Mitigation of Cultural Differences: Co-Produced Temporary Exhibition with Strong Storytelling and Design Analysis

Abstract

The aim of this paper is to present a museum exhibition designed to encourage visitors to engage in a dialogue on ancient civilizations, thereby providing a reference pathway for achieving cross-cultural exhibitions through intergovernmental cooperation. The Shanghai Museum’s exhibition ‘ON TOP OF THE PYRAMID: The Civilization of Ancient Egypt’ is analyzed through qualitative analysis, based on data collected from semi-structured interviews, document analysis, visitor feedback, and field surveys. The curatorial strategy and achievements of the exhibition are also discussed, together with the existing challenges and the measures adopted. The results of co-curation are evaluated on an economic level within the framework of international cooperation. Briefly, the article concludes that the exhibition prioritized interactive elements intended to support visitor participation. A neutral and academic narrative is crucial for a co-curated immersive exhibition design.

1. Introduction

The exhibition ‘ON TOP OF THE PYRAMID: The Civilization of Ancient Egypt’ is divided into three chapters. The first chapter is “THE LAND OF THE PHARAOHS” which includes six sub-themes: ‘The Emerging Gods: The Establishment of Order’, ‘The Canons of Order: Kingship and Royal Authority’, ‘Ritualistic Life and Social Hierarchy’, ‘Letters and Learning: The Script and the Scribes’, ‘Integration and Rebirth: Egypt and the Mediterranean World’, and ‘The Passage to Eternity: Beliefs in the Afterlife’ [1]. The second chapter is “THE SECRETS OF SAQQARA”, which contains ‘The Centers of Sacred Animal Worship’, ‘Bastet and Her Temple’, ‘The Life of the Priests of Bastet’, and ‘The Capital where Tradition Was Restored’ [1]. The third chapter “THE AGE OF TUTANKHAMUN”, shows Akhenaten’s religious reforms during the Eighteenth Dynasty (ca. 1550–1292 BCE) and explains Tutankhamun’s legendary life. It consists of ‘The God of the Empire: Amun’, ‘The Reforms of Amarna’, and ‘The Return of the Boy Pharaoh’ [1]. This paper focuses on cooperative curatorial practices in cross-cultural exhibitions; thus, details of the visitor journey can be found in Appendix A and Appendix B.

The international co-produced exhibition opened to visitors at the Shanghai Museum on 19 July 2024 and came to an end on 17 August 2025, aiming to foster the mutual understanding of two great ancient civilizations: China and Egypt. Museological practices in restaged or emerging exhibitions constitute a delivery of knowledge between past and future. Case studies of attractive exhibitions contribute to reconsider some episodes or some aspects that may have been neglected [2]. This Shanghai Egyptology exhibition was selected, as its curatorial theory, design elements, and immersive experiences all demonstrate characteristics of international exhibitions. Recent archaeological discoveries excavated from the Saqqara archaeological site inform the narrative and presentation of the Shanghai Museum’s exhibition. It should be emphasized that China–Egypt joint archaeological work have made a fuller understanding of Ancient Egyptian society possible. Without this collaborative project, both the authenticity of the exhibition and its international impact would have been compromised.

The present study attempts to provide references for the production of modern exhibitions in an era of digital technology, engaging with the debate between traditional exhibition production and new, effective co-production approach. Despite enduring global fascination with Ancient Egypt, such exhibitions so far have lacked successful experiences due to the large number of artifacts borrowed from Egypt. Nevertheless, studies on co-creation, co-design, and co-production in exhibitions are often underrepresented in museology. At the conceptual level, Zijlstra et al. (2024) emphasize the persistent ambiguity and lack of clarity in defining co-production within cultural contexts [3]. At the theoretical level, Rausch et al. (2022) point out that while new forms of audience and community engagement and corresponding models for “co-creation” are flourishing, fundamental yet paralyzing critique abounds, and the development of ethical frameworks and practical guidelines, not to mention theoretical reflection and critical assessment of practices, is lagging [4]. Hendrysiak & Steiner (2022) similarly note that co-creation and co-experience remain insufficiently addressed in current museum research [5]. At the practical level, Olesen et al. (2020), in their discussion of the co-design tool ASAP Map, suggest that it is necessary to identify practical ways of addressing challenges in museum design processes [6].

Furthermore, the production, presentation and reception of exhibition [7], may vary according to the different conditions over time. The recognition and control of the dynamic factors that cause variations is crucial for an exhibition characterized by cross-cultural communication. Therefore, this study analyzes the approach of China–Egypt cooperative curation and evaluates the curatorial concepts, creative processes, and people-centered practices applied in the Shanghai Egyptology exhibition. This paper is framed as an exploratory and interpretive case study that addresses these two questions: how does the exhibition balance between education and entertainment to cater to a diverse audience, including those with limited prior knowledge of Ancient Egypt? Which types of collaborative efforts are made in this Egyptology exhibition and how curatorship transforms restaged exhibitions to align with the international standards and the international normative framework?

2. Materials and Methods

As our case study is a cross-cultural curatorial practice, the present research has the following two research objectives:

I.

Research Objective 1 (RO 1): To examine the narrative strategy of the exhibition through the proposed analytical lens named “New Pyramid Method” (NPM), and to investigate how a people-centered approach was operationalized by curators to enhance visitors’ cultural experience.

II.

Research Objective 2 (RO 2): To evaluate the co-produced exhibition between the Egyptian government and Chinese partners, focusing on its scientific content and dissemination to the public, in accordance with the principles of the UNESCO Convention (1972) and Sustainable Development Goal 17 (Partnerships for the Goals).

