This research note outlines the theoretical and methodological foundations of an ongoing project on art museums in China, developing an interdisciplinary framework that combines Digital Humanities tools with qualitative and digital ethnographic approaches. It conceptualizes museums as contested spaces where cultural, political, and identity narratives are constructed, negotiated, and projected across domestic and international contexts, and as active agents within broader dynamics of cultural production and soft power. The project is grounded in an empirical case study, the exhibition “Imported Oil Painting. A Retrospective Exhibition of the Maksimov Oil Painting Training Program at CAFA (1955–1957)”, through which it examines how soft power operates in practice within exhibition narratives and digital reception. The proposed methodology integrates spatial analysis based on 3D digital environments and virtual exhibitions, alongside digital ethnography focused on platforms such as WeChat. This multi-layered approach enables the analysis of exhibition narratives, spatial configurations, and audience reception and circulation.

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