From September 19th to 30th, at the invitations of Mr. László Vizi, Director General of Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade Department for Cultural Diplomacy of Hungary, Mr. Heinz Schaden, Mayor of Salzburg, Austria, and Dr. Martin Martin Šimša, Director of Czech National Institute of Folk Culture, the delegation headed by Mr. Hu Muqing, President of Shanghai Art Collection Museum, paid an 11-day working visit to Hungary, Austria, Czech and Slovakia.

The main purpose of this visit is the preparatory work for the 5th International (Shanghai) Intangible Cultural Heritage Protection Forum and the 3rd International Culture & Tourism Promotion Meeting.

The delegation received warm welcome from governments and cultural institutions. On September 20th, Mr. László Vizi, Director General of Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade Department for Cultural Diplomacy of Hungary and Mr. László Kelemen, General Director of the Hungarian Heritage House, had an in-depth discussion with the delegation in a cordial meeting, which led to multiple cooperation intentions. Later, the delegation visited the Museum of Applied Hungarian Folk Art with the guidance of its director, Mr. Zoltán Szabó.

The delegation also visited the Hungarian National Gallery, the Parliament Building, and were greatly impressed by the beautiful architecture and scenes alongside the Danube river.

On Sep 21st, the delegation arrived at the city of Pécs in the south of Hungary, and visited the world-renowned Zsolnay Porcelain Museum and its cultural creative center, receiving warm welcome from Mr. Gábor Móczár, government representative and head of international communications of the creative center.。 

After the visit in Hungary, the delegation proceeded to Graz, the 2nd largest city of Austria.

During the stay in Graz, the delegation visited the historical city of Graz with the accompany of Dr. Wan Jie Chen, Director of Confucius Institute of Karl-Franzens-University of Graz, and listened to the introduction by Ms. Daniela Freitag, the author of the application report of World Heritage for Graz. Guided by the elite experts, the delegation toured around the city and learned about the ups and downs in Graz’s rich history through its historic architecture.

The delegation later visited Mr. Wolfgang Muchitsch, President of Museum Association and Director of Universalmuseum Joanneum, reaching many cooperation intentions between museums. After the meeting, Mr. Muchitsch also accompanied the delegation to visit the post-modernist architecture of the Graz Art Museum. The same evening, Mr. and Mrs. Chen invited the delegation for a welcome dinner.

On September 23rd, the delegation visited the city of Salzburg, Shanghai’s sister city. Under the considerate arrangement by the government, the delegation visited the famous Salzburg Museum, receiving warm reception from the deputy director. The whole tour throughout the museum was accompanied by the head of art department with the introduction of the history of Salzburg as well as the museum’s impressive collection, including the original manuscript of “Silent Night” and the original sheets music of Mozart.

At noon, the delegation was warmly received by Mr. Wolfgang Eisl, China-Representative of Salzburg and former Deputy Governor of the State of Salzburg, who had attended the 4th International (Shanghai) Intangible Cultural Heritage Protection Forum. After warm conversations, the host and the guests promised to meet again next year.

In the afternoon, the delegation had a working meeting with representatives of the Salzburg Tourism Bureau, then visited local cultural landscapes including the Salzburg Museum of Modern Art and the Hohensalzburg Castle.

The historic city, beautiful architecture, poetic fields and peaceful paths in Salzburg left a deep impression among the delegation.

On September 24th and 25th, the delegation spent their weekend in Vienna, visited the Musikverein Goldener, the Sisi Museum, the Kunsthistorisches Museum, Leopold Museum and Mumok Museum. The delegation also listened to a Mozart concert in the Musikverein Goldener, fully involved in the cultural atmosphere of Vienna.

After the visit to Austria, the delegation arrived in Slovakia. In its capital Bratislava, the delegation exchanged ideas with Mr. Vladimír Kysel, General Director of the Slovakia Center of Traditional Folk Culture, and Dr. Juraj Hamar, Director of the Slovakian National Folk Dance Group, on the topic of Intangible Cultural Heritage protection through digital means. On the same day, the delegation also went to the Center for Folk Art Production, listened to the introduction on Slovakia’s Intangible Cultural Heritage protection for the past over 70 years, and visited the local Intangible Cultural Heritage exhibition hall and education center.

    On September 27, the delegation drove to Strážnice in the south of Czech Republic for the Czech National Institute of Folk Culture. Dr. Martin Šimša, the director of the institute, had attended the 4th International (Shanghai) Intangible Cultural Heritage Protection Forum in Shanghai this June. Dr. Šimša accompanied the delegation in the visit to the Arts and Crafts exhibition in a Medieval castle, the Folk Clothing Museum, and the folk traditions village. The host and guests also discussed in-depth on the comparison of Intangible Cultural Heritage protection between Asia and Europe.

  After the meeting with Dr. Šimša, the delegation arrived at their final destination - Prague, the capital city of Czech. Although September 28 was a national holiday in Czech, the delegation was warmly received by Ms. Zlata Černá, President of the Czech-Chinese Friendship Association at her residence. Ms. Černá, 84, joyfully shared her memories about Chinese-Czech friendship with famous translator Mr. Zdenek Hrdlicka, and expressed her strong wishes to join next year’s 5th International (Shanghai) Intangible Cultural Heritage Protection Forum in Shanghai.

During this visit to Central and Eastern Europe, the delegation not only visited professional institutions, governmental agencies, museums and galleries, but also experienced the unique local customs and lifestyles. The visit was successful and fruitful, reaching multiple cooperation intentions and providing fundamental basis for the major international cooperation projects and long-term development for Shanghai Art Collection Museum. 

The visit has been graciously supported by friends from around the world including: Mrs. Silvia Neureiter, Consul General of Austria in Shanghai, Mrs. Lívia Szentmártoni, Consul of Culture and Education of Hungary in Shanghai, Mr. Jiří Beneš, Deputy Consul General of Czech in Shanghai, Mrs. Jianzhen Schaden, Manager of China Liaison Office of Salzburg, Mrs. Adrienn Simon, Vice President of Hungarian-Chinese Friendship Association, Mr. Zdenek Hrdlicka, famous translator from Czech-Chinese Friendship Association.

Ms. Niu Jinjin, Deputy Director and Miss. Mu Cuiping, Head of International Communications, also joined the delegation.