The exhibition itself was developed through extensive research, stakeholders’ collaboration, and iterative design. Thus, the researchers collected primary and secondary data for achieving a comprehensive and holistic analysis. Field notes on Egyptology and the exhibition were collected through on-site surveys and archaeological fieldwork. Secondary materials included monographs, archaeological reports, museum catalogues, and peer-reviewed articles. Relevant sources are cited inline where appropriate. As the exhibition was developed and curated by a multidisciplinary team, semi-structured interviews were conducted with key team members, including curators, Egyptologists, and museum staff. To corroborate and contextualize the interview findings, the researchers collected data from visitors’ side and employed systematic on-site survey. To this end, the study adopted a triangulation strategy by integrating data from curators’ interviews, researchers’ publications, and visitors’ feedback.

2.1. Data Collection from Semi-Structured Interview

To understand the collaborative curatorial mechanism for the co-produced exhibition, different interview questions were developed for key stakeholders involved in the development process. The detailed interview information is as follows:

• Selection Criteria: Interviewees were purposively selected to reflect the multidisciplinary exhibition team. The sample comprised Egyptologists who provided scholarly content and Shanghai Museum staff responsible for exhibition curation and project management.
• Duration: Each interview focused on participants’ personal opinions and experiences relating to Egyptology and museology, and lasted between 30 and 60 min.
• Location: Interviews were conducted both in person and via online conferencing platforms, according to participants’ geographic location and preference.
• Interview Content: The interview content covered not only the technical implementation and co-produced experiences of the exhibition design but also focused on the challenges and constraints encountered during the producing process, as well as the curatorial team’s anticipation of potential confusion on the visitors’ side.
• Anonymity: All interview data were strictly anonymized. Interviews were documented in Microsoft Word with participants’ consent and subsequently transcribed verbatim for analysis.
• Compensation: Interviewees received cultural and creative gifts related to the co-produced Egyptology exhibition, such as a teacup, fridge magnet and bookmark.

The interview questions were designed to cover all aspects of the co-produced exhibition, including both closed- ended and open questions. The interviewees responded to the following questions:

(a)

How do you design a clear pedestrian flow line that can avoid congestion during the peak hour?

(b)

How do you proceed in an environmentally responsible manner for the design of the exhibition hall?

(c)

What would be your first and most important consideration regarding the preservation of artefacts?

(d)

Regarding the safety design of the exhibition halls, have environmentally friendly and sustainable materials been used for the niches displaying the pharaonic figures, the metal cabinet frames, and the exhibition stand materials? Additionally, have the safety of these materials and their environmental impact been carefully considered?

(e)

Do you have thoughts on the revenue generated by the exhibition?

(f)

Do you think that the Shanghai Museum, Egyptian museums, and relevant authorities have used appropriate methods to disseminate the culture and knowledge, and if yes, are they cooperating effectively not only in the archeological site but also in the preparation of the exhibition?

Additionally, non-scientific experts were also asked:

(g)

Do you or your organization use the cultural knowledge learned in the exhibition to guide your deliberations related to Egyptology? If yes, is the cultural information accessed adequately?

It should be noted that all interviewees were directly involved in the implementation of the exhibition. Their perspectives may therefore be institutionally aligned with the project, and they may tend to emphasize its positive aspect. Given this single-source sampling, the study used the triangulation strategy to minimize potential bias. In addition, the findings should be interpreted as reflecting curatorial and professional perspectives rather than providing an objective or comprehensive account of the exhibition.

2.2. Thematic Analysis of Interview Data

This study employs thematic analysis to analyze interview data, aiming to identify the curatorial team’s key considerations and logic in the exhibition production process. The analytical procedure consisted of three main steps. First of all, open coding was conducted manually through a repeated reading of the interview transcripts to become familiar with the data. Meaningful segments relevant to exhibition design were marked and grouped to form initial analytical themes. Subsequently, the key elements of exhibition design were identified through open coding based on the research questions. Original statements related to “curatorial philosophy”, “exhibition hall lighting”, “display case design”, “immersive experience” and other topics were manually assigned preliminary codes to synthesize the data. Finally, these codes were classified and refined into core themes through constant comparison. These extracted themes include: “balancing technical implementation and artistic expression”, “collaborative mechanisms among different professions”, and “practical constraints in the design process”.

Coding is an iterative and interpretive process in which the researcher actively engages with the data. To enhance the rigor and trustworthiness of the analysis, two researchers independently coded the interview transcripts. Disagreements were discussed until consensus was reached, thereby strengthening the reflexivity and dependability of the coding process. To further contextualize the findings, the researchers visited the exhibition on 21 January 2025 (the eve of the 2025 Spring Festival holiday). Combining interview data with field surveys allowed for a direct comparison between conceptual curatorship and the physical space of the exhibition.

2.3. Visitor Data and Researcher Field Notes for Triangulation

To illustrate the people-centered curatorial approach proposed in this study and to enable triangulation, the interviews were supplemented with two types of visitor-oriented data: WeChat comments and field notes.

2.3.1. Visitor Feedback Analysis

Visitor comments were collected from two sources: the WeChat official account of Shanghai Museum, and two newspapers—The Paper and Shanghai Morning Post—both owned by the Shanghai United Media Group. A total of 10 comments related to the exhibition were selected and systematically analyzed. These comments serve an illustrative rather than representative purpose. They are used for triangulation and contextualization, rather than supporting generalizable claims about visitor behavior or attitudes. While the sample size is limited, these comments provide preliminary insights into perspectives that complement the interview and fieldwork data. To ensure confidentiality, all comments are quoted anonymously, with identifying information removed.

2.3.2. Field Survey of Visitor Flow and Exhibition Design

The field survey was documented through field notes. These were recorded at the exhibition site to track visitor flow and identify areas with the highest foot traffic. On the eve of the 2025 Spring Festival holiday, the researchers recorded the spatial distribution of visitors across different exhibition halls, paying particular attention to both the elements that attracted visitors and the types of interactions (e.g., reading labels, discussing with tour guides, taking photos, and touching interactive devices). During the field survey, the researchers also recorded architectural and material information about the exhibition hall design, including but not limited to security devices, lighting installations, and display cases.

