While most people are working from home during the latest COVID-19 outbreak in Shanghai, some employees of cultural venues are still at their workplace ensuring a continuity of operations, Zhang Kun reports.

The Shanghai Symphony Hall under lockdown, pictured by Wang Lu, a staff member stationed in the facility during the current outbreak. (PHOTO PROVIDED TO CHINA DAILY)

While museums, theaters and art centers in Shanghai have all been closed since the latest COVID-19 outbreak in early March, the venues are not devoid of people, as they allow workers to stay and ensure a continuity of essential operations such as security.

Shanghai Museum director Yang Zhigang was among the employees staying at the museum and two other affiliated locations－the technology center for the protection of cultural relics on Longwu Road, and the relics warehouse in Zhoupu town, Pudong district. Despite the lockdown, Yang hasn't been idle. On March 18, he livestreamed a tour of the museum's exhibition of donated cultural relics with Zhang Haiyan, an anchorwoman from Shanghai Television Station. The exhibition, kicked off on March 10, was forced to close because of the pandemic.

Our mission is to ensure the safety of relics, the lifeline of a museum.

Zhu Cheng, deputy Party secretary of Shanghai Museum

On March 31, Zhu Cheng, deputy Party secretary of the museum, took over Yang's role.

"Our mission is to ensure the safety of relics, the lifeline of a museum," says Zhu. "We also have to make sure that the museum carries out effective measures to contain the virus, so as to ensure everybody's health and safety."

Zhu says the museum was prepared in advance to deal with the situation. Since the pandemic started in 2020, the museum has stocked up on protective equipment for its staff.

"We bought a new batch of supplies in March when the current outbreak started in Shanghai," says Zhu. "According to museum operation protocols, every time people come in contact with material from outside, they have to change into a new suit. This means we go through many sets of protective gear."

Security staff members patrol the exhibition hall in the closed Shanghai Museum. (PHOTO PROVIDED TO CHINA DAILY)

On April 7, museum staff experienced an unusually busy day amid the lockdown as a batch of lacquer artworks had to be handed over to the museum. Yang, for example, had to monitor the entire process via a web conference and check the condition of the works. The artworks, he says, were loaned to a South Korean company for an exhibition in Seoul. The works returned to the Shanghai Museum on March 24 but were kept in a warehouse for 14 days due to the pandemic-containment measures.

A museum team laid cables and set up cameras to provide multiple parties involved in the project with high-resolution visuals to check the artworks remotely.

"We had to ensure not only smooth communication, but also high-resolution visuals as we needed to check every small detail during the inspection," Zhu says.

Through a web conference, the museum completes the official handover of a batch of lacquer art objects that went on exhibition abroad. (PHOTO PROVIDED TO CHINA DAILY)

In the afternoon when the handover started, some staff members of the museum had to open the packages to examine each object and compare it with reference photos.

"We would zoom in on the details so that the researchers who did the curatorial work and other colleagues at the storage department could examine them via video conference," says Zhu.

It took them more than four hours to thoroughly examine the 24 lacquer art pieces.

"I hope such successful operations can show our international colleagues that the Shanghai Museum is trustworthy, and we are determined to keep on with international communication," says Yang.

For some people, being locked down at the workplace is better than being cooped up at home. Wang Lu, head of logistics at the Shanghai Symphony Orchestra, is among those who have this sentiment.

"We have more space to move around at workplace than at home. We also have the company of our colleagues," says Wang, who has been living in the concert hall since March 31, with 19 other colleagues. "I often walk around the compound and take pictures of the concert hall."

The lobby of the museum, without the usual crowds of visitors. (PHOTO PROVIDED TO CHINA DAILY)

During this period, Wang has to manage the logistics and security teams. She also makes it a point to look after all living things in the office, from the plants on colleagues' desks to the pet fish swimming in a bowl in the director's office. To share her experience, Wang started a video blog showing scenes like the concert hall in lockdown, cherry blossoms in the yard, sunset from the roof of the concert hall, and birds flying over the clear sky above the building. Her 9-year-old son, who is locked down at home with her parents in Pudong, contributed by drawing colorful animals that are featured in the vlog.

"Some music lovers have told me how they miss the concert hall and attending live concerts. I just wanted to share some hope and warmth under the current situation," says Wang.

Another person stationed at a cultural venue is Wang Wanchun, Party secretary of the Shanghai Symphony Hall. During the lockdown, he has been supervising the protection of music score books in the library and instruments in the warehouse. All these items, he says, need to be kept in spaces with controlled humidity and temperature. Aside from the maintenance responsibilities, he keeps himself informed about the elderly musicians who have retired from the orchestra.

"We have more than 90 elderly people living in care centers, with their families or in hospitals in Shanghai and nearby suburbs," he says. "In trying times like these, we have to pay attention to their needs, have supplies delivered to them, and try to give timely assistance if any of them faces an emergency."

Contact the writer at zhangkun@chinadaily.com.cn