From disused cinema to theatre of consumption: construction and experience of nostalgic cultural consumption in Zhuhai, China

This paper examines a nostalgia-shaped commodification and cultural consumption and examines how the revitalisation of an old cinema into Zhuhai Old Warehouse is caught in webs of reappropriation of local and regional heritage. Specifically, we examine how the founders and collaborators of the revitalisation of an old cinema into a nostalgic cultural hub and shop drew on a constellation of cultural symbols and transformed the site into a key symbolic landscape. We argue that an eclectic set of nostalgic motifs has been used in a capitalistic pursuit and that the re-appropriation of the space has resulted in a symbolic and commercial consumptive landscape. The focus on a retro theme at the expense of other cultural elements was found to have produced a sanitised space for wanghong/aestheticised tourism and visual consumption. Through an analysis of materials concerning the development of the site and of tourist experience, we found that there is a misalignment of what the owners, business operators and visitors want and that an alignment with a more representative set of local and regional motifs and identities is crucial for a buy-in from visitors and stakeholders and vital for the cultural and social sustainability of the place.