In summary, this study draws on four sources of qualitative data: literature, semi-structured interviews, WeChat comment analysis, and field notes to examine the curatorial practices behind the exhibition.

2.4. Thematic Coding with Illustrative Evidence

To enhance transparency and demonstrate how the themes emerged from the data,

Table 1. Thematic Coding Table with Illustrative Evidence.

Themes Identified	Primary Data Sources	Illustrative Evidence
Theme 1. Curatorial Theory and Its Application	Interviews	“Most Chinese visitors’ understanding of Egyptian artifacts remains limited, although ‘Egyptian fever’ continues to grow.” (Interviewee A, curator & Egyptologist)
Theme 2. Collaborative Mechanisms Between Chinese and Egyptian Teams	Field notes recorded at exhibition site, Egyptian museums, and archaeological sites	Field notes documented: “An Egyptian Egyptologist explained to the Chinese audience the City of Amenhotep III, and discussed the functions of its seven zones. His archaeological experiences attracted the visitors’ attention.”
Theme 3. Spatial Layout, Visitor Flow, and Environmental Considerations	Interviews	Interviewee B noted: “all materials used were tested by the Cultural Relics Protection Center before the installation process.”
Theme 4. Artifacts Selection and Display Strategies	Interviews	“The exhibits excavated from Saqqara drew public attention as some of the exhibition’s iconic pieces, but we also included museum-collected items previously never exhibited outside Egypt.” (Interviewee A, curator & Egyptologist)
Theme 5. Visitor Engagement with Immersive Experience	Visitor comments	“I visited the exhibition just yesterday. It was truly breathtaking, such a magnificent glimpse into ancient Egyptian civilization.” (WeChat comment)
Theme 6. Other Actions relevant to People-centered Endeavor	Visitor comments	“I suspect 90% of people don’t really get it, they’re just here for the photos.” (WeChat comment)

presents the final themes identified alongside illustrative evidence from interviews, field notes, and visitor comments. Each theme is supported by representative quotes that guided the coding process.

The next section elaborates the findings organized around the core themes identified. Furthermore, the researchers drew on visitor numbers from other museums that had previously hosted Egyptology exhibitions, to make comparative analysis.

3. Results

The findings are organized into six themes that emerged from the qualitative data collected. Quantitative analysis is presented in the Section 4. The following section elaborates six themes, and each of them is supported with evidence.

3.1. Curatorial Theory and Its Application

The information in an inverted pyramid structure is organized in descending order of importance, emphasizing the main idea of the story at the beginning [8]. However, this style of structuring information hardly establishes a strong narrative connection or coherence in exhibition text. This is particularly true in cases where all components play a role relative to other components in the text. Another framework commonly used in story production is the Freytag Pyramid, which is intended to provide guidance for creating a well-structured narrative with tension and dramatic conflict [9]. Nevertheless, the three storylines distributed across three independent exhibition halls share the same theme: “The Civilization of Ancient Egypt”. They can hardly be presented as a cohesive narrative using traditional Freytag’s Pyramid for storytelling. Against this backdrop, this study proposed the New Pyramid Method (NPM) as a narrative analytical lens.

NPM has a hierarchically and equally connected structure of texts, where the general idea is on Top, the latest discovery in the middle, and the bottom presents a core theme [see Figure 1]. Using NPM to interpret the exhibition narrative of Shanghai Museum’s Egyptology exhibition, the study found that the macro-structure of exhibition follows the “dual pyramid” logic. On the one hand, it ensures the rapid transmission of the core information “ancient Egyptian history” to the general public, which demonstrates the inverted pyramid function. For example, Exhibition Hall No. 1 presents content including pharaohs’ reigns, pyramid construction, religious reforms, cultural renaissance, etc. As this exhibition hall displays the largest number of artefacts, and historical periods span from the Neolithic (c. 8800–4700 BC) to Roman Egypt (30 BC–395 AD), visitors are given the chance to learn and experience the crucial historical events of ancient Egypt.

Through the lens of NPM, the study also identified that narrative sequencing shapes and guides visitors’ emotional changes, which directly corresponds to the Freytag Pyramid function. Exhibition Hall No. 2 showcases the latest archaeological discoveries from the Saqqara archaeological site, using material evidence as a storytelling tool. The story of the goddess Bastet attracts visitors’ attention owing to her charming appearance and magical transformations across different contexts. However, visitors’ emotions may shift in Exhibition Hall No. 3, particularly during their visit to the chapter ‘The Reforms of Amarna’. King Akhenaten (also known as Amenhotep IV) and his son Tutankhamun chose different capitals to carry out religious reforms. The divergent divine choices made by this father and son during their reigns in ancient Egypt could immerse visitors in the era of pharaonic history, creating a continuity with Chapter I: “THE LAND OF THE PHARAOHS”. In this context, using NPM as an analytical lens reveals how the exhibition achieves a balance between information delivery and emotional engagement—a balance that can be understood as the narrative manifestation of its people-centered curatorial approach.

The people-centered curatorial approach can be interpreted as using methods to improve visitor experience in museums, addressing their needs and interests from the perspective of sustainability. The NPM demonstrates the application of the “people-centered” approach at the narrative level of the exhibition. Considering that the majority of the targeted audience will be Chinese visitors, the curatorial team arranged the storyline of the exhibition from the perspective of Chinese Egyptologists. The Visitor experience is a key consideration for designers, who aim to create rich and meaningful learning experiences. As noted by Interviewee A: “Most Chinese visitors’ understanding of Egyptian artifacts remains limited, although ‘Egyptian fever’ continues to grow. Most public cognition in China is confined to iconic symbols such as the pyramids, golden masks, and mummies. Additionally, both Egypt and China began engaging in Egyptological research relatively late, compared with curators from major museums in Europe and the United States and Western scholars who have dominated the academic discourse for a long time”. In fact, the exhibition reflects the “people-centered” approach throughout its curatorial strategies, as it seeks to balance visitors’ educational needs and improve the equity of knowledge dissemination.

