大英博物館成網店界網紅

Gift shops in museums used to be the last stop of each visit, where people would buy souvenirs for themselves and their friends. But what happened last month when the British Museum opened its online store on Chinese e-commerce website Tmall says otherwise.

博物館禮品店過去是觀光游覽的最后一站，人們會在那兒給自己和朋友們買點紀念品。但上個月大英博物館在中國電商網站天貓上開設了網店，情形就截然不同了。

The store has become so popular since its launch on July 1 that some of its items have already sold out. It’s even more interesting considering the fact that many of its customers in China have probably never even been to the museum before.

大英博物館網店自7月1日開張以來便大受歡迎，一些商品已經售罄。而更有意思的是，不少中國顧客實際上從未去過大英博物館。

Perhaps French museum expert Diane Drubay made a good point when she said that gift shops have become “a point of entry to the museum”, as she told The New York Times. “Instead of being the last place people go after a visit, it can be the first.”

法國博物館專家黛安·德呂貝或許提出了一個很好的觀點，她在接受《紐約時報》采訪時表示，禮品店已經成為了“博物館的一個入口”。“它可以成為人們游覽的首站，而非最后一站。”

But you’re probably still wondering: What is it about museum gift shops that makes them so different?

但你或許還想知道：究竟是什么讓博物館禮品店如此與眾不同?

Each museum product contains a small piece of history. For example, in the British Museum store there are different kinds of sticky tape printed with patterns inspired by the famous Rosetta Stone. Known as the “key to ancient Egyptian writing”, the stone was discovered in 1799, and contains an inscription that helped historians better understand some of the most mysterious Egyptian scripts. And in the gift shops of China’s Palace Museum, there are earphones inspired by the necklaces worn by ancient officials, which may also indicate the wearer’s position with the beads’ different materials and colors.

每件博物館的紀念品中都藏著一小段歷史。比如，大英博物館商店里就有各種印有著名的羅塞達石碑圖案的膠帶。該石碑發(fā)現于1799年，其上的碑銘有助于歷史學家們更好地理解一些最為神秘的埃及手稿，被稱為“解讀埃及文字的鑰匙”。而故宮禮品店中售賣的耳機則是受到了古代大臣們佩戴的朝珠啟發(fā)，不同等級的大臣佩戴不同材質和顏色的朝珠。

And with the design evolving over the years, museum products are no longer limited to exhibition catalogs to be put on the bookshelf or duplicates of famous paintings to be hung on the wall. They now mean items that we can put to use every day - glasses, jewelry, cushion covers - which means we’re able to not only “own” a piece of history, but also hold it in our hands, wear it on our neck, or even sleep on it.

這些年來隨著設計的不斷進步，博物館商品也不再僅限于放在書架上的展覽目錄或是掛在墻上的名畫復制品。它們如今都是我們每天會使用的物件 —— 玻璃杯、首飾、坐墊 —— 這意味著我們不光能“擁有”一段歷史，還能將其握在掌心，戴在脖子上，甚至睡在上面。

Indeed, museum shops are no longer just about selling things. As US museum store consultant Geoff Walsky once told Gift Shop Magazine, “A great museum gift shop is an extension of the museum itself.”

的確，博物館商店不再僅僅是售賣商品。正如美國博物館商店顧問杰夫·瓦爾斯基在接受《禮品店》雜志采訪時表示，“一家不錯的博物館禮品店是博物館本身的延伸。”