Meet the man behind the Dinosaurs of China exhibition

Pioneering research by a University of Nottingham academic has transformed museums in China, laying the foundation for the exclusive Dinosaurs of China exhibition which is coming to the city. The forthcoming exhibition has emerged from the research carried out by Dr Wang Qi, an Assistant Professor in Architecture, who specialises in exhibition and museum design. He studies architectural language and how buildings deliver meaning to the public through their space and entities. Dr Wang's research, which first began in 2009 in the Natural History Museum, is based on the hypothesis that architectural space - how is it perceived and experienced by the user - and exhibition narrative (storytelling) which, when combined, can provide an enhanced visitor and learning experience. This gave rise to a case study on the linguistics and architecture of the Natural History Museum, and it enabled him to set up research links with the Palaeozoological Museum of China (PMC) and the Institute of Vertebrate Palaeontology and Palaeoanthropology (IVPP) of China. Spurred on by his lifelong passion for palaeontology and biology, in 2011, Dr Wang was able to further develop his research at the invitation of Dr Wang Yuan, the Director of PMC, who asked him to redesign the museum's internal space in a bid to revitalise and update its offerings. One of the key findings that emerged from Dr Wang Qi's research in China, was the absence of curators who could showcase the museum's collections in a way that makes them accessible and engaging to the general public.