3.2. Collaborative Mechanisms Between Chinese and Egyptian Teams

Participatory approaches encourage openness and equity in the sharing of knowledge, experience, expertise, and ideas and provide diverse perspectives on a research topic [10]. The stakeholders were encouraged to focus on dialogue-building activities [11], aimed at improving equity and democratization of decision-making and design [12]. In the case of the Shanghai Museum’s exhibition, the collaborative efforts aimed to articulate four interconnected exhibition narratives, including the design of self-guided tour routes, the public interpretation of exhibition storylines, the application of digital technology for immersive experiences, and regular public consultation sessions.

The museum, as a space of debate and for the contemplation of serious questions [13], ought to be accessible to all. To maximize accessibility, the exhibition’s artifacts were presented according to the depth of the exhibition narrative, while maintaining spatial harmony across three exhibition halls. The exhibition began with the history of ancient Egypt, “THE LAND OF THE PHARAOHS”; several Chinese artifacts from the same period were also displayed in this hall, aiming to introduce ancient Egypt from a comparative perspective. The recent archaeological findings from Saqqara provided detailed background for understanding the religious activities, ritual festivals and funerary customs. To some extent, “THE SECRETS OF SAQQARA” offered a nuanced view of Egyptian history. Meanwhile, “THE AGE OF TUTANKHAMUN” was another core theme of the exhibition, and both the Amarna reforms and the Tutankhamun art style (e.g., the sculpture of Tutankhamun) were elaborated on.

In addition to the stories told in a collaborative setting, the exhibition constructs a tripartite interactive framework among curators, visitors, and the exhibition itself. To initiate a dialogue between two ancient civilizations—Ancient China and Ancient Egypt—a temporal-spatial discourse is established that connects their parallel origins to the modern world. Through the presentation of the latest archeological objects excavated by the China–Egypt archeological team, the exhibition offers visitors a fresh perspective on the similarities and differences between these two civilizations, which together represent a pinnacle of human history. At the same time, a visitor-oriented strategy requires that museum’s services are appropriate for visitors, enabling an enjoyable and educational experience [14]. Field observations revealed that Egyptian Egyptologists played an important role in encouraging visitors to acquire knowledge of Egyptology. On 23 November 2025, the Shanghai Museum hosted Dr. Zahi Hawass for a lecture entitled “The Secrets of the Pharaohs: Latest Discoveries from the Pyramids and the Tomb of Tutankhamun”. This lecture enabled visitors to access more diverse information sources by offering international scholarly perspectives, thereby contributing to the museum’s curatorial goal of minimising disparities in educational information.

3.3. Spatial Layout, Visitor Flow, and Environmental Considerations

In this study, the three exhibition halls of the Shanghai Museum are analyzed through the NPM lens and participatory approach used to arrange the exhibition storyline. These three independent halls on the first floor of the Shanghai Museum were spatially connected by a model of the Temple of Khonsu with a hieroglyphic lintel [see Figure 2]. The facade of the temple is decorated with reliefs of the Mortuary Temple of Ramesses III; ON TOP OF THE PYRAMID, inscriptions in Chinese and English are visible on the roof. On the back of this temple model is a colossal head of Senusret I.

The first exhibition hall “THE LAND OF THE PHARAOHS” is organized by seven interconnected spaces that correspond to the preface and six chapters of exhibition content [Figure 3]. Field observations revealed that the flow of the exhibition plays a distinctive role in the viewer’s experience. Entering the hall, one first sees the pyramid on the main display surface. The surface decorated with Egyptian hieroglyphs bears the ankh, the Eye of Horus, and cartouche names of different kings. From this viewpoint, one’s gaze is drawn to two figures positioned on either side of the pyramid, which represent the Land of the Reed (“ta shemu”) and the Land of Papyrus (“ta mehu”) respectively. Turning left, visitors encounter a map of Egyptian Nomes and Main Heritage Sites displayed on the left wall. The path then continues forward toward the entrance of the first section, ‘The Emerging Gods: The Establishment of Order’, where a comparative timeline of Ancient Egypt and Ancient China during the period from 8800 BC to 220 AD appears on the right-hand side.

The interior design of the hall aligns with the narrative sequence discussed in Section 3.1, reinforcing the “dual pyramid” logic of NPM. Figure 3 illustrates how the exhibition layout guided visitors’ movement from the real world to the ancient Egyptian world. In the first section, the deepened immersive narrative is realized by the interactive projection of a circular screen. This installation employs techniques drawn from interactive design, sonic art, and animation to present speculative mythological narratives. This immersive projection-based environment, featuring interactive elements, serves as a place of contemplation and mythic imagination, presenting possibilities of being in situ to the visitors. In the center of this cylindrical space, a column decorated with lotus and papyrus is surrounded by a round glass showcase with Egyptian and Chinese artefacts.

Illuminance values measured on different artefacts, even if below the recommendations, should be considered when determining the annual exhibition time of exposure [15]. Therefore, the color temperature of the custom LED strip lights installed in the glass showcase is set to 3000 K to create a balanced lighting environment that highlights the details of exhibits without causing potential damage [Figure 4], as noted by Interviewee B.

