Society

Einstein exhibition still possible in Shanghai

(Xinhua)
Updated: 2011-06-10 09:03

SHANGHAI - A Swiss diplomat said Thursday that although the Historical Museum of Bern canceled its Einstein exhibition at the Shanghai Science and Technology Museum (SSTM), the city still has a chance to hold the show at another venue.

Thomas Schneider, deputy consul general and head of Culture Section with the Swiss Consulate General in Shanghai, said that he regrets the cancellation and that the Bern museum has contacted other exhibition venues in Shanghai.

According the the Swiss museum's original plan, Shanghai is scheduled as the final city of the exhibition's four-city tour in China following Beijing, Guangzhou and Hong Kong.

Schneider said the museum attaches importance to Shanghai as part of the tour because it's where Albert Einstein officially learned that he had won the 1921 Nobel Prize for Physics.

On Thursday, the Swiss Federal Department of Foreign Affairs made an official statement on the cancellation of the exhibition at the SSTM.

The statement said the exhibition has been successfully organized in Beijing, Guangzhou and now in Hong Kong, but unfortunately negotiations with SSTM didn't yield an agreement.

According to the statement, the supporting Swiss partners of the exhibition are open to other venues in Shanghai or another city.

Zhang Binsheng, director of the managing office of the SSTM, said Thursday that the museum had previously made an oral agreement to host the exhibition.

Discussions between the two museums began in 2007. In 2008, according to Zhang, the SSTM proposed merging the Einstein exhibition with one encompassing the life and achievements of ancient Chinese philosopher Confucius as a way to showcase dialogues between great minds from the East and West.

At that time, Zhang said, the Bern museum's curator and two Swiss diplomats in Shanghai praised the idea, which led to a verbal agreement.

According to Zhang, the two museums held talks again in May 2009. However, the SSTM was told by the Swiss museum, which had a new curator, that merging the two exhibitions was unacceptable.

Then in 2010, after several rounds of negotiations, Zhang said, the Swiss side decided the exhibition would not be held at the SSTM.

The Einstein exhibition, a showcase of the life and major achievements of the great Jewish physicist, was held in Beijing from June 1 to Oct 6 last year. Hong Kong is currently hosting it until the end of August.