Enhancing the experience of the Western Xia Imperial Tombs heritage site (PRC, Ningxia) through animated installations

Abstract

In 2015, the government of the Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region of the Peoples’ Republic of China decided to develop a large-scale museum in Yinchuan to serve the region using the history of both the Tangut people (since the seventh century CE) and Western Xia dynasty (1038–1227) as themes. The School of Art, Design and Media at Nanyang Technological University Singapore (NTU-ADM) was asked to propose the concept design for an underground tunnel linking the museum to the archaeological site of the Western Xia Imperial Tombs. The ADM-NTU research team, composed by the authors of this paper, proposed to use the tunnel to display animated installations able to both link and enhance the cultural heritage experience of the museum and the archaeological site. This paper presents the overall process of the concept design and its results.