A truly sustainable touring exhibition shall be evaluated across three interconnected dimensions: environmental responsibility, economic viability, and cultural integrity. Field notes documented information related to the safe and eco-friendly design of the exhibition halls. Specifications for the light steel keel used as walls of the exhibition halls are Q75 and Q100. Galvanized square steel tubes and thick fire-resistant boards are applied to the structure of the nude display cases and enclosed display cases. To enhance sustainability, the materials used for the niches of the Pharaohs’ statues, the metal frames of cabinets, and the materials of the display cabinets are recyclable and renewable. Besides, all wooden display panels inside the cabinets are wrapped and sealed with aluminum plastic film to prevent harmful substances from evaporating into the outside air. Technical staff confirmed that environmental protection testing has been conducted for inorganic paints used. As noted by Interviewee B, all materials used were tested by the Cultural Relics Protection Center before the installation process.

3.4. Artifacts Selection and Display Strategies

Based on the exhibition brochure collected during site visits, the artifacts exhibited are divided into three groups: the latest archeological findings at Saqqara, Egyptian representative artefacts, and those that were private property. Some objects in the last two categories might overlap, as both of them mainly bear royal and ritual uses. Classical artifacts juxtaposed with newly excavated objects are an interesting feature of the artifacts display. It demonstrates that cultural value is relative and context-dependent. However, collections are the central elements of a museum exhibition, bearing the mission of telling stories. This point can be clearly indicated by a bull sculpture in the exhibition [see Figure 5]. Memphis was the first capital of Ancient Egypt and remained the centre of state administration and religion throughout the Pharaonic Period [16]. The necropolis of Saqqara served as an extra-urban space of Memphis, i.e., reproducing both the social and religious representations of the living community [17]. The Serapaeum within Saqqara was used for the burials and funerary cult of the Apis bulls, which were regarded as the living representation of the Memphite creator god Ptah during their lifetime and were identified with Osiris after death [16]. Here the calf statue embodies profound religious beliefs and cultural connotations.

According to Interviewee A, one of the artifacts selection criteria is to build a bridge between the past and the present, enriching the dialogue between the two civilizations. The figure of calf displayed has distinctive marks: it is black and white, with a red cloth on its back, the image of an eagle on its rump, double eyelids, and a black inverted triangle pattern painted between its eyes [Figure 5]. The bovine ocular features, conventionally interpreted as symbolic of the goddess Hathor, attest to the sustained prominence of the Apis cult throughout the Late and Ptolemaic periods. In contrast, the cultural meanings of cattle in ancient China were shaped by a different social context. Under the Chinese burial concept of “serving the dead as one serves the living” during the Han dynasty (202 BC to 220 AD), ceramic cattle were a symbol of agricultural civilization, serving as a ritual vessel for constructing a microcosmos. In the well-known Chinese legend of the Cowherd and Weaver Girl (Niulang and Zhinü), the divine ox was the companion, mentor and guide of cowherd’ fate. It served as the starting point and crucial medium of his journey. In this context, the functions of the Egyptian calf and the Chinese cattle reflect similarities in the god–human relationships. Apparently, the museum conveys historical narratives and cultural values to visitors through such representative exhibits.

Secondly, the selection of artifacts aimed to balance familiarity with novelty. As Interviewee B explained: “We wanted visitors to feel connected to the first-hand documents, so new discoveries from ongoing works at Egyptian archaeological sites were displayed”. Indeed, the Saqqara 20,780 coffin drew public attention as one of the exhibition’s iconic pieces. The mummy workshop and animal mummies were found in two shaft tombs at a depth of 12 m; the shafts of M64 and M65 were made of limestone [18]. The owner of the Saqqara 20,780 coffin is Nhs-ḥwt-bity, a descendant of Nt-ir-di-s. The coffin shows the deceased has a green face, wearing a tripartite striated wig and beard. The wig does not cover the ears. The eyes are large with extended eye lines. The nose is relatively straight, and the mouth is small. The green face symbolizes the god Osiris and represents the Nile during inundation. It indicates that people started to worship Ra as the god of the Sun and Osiris as the god of the deceased. The collar and necklace are depicted by 12 delicately decorated layers. The geometric and flowery patterns are alternately embodied in black, red, white, and green [18]. After that, the Goddess of the sky, Nut, sits on her heels with a straight spine, spreading her wings in protection. A solar disk with a golden line is above her. In Egyptian mythology, she swallowed the Sun in the evening and gave birth to it again in the morning [19]. The symbol of Nut here is the protector of the dead. Such anthropoid sarcophaguses appeared commonly in the late Middle Kingdom; the inscriptions on the front and back of the coffin are translated and provided in Appendix A. In brief, the juxtaposition of museum collections and new archeological findings reveals that the museum serves as an alternative platform in shaping visitors’ perception of heritage.

Non-intrusive observations of artifacts in three major Egyptian museums—The Egyptian Museum, Grand Egyptian Museum, and Luxor Museum, provide referential information. It suggests that most objects exhibited in the Shanghai Egyptology exhibition reflect the continuity of high-level workmanship in Egypt’s history, particularly artifacts crafted from gold, silver, semiprecious stone, glass, glazed wares, and fine hardwoods. One of the luxury and impressive items of jewelry is the Gold Diadem with Cartouches of Seti II and Tawosret. Sixteen rosettes linked by a golden ring of desired width with their golden dots are the hieroglyphs for the word “sun” and the name of the Sun god Re. Sety II only had a year or two to live, dying during his sixth regnal year. Tawosret—second wife of Sety II, regent for Siptah, and later king—is known primarily from the appearance of both their names on jewellery found in tomb KV56 in the Valley of the Kings [20]. Thus, the necklace may have belonged to Tawosret or a young child of the king. It conjures up the image of a graceful royal maiden, gently padded barefoot through the palace or dancing in the grand Audience Hall [21]. Presenting the luxury products of ancient Egypt is not the ultimate purpose of the exhibition; instead, it encourages visitors to reflect on past hierarchies and the inherent costs of “civilization” through their appreciation of these artifacts.

