Durham enters partnership with iconic Palace Museum

Durham University and China's Palace Museum have signed an agreement, bringing together these two world-renowned centres of research and cultural excellence for the first time. The agreement is the first between the Palace Museum and an English university. World leading research and collections The new partnership has developed from research currently being undertaken between the University's Department of Archaeology and experts from the Palace Museum in Beijing, into early examples of Chinese porcelain found in Europe. The research aims to reveal more about the trading history of China as far back as the tenth Century AD. The agreement will see the Department of Archaeology, which was ranked fifth in the world in the 2016 QS World University Subject Rankings , working closely with experts at the Palace Museum on research in areas such as the distribution of ancient Chinese cultural artefacts in the Middle East and Europe. Opportunities for collaboration on teaching in areas including museums and heritage will also be explored. Specialists in museum curation and exhibitions from both the Palace Museum and the University's Oriental Museum will also have the opportunity to share expertise on exhibition planning and cultural engagement.