The book signing event had come to an end, but for Liang En and his companions, their trip to Japan was far from over. This was primarily because Liang En had received an invitation from the Louvre.
The invitation was for an international project, focusing on the exchange between various museums and archaeologists. The participants included not only private organizations but also some official institutions.
According to the inviter, this year's event was being held in Tokyo, Japan, over the next few days. For Liang En, attending the meeting was very convenient, which was why he chose to stay in Tokyo.
Thus, on the fifth day after the signing event, Liang En arrived at a conference room at the University of Tokyo to engage in discussions with scholars from around the world.
The content of this exchange was quite simple, centered around the management of non-profit museums. The hope was to open up new ideas through discussion.
One could say this was purely a discussion meeting, where everyone shared their opinions and looked to see if there were any suggestions suitable for their own situations.
After all, there were significant differences between museums, so a solution effective in one museum might have no positive impact, or even a negative one, in another.
Therefore, under such circumstances, the discussions were purely for the sake of exchanging ideas. Unless asked, no one would delve into specific operational details.
The first speakers were heads of several large and famous private museums. They shared their knowledge about museum management with the attendees.
However, after listening to three or four people, Liang En realized that most museum management strategies were fairly conventional.
In other words, the profitability of these museums had little to do with their management abilities but rather with their unique features. These advantages were irreplaceable.
Just like the museums Liang En managed. The reason for their good overall performance wasn't because of exceptional management but because their collections were irreplaceable.
Whether it was the works of Mucha or the treasures from the Atokaf ship, these items were essentially irreplaceable. Unfortunately, this fact wasn't good news for many people.
As the discussions progressed, Liang En also noticed some issues. Even for many well-established museums, operating in the new era wasn't an easy task.
For many museum operators, traditional management methods were outdated, but they didn't know how to use new ones. In such cases, they naturally attended these meetings hoping to gain some insights.
For instance, the National Museum in Iraq faced such problems. Its current environment was terrible from various perspectives, so it hoped to find a new path for its development.
"Thank you so much. Thanks to your previous help, we were able to locate the ancient city of Uruk and develop more financial resources." Recognizing Liang En, the museum director named Hussein shook his hand vigorously.
For this director, managing a museum in a war-torn country, he had witnessed countless artifacts lost. Therefore, he was deeply grateful to Liang En, a noble discoverer of history in every sense.
Moreover, the most important aspect for him was that with the discovery of Uruk and the attention it attracted, they gained more recognition and funding, which was crucial for a national museum.
More importantly, this attention meant more people focused on the site, which was invaluable for a country struggling to recover after war, bringing more opportunities.
"This is what I should do as a treasure hunter and historian," Liang En said seriously to the weathered museum director.
He understood how tough this job was for his counterpart. After all, Iraq was a country with a long history, but now it was in decline.
A weak nation protecting its treasures was incredibly difficult. In fact, during the war decades ago, the Iraqi museum was looted, and many important treasures were still missing overseas.
Even today, artifacts labeled with the Iraqi museum's tags could be found at underground auctions in the West, with these tags becoming a hallmark of certain items.
One key reason this museum director attended the meeting was to network with colleagues from various countries and call for the return of artifacts taken during the war.
Although legally this wasn't difficult, many things couldn't be solved by law alone. For example, retrieving artifacts from wealthy individuals was nearly impossible with legal means alone.
Without a doubt, those who bought these artifacts were rich, and getting artifacts back from them was as hard as a camel passing through the eye of a needle. The lawyers they could afford alone could create numerous obstacles.
However, this didn't mean such calls were ineffective. Given the current social climate, most wealthy individuals, except a few, were public figures. So, when publicly exposed for buying stolen goods, they often chose to return them.
This wasn't because they were particularly kind but because not returning these looted artifacts would bring immense public pressure, causing them greater losses.
Like the Iraqi museum director, many others attending the meeting had their own agendas. So, during meals and breaks, they sought out people they wanted to speak with.
For example, with the introduction of the Iraqi museum director, Liang En joined a discussion circle of people from Middle Eastern countries, exchanging ideas about artifact protection and relic searches.
When Liang En talked about searching for relics, everyone listened attentively. For them, finding relics was also crucial.
Unlike other countries, for these nations' artifact protectors and archaeologists, it was often necessary to quickly identify artifact locations and start excavations ahead of criminals.
In most countries, this would be considered incorrect because excavations could damage artifacts. Thus, most excavations were merely rescue operations.
But in these chaotic countries, if they didn't dig out the artifacts first, they would have to watch these precious items get stolen and leave the country forever.
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