Field notes recorded that another mummy portrait of a girl, a representative work of Faiyum portrait, drew visitors to a halt, with many pausing for extended periods to examine its details. Painted during Roman rule between 332 and 30 B.C., this heavily gilt portrait in encaustic on wooden panel shows a young girl wearing a white robe, golden laurel wreath, and gold necklace, with an elegant but dignified expression. The diversity of population is reflected in the adoption of Graeco–Roman hairstyles and Egyptian funerary practices by people of whatever ethnic origin [16]. This naturalistic item ought to be a picture of a real person, showing the pursuit of immortality. People’s bodies at that time were still mummified, and new stylistic portraits were secured and placed over the faces on the coffins. The portrait enhances people’s historical understanding of the lives of the elite during the Ptolemaic period.

Regarding the order of display, artifacts are arranged for public appreciation according to the themes of each exhibition chapter. Besides, some objects act as a medium for spatial adjustment, creating a particularly meaningful ambience, such as the sculptural pair “Mutual Gaze between Father and Son”, which is displayed facing each other, in the section ‘The Reforms of Amarna’, the second chapter of The Age of Tutankhamen. Field survey confirmed that this spatial arrangement guided visitors from the iconic central exhibits toward the narrative periphery, fostering a layered experience that balances visual spectacle with scholarly depth.

3.5. Visitor Engagement with Immersive Experience

Regardless of any type of exhibit (scientific, art, environmental, historic, etc.), ambience is always a major design consideration and must be carefully created. Digital technologies allow curators to improve the educational effects and enhance experience quality by increasing sensations, emotions and cognition in the physical and virtual cultural tours. The incorporation of digital technologies that make the storytelling process effective [22] for multisensory museum experience [23] has been established through three distinct immersive experience designs developed for the independent exhibition halls: (a) “THE AGE OF TUTANKHAMUN”, featuring an immersive performance; (b) “THE SECRETS OF SAQQARA”, employing partial projection mapping; and (c) “THE LAND OF THE PHARAOHS”, utilizing interactive 360° projection.

Animated projection utilized in the second chapter, “THE SECRETS OF SAQQARA”, attracted a great deal of public attention. The section II ‘Bastet and Her Temple’ elaborated how cats transform from hieroglyphs, showing different states [see Figure 6]. The visitor can comprehend the Egyptian cosmological pursuit of order and harmony by comparatively observing the thematic evolution of feline motifs in ancient Egyptian art history. The interpretation of artifacts exhibited, and visual effects generated by projectors could enhance the understanding of the dual-aspect cat.

The extensive passages and chambers of the New Kingdom royal tombs had mirrored the Sun’s nocturnal journey, culminating in the burial chamber, where the rebirth of the solar deity and the king took place, as indicated in the texts and images on the walls [24]. Since the British archeologist Howard Carter successfully entered the tomb of Tutankhamun in the Valley of the Kings in 1922, the discoveries of the young pharaoh’s tomb not only enhance people’s understanding of royal funerary objects, as the luxury objects excavated for funerary rites are exhibited in Egyptian museums, but also provide many details about funerary rituals and resurrection. To reconstruct the magical processes of Tutankhamun’s posthumous resurrection, a 360° projection system is implemented in the Introduction Hall of “THE AGE OF TUTANKHAMUN”, and the multi-projectors resolve the visualization challenge of the exhibition narrative [see Figure 7]. Appendix B documented the narrative script of “The World of Tutankhamun” immersive experience tour.

Visitor comments collected from official WeChat accounts further confirmed that the usage of immersive digital installations, large-scale video projections, and digital walls enhanced visitors’ access to Egyptological knowledge. Many commenters explicitly praised the exhibition after visiting:

“I visited the exhibition just yesterday. It was truly breathtaking, such a magnificent glimpse into ancient Egyptian civilisation.”

“Now I understand how the pyramids were formed!”

“Hopefully there will be exhibitions of cultural relics from Ancient Greece, Ancient Rome and Ancient Babylon in the future.”

“Very creative.”

These findings suggest that alongside their role in artifact preservation, museum and digital technologies together serve as vehicles for heritage dissemination, a precondition for the people-centered curatorial approach.

3.6. Other Actions Relevant to People-Centered Endeavor

Viewing the development of Chinese museums through the lens of new museology, museums, as public service institutions, serve the broadest interests of the people and play a vital role in strengthening the construction of socialist spiritual civilization [25]. People-centered efforts should be made not only in the design of exhibitions but also in meeting the needs of their audiences. Shanghai Museum organized a series of activities aiming to enhance visitors’ sense of cultural experience, including “Meow Night” (where visitors could bring their pet cats), the immersive VR exhibition “Lost Pharaoh: Exploration of Khufu’s Pyramid”, and the “Shanghai Museum Cruise Ship” titled “From the Nile to the Huangpu River”. Such endeavors are crucial for expanding the dissemination of an international co-produced exhibition.

3.6.1. Museum Responsiveness on Social Media

Apart from feedback on the exhibition itself, some comments also revealed a direct interaction between visitors and the museum. In one thread, a visitor inquired “Are the prices for late-night sessions the same as regular evening sessions?” The museum’s official account responded with comprehensive information of pricing and discount policy. Such interaction not only reflects that this kind of attentive communication fosters trust and accessibility but also suggests that a “people-centered” approach ought to extend beyond exhibition design into everyday museum operations.

3.6.2. Tensions Between Curatorial Intentions and Visitor Experience

Nevertheless, not all visitor experiences aligned with curatorial goals, and tensions exist in contemporary museum practice, as indicated by one visitor’ comments:

“During my visit, tour guides kept bringing group after group to the exhibits, pushing visitors aside directly. This seriously disrupted the viewing experience of others. It would have been much better if visitors had just used audio guides instead.”

