The National Palace Museum (NPM) should reflect the history of East Asia from a Taiwan-
centric perspective to make it more relatable to Taiwanese, instead of allowing it to remain “a Chinese enclave,” newly inaugurated museum Director Chen Chi-nan (陳其南) said yesterday.
“Ask an Aborigine, a direct descendant of the earliest inhabitants of this land, to visit the museum and tell you if they feel the museum represents them, and none of them will say it does. The museum as it is now is a Chinese enclave and not a part of Taiwan,” Chen told a news conference in Taipei a day after his inauguration.
Photo: Chen Yi-kuan, Taipei Times
His vision is to transform it into a Taiwanese museum by reinterpreting the objects on display and curating its exhibitions in a way that tells the history of East Asia from a Taiwanese perspective, he said.
The museum’s most famous artifacts had been transported to Taiwan by the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) government during the Second Sino-Japanese War, he said.
“Due to this historical coincidence, it has now become our responsibility to protect and preserve them. How much we value ancient civilizations is unrelated to their modern successors,” he said, adding that the cultural assets should be cherished, regardless of one’s political views.
Museums should be inclusive, which is why some of the finest artifacts from ancient Greece are housed in the UK and Germany, he said.
The NPM should follow the example of the British Museum in diversifying its exhibitions and celebrating cultural assets from other ancient civilizations, he said.
If granted a large enough budget, Chen said he hopes to expand the museum’s southern branch in Chiayi County to house exhibitions depicting Taiwan’s relations with other countries throughout history, such as Spain, Portugal and the Ryukyu Kingdom, he said.
“The problem with the southern branch is its location, which is not close to any urban area. We must have exhibitions on a wide range of themes that would take more than one day to see to attract visitors to go [out of their way to the museum],” he added.
While the National Palace Museum has stepped up its marketing efforts to target younger people, Chen said he would work to find the perfect balance between preserving tradition and appealing to young people.
“We will not go back to the old, traditional ways of promoting the museum, but we will not turn it into an amusement park just to attract visitors either,” he said.
When asked if the museum would consider collaborating with Beijing’s Palace Museum, Chen said: “We are happy to cooperate, if they are willing.”
However, Beijing might not be open to working with him because of his political views, he said.
Taiwan is gearing up to celebrate the New Year at events across the country, headlined by the annual countdown and Taipei 101 fireworks display at midnight. Many of the events are to be livesteamed online. See below for lineups and links: Taipei Taipei’s New Year’s Party 2026 is to begin at 7pm and run until 1am, with the theme “Sailing to the Future.” South Korean girl group KARA is headlining the concert at Taipei City Hall Plaza, with additional performances by Amber An (安心亞), Nick Chou (周湯豪), hip-hop trio Nine One One (玖壹壹), Bii (畢書盡), girl group Genblue (幻藍小熊) and more. The festivities are to
Auckland rang in 2026 with a downtown fireworks display launched from New Zealand’s tallest structure, Sky Tower, making it the first major city to greet the new year at a celebration dampened by rain, while crowds in Taipei braved the elements to watch Taipei 101’s display. South Pacific countries are the first to bid farewell to 2025. Clocks struck midnight in Auckland, with a population of 1.7 million, 18 hours before the famous ball was to drop in New York’s Times Square. The five-minute display involved 3,500 fireworks launched from the 240m Sky Tower. Smaller community events were canceled across New Zealand’s
‘IRRESPONSIBLE’: Beijing’s constant disruption of the ‘status quo’ in the Taiwan Strait has damaged peace, stability and security in the Indo-Pacific region, MOFA said The Presidential Office yesterday condemned China’s launch of another military drill around Taiwan, saying such actions are a “unilateral provocation” that destabilizes regional peace and stability. China should immediately stop the irresponsible and provocative actions, Presidential Office spokeswoman Karen Kuo (郭雅慧) said, after the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) yesterday announced the start of a new round of joint exercises around Taiwan by the army, navy and air force, which it said were approaching “from different directions.” Code-named “Justice Mission 2025,” the exercises would be conducted in the Taiwan Strait and in areas north, southwest, southeast and east of Taiwan
UNDER WAY: The contract for advanced sensor systems would be fulfilled in Florida, and is expected to be completed by June 2031, the Pentagon said Lockheed Martin has been given a contract involving foreign military sales to Taiwan to meet what Washington calls “an urgent operational need” of Taiwan’s air force, the Pentagon said on Wednesday. The contract has a ceiling value of US$328.5 million, with US$157.3 million in foreign military sales funds obligated at the time of award, the Pentagon said in a statement. “This contract provides for the procurement and delivery of 55 Infrared Search and Track Legion Enhanced Sensor Pods, processors, pod containers and processor containers required to meet the urgent operational need of the Taiwan air force,” it said. The contract’s work would be
RSS