A common concern with historical artifact exhibitions is their tendency to cater to academics versed in a particular field, while excluding the general public by not supplying any descriptive text about the collection.
The Mongolian and Tibetan Cultural Artifacts Exhibition L in Taipei attempts to be informative with an extensive selection of relics from Mongolia and Tibet. But, while the labels are in both English and Chinese, viewers are still limited in what they can learn from the experience due to a lack of supplementary information on the pieces.
PHOTO COURTESY OF MONGOLIAN AND TIBETAN CULTURE CENTERN
Sponsored by the Mongolian and Tibetan Affairs Commission in Taipei, the exhibition covers two floors with both historical and modern-day items on loan from a museum in Ulaan Bator. The main level comprises mostly Vajrayana Buddhist iconography, which -- for anyone interested in Tibetan Buddhism -- has an impressive collection of vajras and stupas.
Likewise, there is a large sand mandala with a display of photos taken during its construction by a group of Tibetan Buddhist monks visiting Taiwan. The mandala is striking, but the sense of impermanence -- which is normally revealed when a mandala is destroyed -- is lost when the glue marks are noticed through the dusty glass showcase.
A Mongolian yurt (tent house) has also been set up on the main level and is one of the few items with any accompanying text. Although the inside bares a resemblance to a typical Mongolian tent-home, the missing stove and floor beds diminish its authenticity. Behind the yurt is a somewhat comical and randomly placed collection of stuffed toy animals that does not have any labeling, but is presumably meant to represent Mongolian camels and Tibetan yaks.
The second floor, which was recently renovated, has a much better display area and quality of lighting compared to the main level. Separated into two parts, the upper floor comprises items from both past and present-day Mongolia and Tibet.
The showcase -- filled with daily necessities such as tea, spices, alcohol and dairy products -- is one of the most interesting features of the exhibit. It's here, however, that a description of the items would be most beneficial. Mannequins dressed in traditional clothing, musical instruments and traditional pieces of furniture are also placed around the rooms.
Exhibition notes:
What: Mongolian and Tibetan Artifacts Exhibition
Where: Mongolian and Tibetan Culture Center (蒙藏文化中心地址) located at 3, Lane 8, Chingtien Street, Taipei (台北青田街八巷三號)
Telephone: (02) 2351 4280
When: Until Dec. 31, Monday to Saturday from 9am to 12pm; 2pm to 5pm. Wu Ri-jin's Oil Paintings of Mongolia Exhibition will end on Sept. 20.
The year was 1991. A Toyota Land Cruiser set out on a 67km journey up the Junda Forest Road (郡大林道) toward an old loggers’ camp, at which point the hikers inside would get out and begin their ascent of Jade Mountain (玉山). Little did they know, they would be the last group of hikers to ever enjoy this shortcut into the mountains. An approaching typhoon soon wiped out the road behind them, trapping the vehicle on the mountain and forever changing the approach to Jade Mountain. THE CONTEMPORARY ROUTE Nowadays, the approach to Jade Mountain from the north side takes an
Last week Joseph Nye, the well-known China scholar, wrote on the Australian Strategic Policy Institute’s website about how war over Taiwan might be averted. He noted that years ago he was on a team that met with then-president Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁), “whose previous ‘unofficial’ visit to the US had caused a crisis in which China fired missiles into the sea and the US deployed carriers off the coast of Taiwan.” Yes, that’s right, mighty Chen caused that crisis all by himself. Neither the US nor the People’s Republic of China (PRC) exercised any agency. Nye then nostalgically invoked the comical specter
Relations between Taiwan and the Czech Republic have flourished in recent years. However, not everyone is pleased about the growing friendship between the two countries. Last month, an incident involving a Chinese diplomat tailing the car of vice president-elect Hsiao Bi-khim (蕭美琴) in Prague, drew public attention to the People’s Republic of China’s (PRC) operations to undermine Taiwan overseas. The trip was not Hsiao’s first visit to the Central European country. It was meant to be low-key, a chance to meet with local academics and politicians, until her police escort noticed a car was tailing her through the Czech capital. The
April 15 to April 21 Yang Kui (楊逵) was horrified as he drove past trucks, oxcarts and trolleys loaded with coffins on his way to Tuntzechiao (屯子腳), which he heard had been completely destroyed. The friend he came to check on was safe, but most residents were suffering in the town hit the hardest by the 7.1-magnitude Hsinchu-Taichung Earthquake on April 21, 1935. It remains the deadliest in Taiwan’s recorded history, claiming around 3,300 lives and injuring nearly 12,000. The disaster completely flattened roughly 18,000 houses and damaged countless more. The social activist and