Such a disruptive experience indicates a contradiction in museum management: accommodating large tour groups and preserving the individual experience. Visitors’ suggestions on using audio guide reflect a group who desire a more equitable distribution of space, which resonates with the “people-centered” ethos but also reveals its practical challenges. As another visitor commented: “Will there be a registered tour guide in the future?” This question reflects that some visitors value the professional guidance, leading the discussion on “guided tour arrangement” to the next point.

In addition, the WeChat comment section also revealed visitor-to-visitor dialogue, demonstrating cultural consumers’ active participation in cultural venues.

A: “I suspect 90% of people don’t really get it, they’re just here for the photos.”

B: “Come on, that’s not fair. I believe most visitors would acquire some prior knowledge to a greater or lesser extent before their visit. Otherwise, they’d feel like they wasted their ticket money.”

It can be seen that visitors’ experiences of the exhibition are multi-layered, and even contradictory, this is precisely the complexity of the people-centered approach.

4. Discussion

On the practical level, this co-produced exhibition reveals how a cultural exhibition can be integrated into the public life of modern cities in a highly accessible, socially engaging, and broadly appealing manner.

4.1. Evaluation of the Visitor Attendance and Economic Benefits of Exhibition

Visitor numbers usually serve as a metric to measure the success of exhibitions [26]. Limited by the length of the article, the study compares three exhibitions: “Ramses & the Gold of the Pharaohs” held by the Australian Museum, “Tutankhamun: Treasures of the Golden Pharaoh” held at Grande Halle de la Villette in Paris, and the co-produced exhibition organized by the Shanghai Museum and the Supreme Council of Antiquities of Egypt. Figure 8 shows that Shanghai Museum recorded the highest number of visitors, reaching 2,777,966 in total [27]. This number is approximately twice that of the Grande Halle de la Villette (1,423,170) [28] and about 5.47 times higher than that of the Australian Museum (508,223) [29].

The discrepancy in the visitor numbers is primarily attributed to the exhibition period. The exhibition at the Shanghai Museum lasted 13 months, attracting 213,690 per month. By comparison, the Paris and Sydney exhibitions, each of which lasted merely 6 months, averaged 237,195 and 84,704 visitors per month respectively. While these figures indicate strong visitor interest in the Paris exhibition, Shanghai’s monthly attendance density was lower than that of Paris, despite its longer exhibition duration and higher overall visitor numbers. The reason is that Paris’s central location within Europe’s tourism network and its established reputation for blockbuster exhibitions may have contributed to its higher monthly attendance. Apart from the temporal and spatial factors, differences in city population, ticket pricing, and marketing context across the three venues should be acknowledged.

On the other hand, the exhibition developed by the Chinese universities, Shanghai Museum and Egyptian authorities reflects the role of exhibitions as sites of exchange in the political economy of art [30]. Special exhibitions offer museums ample opportunities to make money, one reason that a special exhibition seeks to attract consumers by presenting them with some extraordinary cultural experiences [31]. As shown in Figure 9, the number of Shanghai city’s domestic tourists visiting in 2024 reached its highest record [32,33,34], representing an annual increase of 19.6%. This demonstrates that the potential for cultural consumption can be unleashed through effective operation when public cultural organizations dedicate themselves to serving the broader public. Simultaneously, the increase in both visitor numbers and tourist revenue correlates with heightened expectations regarding service quality [35]. At both the institutional and global levels, the Shanghai Museum’s exhibition affirms the integration of Egyptological communities, highlighting the cohesive efforts undertaken by these groups and reinforcing the significance of collaborative activism of curators.

4.2. NPM: Visual Storytelling and Public Engagement in Art History Exhibitions

Assessing the exhibition through the lens of NPM, the narrative featuring broad, visually engaging cultural semiotics (e.g., pyramids, mummies, etc.) lays a foundation for visitors to explore deeper historical context, thus enhancing its accessibility. It is undeniable that curatorial practices centered on a single topic within art history have enriched the discipline. However, it is not a common practice for Chinese museums to organize large-scale public exhibitions with Egyptology as their core disciplinary focus. The “people-centered” approach bridges the gap between education and entertainment by prioritizing immediate visual elements and interactive engagement before introducing complex historical content, thereby increasing accessibility for casual visitors while retaining narrative depth for specialists. While each chapter of the exhibition outline focuses on a specific theme, the recurrence of historical periods and contexts reveals a shared understanding that the exhibition itself plays a crucial role in mediating the relationships among artifacts, scholarly discourse, institutions, and visitors.

4.3. From Excavation to Exhibition: Sino–Egyptian Collaboration Redefines Public Engagement

Participatory elements (e.g., digital re-interpretations, artifact replicas) make joint archaeological discoveries tangible and effectively reshape public perceptions of Ancient Egypt. As Zoi Popoli and Izabela Derda [36] pointed out, museums employ immersion to submerge visitors in the exhibition context and story can dissolve any disbelief and enhance the experience. However, it is necessary to examine the discourse construction behind this “seamless” experience: through the selection and recognition of archaeological materials, the exhibition is actually promoting a specific new narrative about ancient Egypt. The exhibition under discussion not only leverages Saqqara’s archaeological breakthroughs to catalyze the new narrative strategy but also democratizes access through immersive storytelling, sparking a dynamic scholarly public dialogue about Ancient Egypt’s evolving history. It is precisely through the participation and dialogue among museums, scholars, technology, and the public that the political economy of art is exposed—and with it, the cultural (even social and political) construction of artistic hierarchies and value [30].

