In 1960, a group of exiled students created a magazine called Spark that sought to explain the authoritarianism that underlay the Great Famine of 1958-61. The magazine was quickly suppressed and the students sent to labour camps. When the students were rehabilitated twenty years later, one obtained copies of the magazine and their correspondence with each other. She photographed her file and the emergence of digital technologies in the 1990s transformed these “stored” memories into “functional” memories (A. Assmann). The photos shared as PDFs enabled members of the group to write detailed memoirs. Soon, word began to spread more broadly about a magazine that had explored China’s closed political system. Inspired by the material, one of China’s most prominent underground documentary filmmakers, Hu Jie, made two films about the group: “Searching for Lin Zhao’s Soul” (2004), and “Spark” (2013). The grave of the most famous member of the group, the poet Lin Zhao, also became a pilgrimage for Chinese dissidents. Through Spark we can see how a form of collective memory has evolved among independent Chinese intellectuals. The paper also suggests some methodological imperatives for working in authoritarian countries.

This chapter argues that netizens’ memory work is essential for the production of digital memory in the history of the internet in China. In the first decade of China's internet history, from the mid-1990s to the mid-2000s, Chinese netizens' digital memory work was future-oriented and forward-looking. They curated and archived internet content in the hope of improving their use of the internet and building a better future for the nation. Beginning in the mid-2000s, as large numbers of popular websites were closed in government crackdowns, netizens began to produce nostalgic memories of disappeared websites as they lamented their digital loss. Their digital memory work became more backward-looking. Since then, efforts to curate and archive digital content have persisted, as netizens become increasingly wary of the ephemerality of online content. Most recently, the lockdown of Wuhan at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 witnessed an extraordinary boom of digital memory, showing the many creative ways in which netizens practice their work of digital curating and remembering.

In the wake of Xi Jinping’s Sinicization campaign, “Arab style” mosques have faced demolition and had their minarets and domes removed. Against the backdrop of diminishing space for religious practices in China, digital platforms provide an important venue for religious activities. Transcending geographical boundaries, Internet usage enables Hui Muslims to maintain and reinforce the collective memory of their heritage, tracing back to Arab, Persian, and Central Asian merchants. This chapter analyses social media content on WeChat surrounding the demolition of the Weizhou Grand Mosque in Ningxia in 2020 and the Dongguan Grand Mosque in Qinghai in 2021. I argue that digital media play a vital role in reproducing, preserving, and sharing collective memories of mosques that have been demolished as a result of the current Sinicization of Islam. The materials indicate that the mosques are not only important symbols of the Muslim community but also function as carriers of memory of common ancestry and belonging to the global Muslim community. Thus, by archiving, sharing, and experiencing videos of the Weizhou and Dongguan Grand Mosques on social media collectively, Hui Muslims create an Islamic counterpublic to the curating state and voice their discontent with the current Sinicization campaign.

This chapter examines queer memory in Queer China, “Comrade” China (dir. Cui Zi'en, 2008), Our Story (dir. Yang Yang, 2011), We Are Here (dir. Shi Tou and Jing Zhao, 2016) and Shanghai Queer (dir. Chen Xiangqi, 2019) - four independent Chinese documentaries made by queer-identifying filmmakers who all strived to preserve China's queer memory in the post-Mao era. However, due to the filmmakers’ gender and sexual subjectivities, as well as the historical and social contexts in which these films were made, the documentaries remember China's queer history in different ways. Contesting dominant, heteronormative and even homonormative narratives of Chinese memory by constructing alternative community and collective memories, these mediations testify to the heterogeneity of queer people's voices and experiences, as well as the overdetermination of queer memory as a result of a contingent assemblage of factors such as time, place, technology and the filmmakers’ gender and sexual subjectivities. This chapter argues that these multiple queer memories not only challenge the hegemony of a curating state and its construction of an official memory in which queer people do not have a place; they also point to the fragmentary and contested nature of queer memory, which defies a singular narrative, in a contemporary, digital context.

Drawing on Halbwachs, this chapter explores the interplay between urban development and the material politics of memory in the historic district of Gulou, north-east of the Forbidden City in Beijing. By closely examining the effects of successive urban renewal projects led by the local authorities, it contrasts the state’s curation of collective memory, cultural heritage and historical narratives with the thickness of memory, characterised by the coexistence of different realities and ‘fragments’ within the same spatial realm. In 2010, authorities enforced a late Qing historical map to remodel to city’s current form. This directive not only legitimised a particular representation of the city, but also concretely led to the destruction of the urban fabric. The programmed erasure of Gulou’s historical fabric triggered analogue and digital initiatives aimed at preserving the community’s collective memory. This digitisation of Gulou’s collective memory is evident in the platforms, blogs, newsletters and social media groups where residents and local professional associations recorded, mapped and preserved cultural heritage and everyday life. The importance of digital tools became evident when traditional analogue methods such as ethnographic fieldwork and quantitative surveys proved insufficient in effectively reinforcing Gulou’s collective memory to counter the state narrative.

