ICOM - Disaster Relief for Museums

Sichuan - China

Statements of Chinese Authorities on Museums: More than 6 billion yuan will be required to restore relics damaged. [Including heritage sites] [Heritage sites:] A total of 169 relics under State protection and 250 under provincial or municipal protection are known to have been severely damaged.
Another 2,766 relics in museums, including 292 precious ones, were damaged. (June 6)
According to first statistics, 60 museums, memorial halls and store houses for collections have been damaged. 15.000 precious items were destroyed, 27 museums and 17 folklore villages sustained severe damages. (Chinese Cultural Ministry, June 17)
Chinese ICOM National Committee

List of Museums in the affected area
There are 55 museums in this province, about half of them situated within 100 km of the epicentre. By August 5, ICOM Disaster Relief Task Force could gather information on the type of damage from 10 Sichuan museums. The list will be updated as soon as new information is available.

Museum	Damage or Loss
Du Fu Thatched Cottage Museum in Chengdu	Staff
	Building	Roofs of some buildings were broken and some walls had cracks
	Collection
	Other
	Reopening:	14 June 2008
	Website:	http://www.dfmuseum.org.cn/english/main_dfct.asp

Museum	Damage or Loss
Dujiangyan Irrigation Museum (part of UNESCO World Heritage Site)	Staff
	Building	Store house damaged
	Collection	immediately evacuated (protection from rain)
	Other
	Reopening:
	Website:

Museum	Damage or Loss
Jinsha Site Museum in Chengdu	Staff
	Building
	Collection	A small amount of ancient pots were smashed
	Other
	Reopening:
	Website:	http://www.jinshasitemuseum.com/nye/bwggk.htm

Museum	Damage or Loss
Li Bai Memorial in Jiangyou	Staff
	Building	60 % of the museums buildings damaged, especially pillars and roof
	Collection	only a few antiquities were harmed; on May 19 collections were transferred by staff and police (protection from rain)
	Other
	Reopening:	Rebuilding on site or relocation is being discussed; reopening in 2011
	Report:	http://english.peopledaily.com.cn/90001/6431225.html

Museum	Damage or Loss
Mianyang Administration for Cultural Heritage	Staff
	Building
	Collection	had to be moved out of the storage house, because the Tangjiashou quake lake threatened the city. They were brought to nearby Sanxingdui Museum in Guanghan
	Other
	Reopening:
	Website:

Museum	Damage or Loss
Qiang Ethnic Museum in Maoxian	Staff
	Building	Exhibition halls were severely damaged.
	Collection	safely transferred to Jinsha Site Museum in Chengdu
	Other
	Reopening:
	Website:

Museum	Damage or Loss
Qiang Folk Museum in Beichuan	Staff
	Building	completely levelled
	Collection	most of the exhibits were buried in the ruins, 805 were lost
	Other
	Reopening:
	Website:

Museum	Damage or Loss
Sichuan Science and Technology Museum in Chengdu	Staff
	Building	Some damage
	Collection
	Other
	Reopening:	1 June 2008
	Website:

Museum	Damage or Loss
Wolong Giant Panda Museum	Staff	5 staff member died; all 34 foreign visitors were saved by helicopter
	Building	most of panda facilities have been destroyed
	Collection
	Other	1 panda died, 2 injured, 6 escaped, 77 stayed there safe
	Reopening:	Staff and most panda were temporarily transferred to Bifengxia panda preservation base. Authorities decided to move on future to a safer place within the reserve and to build until 2015 a new panda centre including educational facilities
	Report:	http://www.chinagiantpanda.com/pandanews.htm

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