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A look at life in the city

By Ian Bartholomew
STAFF REPORTER
Sunday, Jun 06, 2004, Page 19

An Aboriginal hayrick that gave its name to the Kuting district of Taipei. PHOTOS: IAN BARTHOLOMEW, TAIPEI TIMES

The Taipei City Government Building is not a place that one instinctively associates with the delights of culture. Walking into the lobby and faced with the graduation exhibition of the Fu-Hsin Trade and Arts School, this prejudice would only be confirmed.

Fortunately, for those who find themselves caught in the labyrinthine structure of municipal government with a spare moment, perusal of imitative and heavy-handed graphic design is not all that's available to pass the time. Take a sharp right after entering the main door of the building and you will find yourself at the entrance of the Discovery Center of Taipei (台北探索館), three floors of exhibits and video presentations about this city that we love to hate.

Regrettably, there is also plenty in this exhibition that is also imitative and heavy-handed, with numerous elements that are unworthy of the considerable resources of the city government. The first-floor entrance, which is called the "Taipei Impressions Hall," currently sports a collection of images of notable Taiwanese

A coin operated divination machine provides an interactive element to the exhibition, as well as a model of a traditional Taiwanese temple. PHOTOS: IAN BARTHOLOMEW, TAIPEI TIMES

entertainers, but manages to avoid providing even the most rudimentary explanation of who these people are. Impressions are all very well, but a little information would not hurt either.

The exhibition proper begins on the fourth floor with the "Dialogue with Time Hall," the most conventional but also the most interesting part of the whole exhibition. There is an introduction to Taipei place names with photos of what certain areas looked like at the turn of the

A model of Taipei's north gate as it might have looked in days of yore. PHOTOS: IAN BARTHOLOMEW, TAIPEI TIMES

century.

We learn that Mucha (木柵) got its name from the wooden barricades erected by Chinese settlers against Aboriginal incursions and Kuting (古亭) is named after Aboriginal hayricks. Each of Taipei's city gates is given coverage, and there are large models of the Taipei basin's river systems, even an interactive city map coupled with a video that provides a street-by-street history lesson. Rather appropriately, the rest area offers spectacular views down Ren-ai Road (仁愛路), which vies for attention with everything in the exhibition area.

For anyone who understands Chinese, there is a wealth of information to be had through written text and audiovisual materials. One or two of the videos have English subtitles, but they are the exception rather than the rule. But this failing is redressed in the extensive information provided by four computer terminals on the third floor which give extensive coverage of the main themes of the exhibition in English, Japanese and Korean.

While the fourth floor gives a historical perspective on Taipei, the third floor addresses the more recent past. "City Discovery Hall" is an audiovisual playground, and while the use of hi-tech is laudable, it is not always effective. A video of the history of the area in front of the Presidential Office is projected onto a fisheye screen that so distorts the images so as to make them virtually unwatchable. This is a pity, for the topic itself is interesting. Again the emphasis is on impressions, and for people familiar with Taipei, the juxtaposition of images can provide a frisson of familiarity. A short video which cuts together images of Taipei from various local films is particularly charming, but not much use to anyone not familiar with Taipei. The same can be said of an audiovisual display of the golden age of Taiwanese pop music.

Too much effort has gone into making the exhibition interactive, often only superficially, and not enough into providing an environment in which visitors and locals can truly learn more about their city. Having said that, its collection of materials is still appealing and makes for an interesting hour or so of exploration.

Exhibition information:

What: Discovery Center of Taipei
Where: 1 Shifu Rd, 1F-4F West Side, City Hall Building
Open: 9am to 5pm (Admission free)
On the Net: www.doi.tcg.gov.tw
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