This chapter examines the discursive and social dynamics surrounding the term “correct collective memory,” which was initially introduced by a spokesperson for the Chinese Foreign Ministry as a response to misinformation during the COVID-19 pandemic. The term subsequently gained popularity on social media platforms within China. By contextualizing the public discourse surrounding this term as a case study in metadiscourse on collective memory, the chapter elucidates how the term has been received by Chinese netizens and its evolution into a catchphrase employed in various contexts. This analysis reveals the fluidity of meanings associated with memory within the digital landscape of Chinese cyberspace. The expression has been critiqued as Orwellian newspeak and has emerged as a rhetorical device in counter-hegemonic discursive practices to challenge state-sanctioned narratives. This discourse highlights the limitations of the curating state and illustrates a shift in focus among social media users, who increasingly prioritize personal memory over collective memory. Users employ screenshots to create a floating archive of pandemic experiences while persistently recounting alternative or vernacular narratives that reflect their individual experiences during the pandemic.

While the Xinjiang region has received international media attention as the site of the CCP’s systematic repression of Muslim minorities, the region is celebrated as a ‘wonderland’ in Chinese media, referred to as the ‘real Xinjiang’. We explore this ‘real Xinjiang’ as a ‘remediation’, drawing on etymological connotations of ‘curation’ as ‘curing’. The ‘real Xinjiang’ is meant to ‘cure’ criticism of the CCP’s policies, and create a politically correct, ‘accurate’ version of the region. Analysing media spectacles, simulacral tourist spaces, and tourist photography (including self-photography in ‘ethnic costume’), we explore the hyperreality of this ‘real Xinjiang’. Drawing on interviews with Chinese tourists and virtual ethnography, we draw attention to the role of tourists in creating digital images diffused across online spaces, constituting perhaps one of the most significant, unofficial, forms of curation. But rather than constituting a counter-hegemonic form, we argue tourists and their photography actively reinforce the CCP’s narrative. The promotion of tourism is an attempt to construct a common recollection and archive of ‘beautiful Xinjiang’, mobilized against foreign criticism but also the possibility of minorities or others challenging the narrative that the CCP has made Xinjiang a better place.

While internet technology began to emerge in China during the 1990s, it is only in recent years that the Baiku Yao ethnic minority, residing in the remote mountainous regions of southwestern China, have begun to adopt social media as a regular part of their lives. This chapter explores the impact of social media on the formation and curation of the cultural memory of the Baiku Yao minority by examining how media power has been involved in transforming the Baiku Yao traditional costume into an intangible cultural heritage (ICH) within the context of the curating state. The ethnographic data presented in this chapter demonstrate that the digital self- representation of the Baiku Yao community, as shaped by external actors such as state authorities, mainstream media and tourist companies, serves to reinforce pre-existing definitions of Baiku Yao identity. However, the use of social media by the Baiku Yao community enables them to articulate their own perspectives and advocate for their own interests, thereby facilitating the contestation of cultural and identity representations that do not align with their community’s interests. This process ultimately contributes to the defence of their own ethnic community's interests and benefits.

Numerous short videos circulating on Chinese social media platforms depict the countryside as a nostalgic place offering an escape from the challenges of urban life. This chapter explores one of the programmes collecting and curating such videos—Douyin’s Rural Guardians—and finds a surprising extent of collaboration with the political sphere. Based on walkthroughs on the programme’s account site and a qualitative content analysis of its videos, the chapter sheds light on the nature of this collaboration and asks about the consequences of such hybridization of the “curating state” for memory-making on social media. Our analysis of the Rural Guardians as a “living archive” shows how the co-curated programme co-opts a popular genre and its micro-celebrities and makes use of the logics of attention economy to produce and curate digital memories that foster both economic consumption and political mobilization. By re-branding the countryside as a place of historic continuity, cultural heritage, and economic promises, these memories seem to alter the long-standing discourse of “backwardness” of rural areas. However, they remain entrenched in the dependency on the urban consumer and ultimately reinforce the party-state discourse of rural development by civilizing the rural population through the backdoor.

