Chongqing Museums after the Upheaval: Exhibitions in the Wake of the Three Gorges Dam Migrations

In the past twenty years, the Chongqing Municipality in China has experienced major social and territorial transformations. Created in 1997 as an autonomous administrative entity, it was partly formed to address the massive migration caused by the building of the Three Gorges Dam. This article explores how museums in the municipality’s cities of Chongqing, Wanzhou and Yunyang were developed after the Dam’s disruptions. Extensive ethnographic fieldwork identified the museum techniques that aimed to cope with the recent changes. Innovations included presentations of the pain suffered by migrants, and the reinvention of regional history based on former migrations and an ancient kingdom elevated to serve as the cradle of Chongqing culture.