A DIALOGUE WITH LIFE

In May 2026, VAVESTUDIO, together with Sinovac Group and a medical history team led by Professor Cheng Zhen from Peking University's School of Health Humanities, launched MY MUSEUM - China's first privately initiated, corporate-funded immersive science museum integrating life sciences, philosophy, and art. As the core Space Experience Design team, VAVESTUDIO transformed this museum from an abstract academic concept into a space where every "I" can truly encounter, converse with, and reflect upon themselves.

The Concept

At the entrance of the Temple of Apollo in ancient Greece, an inscription reads: "Know thyself." This fundamental philosophical proposition has spanned millennia and continues to trouble us today - who am I? Where do I come from? Where am I going?

Life science offers part of the answer. It holds facts about evolution, genetics, disease, and aging. As science and medical technology grow ever more advanced, we learn more and more about the "I" as a material object - yet we can never quite put down that question inside: who is this "I" who is breathing, living, and still asking questions? How do I know myself? What kind of life do I intend to live? How do I live with myself?

MY MUSEUM exists for these questions. It does not provide answers. The space opens a dialogue, allowing every visitor to engage in a conversation with life.

The Narrative Structure

The narrative of the entire space unfolds in a double helix structure. One strand carries the popular science knowledge of life sciences: the history of human evolution, the structure of the human genome, the physical characteristics of the human body, and pivotal events in medical history. The other strand is embedded within it, pursuing philosophical propositions: about existence, about meaning, about time and death, about what "I" truly is.

The two narrative strands intertwine like the two strands of DNA: science is the visible skeleton, philosophy is the information flowing within it. In the depths of each exhibition zone, a more intimate question echoes.

MY MUSEUM comprises 4 sections, 7 major exhibition zones, 23 multimedia interactive experience installations, and 74 interactive content points - with "the person" as the narrative subject and life science as the narrative content, opening up self-knowledge and reflection on value and meaning through the exploration of life.

Seven Exhibition Zones: Threads of Life

MY MUSEUM comprises 4 sections, 7 major exhibition zones, 23 multimedia interactive experience installations, and 74 interactive content points - with "the person" as the narrative subject and life science as the narrative content, opening up self-knowledge and reflection on value and meaning through the exploration of life.

The Experience

In a darkened space, language transforms into symbols drifting in disorder, forming string after string of questions about "I." Each visitor will encounter here a question about life that has long lingered in their mind. With that question, the journey of exploration begins.

4.6 billion years of evolutionary history are compressed into 365 days, with humanity making its entrance on December 31st. Standing at the end and looking back: I turn out to be one link in a chain stretching back billions of years. The first tool, the first flame, the birth of writing, the accumulation of civilization - the evolutionary calendar of life and the milestones of human history unfold one by one the historical picture of "where I come from."

A mirror maze of shifting light and shadow envelops you, simulating that moment of "glimpsing" - when a microscope was first trained on a cell, when ultrasound first penetrated skin. Scientists say that "I" is a body that can be observed, measured, and analyzed. Yet we inhabit it without necessarily knowing it well.

No specimens, no charts - only "theatricalized" fragments of life: a childhood in a playroom, a face reflected in a bathroom mirror that has strangely changed, moments of locking oneself away in solitude, and the reflections of looking back on a whole life in old age.

Throughout life, we experience illness, growth, and aging. Life is never perfect, and we are always learning to coexist with it.

If mastering fire was the origin of civilization, then the development of medicine is the mark of civilization reaching maturity. Pick up the receiver - a record engraved with humanity's history of fighting disease will tell you of a hero's courage, the desolation of failure, and the elation of breakthrough.

The cycling of solar terms and the semicircular axis of smallpox's eradication dramatize the life wisdom of humanity resonating in harmony with nature. The pursuit of betterment is the most ancient instinct inscribed on every "I."

Inside a "life archive," people of different ages and from different regions share their memories and understanding of life and love. Life is like a journey, and each suitcase holds memories of the past and reflections on the value of life. We gradually transcend the purely biological realm of the human body and begin to converse with the "I" within consciousness.

Gray, still, and vast, with only a long narrow window opening. Through the glass, you can barely make anything out. Step closer - the mist slowly dissipates, and what appears beyond the glass seems to be a towering human figure. Draw nearer, and it blurs again; step back half a pace, and it comes into focus once more. Where to go from here? This is the life question that belongs to each person. There are no answers here - only the voice of one's own inner self to listen to.

The Wristband

Stepping into MY MUSEUM, each visitor first receives a personalized wristband at the entrance: enter your name, and it becomes your one-of-a-kind pass to this journey. Thereafter, scan your wristband at the entrance of each exhibition area to unlock the exploration path, and activate experiences at interactive points.

Every pause and every choice you make is quietly recorded along the way. When the journey comes to an end, a unique "My Report" awaits you. It is not an answer, but rather the imprint this conversation has left upon you.

The Space and Its Sculpture

MY MUSEUM is located on the second floor of Tower T6 at Sinovac Life City, with an art gallery occupying the first floor. The two spaces are not neighbors by coincidence - they share a common medium: imagination.

The monumental mirrored figurative sculpture Prophecy, created by artist Jing Xiaolei, runs through both floors and is the concrete manifestation of this relationship. It stands between rational science and art full of creative force, belonging fully to neither, yet simultaneously reflecting both.

Different exhibition zones within MY MUSEUM each have window openings facing toward it. Looking thus becomes a two-way dialogue: you gaze at Prophecy, and Prophecy reflects you back. You observe life, and life shines into your consciousness.