse photography and 4k laser projectors to create an immersive night sky experience. Thanks to this advanced technology， visitors can observe the galaxy and the nebula with naked eyes， and this also improves the publicity effect at technique level.

4 Inadequacies

There is no doubt that publicity is of great importance to the whole exhibition. The publicity plan of the exhibition "Starry Sky Illumination" has discussed and adjusted repeatedly， but due to many uncontrollable reasons， it still has some inadequacies.

4.1 Time management： little focus on pre-and-post publicity

Most publicity is carried out during the exhibition， little has be done before and after the exhibition. However， the previous propaganda could influence the whole publicity progress a lot. At the beginning of the exhibition， the team mainly use posters and flags for promotion， articles and reports are lacking. As a matter of fact， many ways of publicity can be used in this period， like unpacking ceremony of the key exhibits， press conference to invite media to have a guide tour beforehand， popular science articles to introduce the exhibits in advance and other platforms as museum website and WeChat account to broadcast the inner decoration， giving visitors sense of participation so as to expand the social and educational impact of the exhibition. Meanwhile， the feedback after the exhibition will lay the foundation for the second designing when tours around.

4.2 Visitors： little focus on pre-research

One important reason for the pre-research on visitors is to understand their needs， interests and motivations， hence it is necessary to， be clear about the necessity and feasibility of the exhibition. Pre-research will help the curator to know how to satisfy visitors and how to do it in a better way through the selection of the exhibits， the edition of the explanatory words and the plans of the supporting activities. Therefore， having a strong awareness of visitors is the precondition for the exhibition designing. The exhibition "Starry Sky Illumination" is a result of the curator's long-term study in astronomy， which guarantees its professionalism. However， visitors are with different ages and backgrounds， not all of them can completely understand the content. Due to the limitation of time and staffs， the visitors research was neglected during the period of preparing. If the pre-researches on visitors were taken into consideration earlier， it would enhance the educational function and help to scheme different publicity plans according to different visitors.

4.3 Materials： little focus on publicity products

Apart from exhibits， pictures and activities， there are other materials like brochures， poster foldouts， cultural and creative products can be used for exhibition information. They are the part of the exhibition. Unfortunately， the investment in this part is far from enough. The exhibition only made hundreds of pieces of leaflets distributed to visitors at the opening ceremony. In fact， this kind of leaflets or foldouts is also a good way of publicity. People are unable to remember all the information at one time， these leaflets will be the perfect material for them to review the exhibition at home. So， we shall pay more attention to the designing and preparation of these promotional materials if possible.

5 Suggestions

Though the exhibition "Starry Sky Illumination" has ended in the museum， the preparation for its world tour is intensively in progress. The following paragraphs will sum up the publicity and promotion work of the exhibition with an overall review to provide some suggestions and references for its appearance abroad.

5.1 Publicity should be planned by considering "point， line， space" as whole

Point refers to the key exhibits. They can be the hot topics in the news by introducing their scientific and cultural values， creating a mysterious atmosphere before opening to the public. Besides， we can also develop the activities happened during the exhibition into hot issues. The exhibition focused on the publicity of the exhibits themselves， this can not only attract visitors' attention but also lay a foundation for other propaganda plans.

Line refers to the publicity timeline representing before， during and after the exhibition. In order to keep the heat and vitality as long as possible， the publicity should run through the whole exhibition. Though the exhibition lacks promotion before opening， but the discussion of the plan， the possibility of cooperation with other agencies also provided ideas for the later publicity work. Meanwhile， materials like posters and flags had made great contribution to warming up the exhibition. Post-publicity mainly concentrated on public relations， exchanges and international conference， seizing the promotion opportunities on many major platforms.

Space means the diverse ways of publicity. Except the detailed propaganda points， an expanded publicity space is also needed. The exhibition chose more than 10 kinds of media： network， applications， supporting activities and paper media， both online and offline， in the museum and out the museum， attract not only actual but also potential visitors for a visit.

5.2 Publicity should have a specific conception

Apart from the superficial introduction of the scientific knowledge， good exhibition publicity also needs to express its theme and values to visitors. The most appreciated exhibition can influence and educate people.

During the publicity of the exhibition， the team not only introduced the astronomical knowledge about the constellations and astronomical phenomenon occurred in the works， but also showed the stories and civilizations behind the works. For instance， when introducing the photos， they started with the celestial bodies then placed emphasis on the importance of light pollution prevention and night sky protection. They used the Polaris over the Forbidden City as an entry point to explain the ancient Chinese astronomical thought. These means can trigger visitors' interests to the sky， reverence for the nature and admiration for the astronomers. These can be regarded as the final effects what the team wants to achieve. Just as the curator said： apparently， visitors will feel the beauty of stars and learn knowledge through the exhibition. What's more， we also want to tell the public that the cosmos is not that mysterious as we usually imagine. And we hope， after the visit， more and more people， especially the young will develop the interest to join us to explore the unknown outer space together.

Thus， the publicity of an exhibition should take both science and humanity into account. A perfect publicity will give visitors feelings of beauty， expansion of knowledge， as well as their unique thoughts and ideas of the whole exhibition and the subject behind. It will inspire peoples' motivation to learn the history， the development and recent findings in relevant field， and then， better understand its significance to our human society.

6 Conclusion

In conclusion， no matter whether it is temporary exhibitions， the objective is to show the outcomes to visitors. It requires the curator to care about the exhibits， the display and the tour line， and think about how to attract different kinds of people to the museum. All these cannot be done without publicity. Only we plan it well， can the exhibition be known to a wider range. Temporary exhibition， can enliven the museum， facilitate inter-museums exchanges and build up a good connection with visitors. Therefore， museums should increase the input to the publicity and promotion work to temporary exhibitions， establish a brand image so as to enhance its popularity and finally maximize the educational function of the museum.