Videos of people gnawing frozen potatoes have gone viral on the video-sharing platform Douyin. Chinese films and TV series have historically been powerful mediums for visualising and remembering wartime stories, but social media and audience interactions indicate an innovative propaganda strategy by the state. This chapter illustrates how the Chinese curating state is innovatively orchestrating practices of war memory consumption through the example of potato patriotism. Gnawing on frozen potatoes and/or watching related video content on Douyin is an example of consuming patriotism, re-enacting collective memories of the Korean War. In this chapter, I analyse the extent to which potato patriotism serves as a memorialising practice to commemorate the Korean War. I analyse how Douyin promotes memory consumption practices and hybridises content creators through video content and online comments, focusing on patriotic narratives. The consumption of both potatoes and curated memories aims at re-experiencing the wartime hardships and the “glorious” overcoming of great challenges—emphasising the CCP’s contributions to the quest for a better life. Netizens engage with these curated memories of the Korean War in different ways, illustrating the potential of digital platforms as digital memory infrastructures that enable decentralised consumption deeply penetrating the everyday lives of Chinese citizens.

This study explores the transformative potential of smart museums and their impact on heritage curation, focusing on three cultural institutions in Hangzhou, Zhejiang, China. Through interviews with 40 stakeholders—including museum professionals, cultural technology experts and local officials—the research uncovers emerging discourses and challenges in the context of contemporary Chinese smart museums. The findings suggest that smart museums can significantly broaden their informational scope by collaboratively developing big data platforms, which enhances the collection and interpretation of heritage information through digitization. By leveraging an Internet of Things (IoT) framework, smart museums facilitate seamless information exchange across time, linking ancient heritage with modern narratives. Moreover, the study highlights how artificial intelligence and algorithms enable the deconstruction and reconstruction of traditional knowledge, leading to semantic expansion and the integration of digitized heritage content. This process fosters new understandings of heritage while promoting innovative digital aesthetics and business models. However, the research emphasizes the importance of addressing ethical considerations surrounding technology use in smart museums, particularly the balance between risks and reflections. Ultimately, this paper sheds light on the potential of smart museums to reshape the museum industry while also acknowledging the challenges they present.

The sociology and sociality of film spectatorship remain an understudied field; but the consensus of the research which does exist on this topic is that watching together is the most meaningful mode. If spectatorship has a scale of value, its zenith lies with Bollywood filmgoers, whose participatory audience style turns film theatres into pulsating spaces of performance in their own right. This point holds particularly true of filmmaking which revives memories of repressed pasts: active spectatorship in the shared space of a darkened film theatre is typically taken as the most effective way to resurrect buried remembrance. By contrast, watching films alone is considered sad sport, especially since the advent of streaming has ushered in borderline pathological practices of binge-watching: lonely marathon spectatorship that researchers have linked to insomnia, depression, anxiety and disordered eating. This paper explores digital documentaries from China to suggest the opposite. It argues that solitary spectatorship has hugely expanded as the state has cracked down on public exhibition of independent film and as Covid-19 has fragmented audiences further into states of isolated confinement. And as technologies from hand-held camcorders to responsive touchscreen devices to grid-view videotelephony platforms narrow the distance between documentary subjects and their viewers, the meanings of watching alone in an increasingly haptic digitized mediascape are changing. More than this, solitude itself is not simply the state of forlorn atomization from others. It can also be a time of generative reflection during which lone spectatorship acquires even more meaning, particularly when the topic of filmmaking is politically provocative. As suggested by the Shanghai lockdown video, Voices of Spring (2022), it may even be connected to vital expressions of online and offline activism.

Digitalisation is transforming the curation of collective memory in China. Combining insights from different Chinese sectors, sites and communities, this book brings together a series of case studies that illustrate the party state, citizens and other curatorial actors engage in the making of memory and heritage through digital means. We propose these practices and counter-practices as contests within the hegemonic control of the curating state over collective memory and official history. In China, as elsewhere, the making of collective memory involves multiple micro and macro dynamics and interactions between different materials, resources and infrastructures, with the authoritarian curating state by far the most powerful actor. By addressing three curatorial fields – selection and archival storage, representation and exhibition, and the design and regulation of consumption – we set out a framework for future research into how, a curating state deploys goals of homogeneous memory amidst the heterogeneity of digital curatorial practices. We conclude the volume by returning to our introductory questions: how is digitisation transforming and expanding curatorial practices in China beyond official state actors? And what contests and ‘memory struggles’ over archiving, representing and remembering the past are taking place at the nexus of state, market, society and technology?