In other words, Taiwanese visitors, especially the majority who stopped studying calligraphy after high school, are going to be nearly as confounded as to what they are seeing as this reviewer.
According to the exhibition literature, “Chinese calligraphy and painting is an activity contributing to one’s peace of mind and inner tranquility.” The arrangement of this exhibit, however, creates confusion and annoyance, raising more questions than it answers. Another gem from the four-paragraph introduction: “So many pieces … make us wonder what they contain and imply.” Exactly.
Rather than edify the public, the exhibit’s purpose, it would seem, is to advertise the “modesty” (this from the first paragraph of the introduction) of the two collectors who allowed the museum to show their collections.
“Finally, it is also hoped that, in the future, more collectors will be willing to show their collections so that audiences can have more opportunities to look at and understand ancient masterpieces,” the exhibit’s literature states. Hopefully, the next such exhibit will provide more information on the works on display, so that those who are not curators, art experts or collectors can understand why they are looking at the scrolls and paintings in front of them.
CORRECTION:
Last Wednesday the ticket price for the Chu Teh-chun 88 Retrospective (朱德群88回顧展) at the National Museum of History was incorrectly listed as NT$30. The ticket price is NT$150; concession tickets are NT$100. The Taipei Times regrets the error.
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