4.4. Alignment with UNESCO Convention and UN Sustainable Development Goal 17 (SDG 17)

The complex system behind this blockbuster exhibition ON TOP OF THE PYRAMID has established a profound collaborative framework, which spanned curatorial narrative construction, temporary outgoing loans of collections, form design, technology application and public integration activities. China–Egypt jointly produced an exhibition that illustrates the principles of UNESCO’s World Heritage Convention (The Convention Concerning the Protection of the World Cultural and Natural Heritage). Its complex system of storytelling and display embodies the provisions of Article 27 of the Convention, which states that “States Parties to this Convention shall endeavor by all appropriate means, and in particular by educational and information programmes, to strengthen appreciation and respect by their peoples of the cultural and natural heritage defined in Articles 1 and 2 of the Convention” [37]. Through efforts to present the outstanding universal value of Egypt’s tangible and intangible heritage across the disciplines of history, art, and science, among other subjects, as well as the interplay among politics, economy, culture, and the environment, is shown.

The exhibition not only fulfills Article 27 of the Convention, but its transnational co-curation also provides a case study for examining SDG 17 (Partnership for the goals) in the cultural sector. The Egyptian museums’ collaboration with the Shanghai Museum embodies cross-border knowledge sharing, capacity building, and equitable representation of cultural heritage, aligning with Target 17.6 (Knowledge Sharing and Cooperation for Access to Science, Technology and Innovation). Secondly, the items displayed from the ‘China-Egypt Cultural Heritage Digitalization Survey and Research’ project proved that cross-organizational and multistakeholder collaboration for the creation of common goods is undisputed [38]. The collaboration between China and Egypt reflects Target 17.G (Enhancing the Global Partnership for Sustainable Development), it brought together national museums, cultural heritage authorities, and university researchers from both countries, to support the achievement of cross-cultural exhibition design. Last but not least, the high-quality, timely, and reliable academic information and authentic data enable visitors to access and appreciate the heritage values. This achievement can be understood through the lens of Target 17.H (Encourage Effective Partnerships).

However, the long-term sustainability of this form of collaboration between local expertise (Egypt) and global dissemination (Shanghai) remains an open question. It is currently unclear whether the partnership will be maintained beyond the lifespan of the project or evolve into an institutionalised mechanism for long-term cooperation. Firstly, the societal and international cross-sector partnership is project-based and time-limited, and there is little evidence that it has generated long-term institutional capacity-building on the Egyptian side, posing a challenge to Target 17.9 (Enhance SDG Capacity in Developing Countries). Secondly, decision-making authority over the exhibition narrative largely remains in the hands of the Chinese organisers. Behind potential contestations over the symmetry of knowledge exchange, there is an urgent need to establish effective multi-stakeholder coordination mechanisms. Thirdly, although Egyptian antiquities are protected under the World Heritage Convention and joint curatorial practices are gradually advancing, the exhibition’s rising popularity has placed additional pressure on the Chinese curatorial team, particularly in balancing the relationship between “conservation” and “exhibition”. Therefore, while the exhibition demonstrates the potential partnerships to advance the Sustainable Development Goals, it also highlights a gap between rhetorical commitments and practical implementation within such partnerships, an issue that warrants critical attention in heritage studies.

4.5. Limitations of the Study

The limitations of this study include the absence of quantitative validation, the exploratory nature of NPM, the lack of a detailed cooperative mechanism, and the case-specific context that limits generalizability. Regarding quantitative analysis, no experimental data were collected to statistically measure visitor outcomes. Secondly, the proposed NPM in this study remains an exploratory analytical lens; thus, further testing and refinement are imperative when applied to exhibitions with exotic narrative structures. Thirdly, this study relies on qualitative interviews with the curatorial team, and the details of cooperative mechanism are not elaborated. Last but not least, the institutional dynamics, cultural negotiations, and curatorial decisions documented here are shaped by unique historical and political circumstances. To some extent, the case-specific nature of the China–Egypt collaboration limits the transferability of the findings.

5. Conclusions

Shanghai Museum’s exhibition is a nascent attempt to make up for the absence of Egyptian collections in Chinese exhibitions. Current cooperative curatorial practices demonstrate that preserving the integrity of cultural relics is crucial, especially for exhibitions open to large audiences. Given the collaborative nature of modern museum exhibitions and the close working relationships between conservators and curators, co-produced exhibitions with conservators as facilitators represent an effective approach [39]. This model promotes collaborative conservation and collection care; enables the development of a communication strategy for collections stewardship; and fosters an integrated “Conservation-Exhibition-Safety” tripartite workflow. To translate these functions into practice, effective administrative arrangements are necessary to ensure proper management of the collections, their conservation and their accessibility to the public. Consequently, the exhibition’s outcomes were compared with the principles of the UNESCO Convention and the targets of SDG 17 to evaluate its alignment and contribution.

Effective narrative strategies characterized by people-centered endeavor during the entire exhibition duration also laid a foundation for the final economic and cultural outputs of the exhibition. If it had not been adopted, the utilization rate of exhibition space would have been affected due to the quantity of borrowed artifacts hardly being redesigned for real-time adjustment in a short period by management measures based on visitors’ needs. The results suggest that it is a recommendable practice to holistically incorporate the visitors’ prior knowledge and later feedback into the exhibition outline and critically consider visitors’ engagement to mitigate limitations on cultural communication for the generality of tourists. In particular, the curators interviewed highlighted the significant influence of “audience interaction” in attracting visitor attention and supporting engagement. Briefly, the NPM analytical lens, the people-centered approach, and cooperative elements identified here may offer valuable insights for other exhibitions, while the “Conservation-Exhibition-Safety” workflow provides a reference for integrating conservation into exhibition planning. Future case studies may focus on theory-building and explore how international co-curatorial exhibitions can establish an ideal relationship between hosts and guests [40] and examine how blockbuster exhibitions can facilitate sustainable development of regional tourism.