Journey of a Century: From the Forbidden City to the Palace Museum

2025 marks the 100th anniversary of the foundation of the Palace Museum in Beijing. Using archival and recent photographs, this exhibition will present the transformative 100 years of the Palace Museum from an imperial palace complex to a public institution that serves as a museum, research centre, cultural tourist attraction, historic palace complex, and World Heritage Site.  

Through a chronological journey, this exhibition begins with a brief overview of the Forbidden City as the imperial court and residence of 24 emperors for over 5oo years. The founding of the Palace Museum in 1925 took place during a time of drastic political and social transformation in China from imperial dynasty to Republic. The early development on extensive cataloguing, conservation, public outreach and international network building laid solid foundation. During Japan’s invasion of China (1931-1945), the Museum staff proactively undertook considerable measures to safeguard the collection through large-scale relocations. Following the founding of People’s Republic of China in 1949, major building preservation and collection review projects have been launched since the 1950s. In the 21st century, the Palace Museum has increasingly engaged with the public and advanced scholarship, while continuing its longstanding commitment to international collaboration, establishing itself as a globally renowned cultural institution.  

This show will be the first collaborative exhibition following the renewal of the MOU between Durham University and the Palace Museum in July 2023. The institutional partnership began in 2016 and has seen mutually benefitted projects on knowledge exchange, academic collaboration, student training and mobility, professional development, and public engagement and impact.

Durham celebrates the renewal of our strategic partnership with the Palace Museum Beijing - Durham University 

Strengthening our partnership with the Palace Museum, Beijing - Durham University 

The physical exhibition at the Oriental Museum is complemented by an online showcase in both English and Chinese languages, broadening public access to the Palace Museum’s history