If the National Taiwan Museum can't take good care of its Aboriginal relics, then the prized objects should be put into better hands -- those of the Aborigines' themselves -- two lawmakers said yesterday.
"Noting the museum's dismal record of care for the relics, we, the Aborigines, wish to care for these treasures ourselves," said DPP legislator Chen Tao-ming (陳道明), a descendant of the Taroko tribe.
"Since there is yet to be a public museum dedicated exclusively to Aborigines," he added, "we strongly recommend that one be built to display the arts and cultures of the land's earliest settlers."
Chen made the comments yesterday after a tour of the museum's storage rooms with independent lawmaker Kao-Chin Su-mei (高金素梅), a descendant of the Atayal tribe.
Both lawmakers voiced their dissatisfaction over the way the museum managed its collection in the storage rooms.
"While some storage rooms are in good condition," Chen said, "the condition of some others is simply quite ridiculous."
Kao echoed Chen's remarks, noting that the museum's Hsintien storage room lacks decent care and "that dust and spider webs can be seen everywhere."
"If tribal elders came and saw the way our ancestral relics are being kept here, they would definitely feel heartache," Kao said.
Kao added that it was regrettable to see these relics, left behind by their ancestors decades ago, kept in such miserable condition and under such dismal inventory-monitoring practices.
Kao was referring to the fact, disclosed by DPP legislator Chen Chin-jun (
"If the museum can't take adequate care of its Aboriginal collection, then they should let us Aborigines care for them ourselves in our own museum," said Kao.
In response to the dissatisfaction both Chen and Kao expressed over the way the museum has managed its collection, James An (安奎), director of the National Taiwan Museum, said that the museum currently has a task force taking inventory of the relics.
"Aside from improving the condition of the storage rooms, we hope to have preliminary inventory results within the next three months," said An, adding that any irregularities found during the inventory process would be reported to experts for further investigation.
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫), spokeswoman Yang Chih-yu (楊智伃) and Legislator Hsieh Lung-chieh (謝龍介) would be summoned by police for questioning for leading an illegal assembly on Thursday evening last week, Minister of the Interior Liu Shyh-fang (劉世芳) said today. The three KMT officials led an assembly outside the Taipei City Prosecutors’ Office, a restricted area where public assembly is not allowed, protesting the questioning of several KMT staff and searches of KMT headquarters and offices in a recall petition forgery case. Chu, Yang and Hsieh are all suspected of contravening the Assembly and Parade Act (集會遊行法) by holding
Taiwan would welcome the return of Honduras as a diplomatic ally if its next president decides to make such a move, Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) said yesterday. “Of course, we would welcome Honduras if they want to restore diplomatic ties with Taiwan after their elections,” Lin said at a meeting of the legislature’s Foreign Affairs and National Defense Committee, when asked to comment on statements made by two of the three Honduran presidential candidates during the presidential campaign in the Central American country. Taiwan is paying close attention to the region as a whole in the wake of a
PRAISE: Japanese visitor Takashi Kubota said the Taiwanese temple architecture images showcased in the AI Art Gallery were the most impressive displays he saw Taiwan does not have an official pavilion at the World Expo in Osaka, Japan, because of its diplomatic predicament, but the government-backed Tech World pavilion is drawing interest with its unique recreations of works by Taiwanese artists. The pavilion features an artificial intelligence (AI)-based art gallery showcasing works of famous Taiwanese artists from the Japanese colonial period using innovative technologies. Among its main simulated displays are Eastern gouache paintings by Chen Chin (陳進), Lin Yu-shan (林玉山) and Kuo Hsueh-hu (郭雪湖), who were the three young Taiwanese painters selected for the East Asian Painting exhibition in 1927. Gouache is a water-based
OFF-TARGET: More than 30,000 participants were expected to take part in the Games next month, but only 6,550 foreign and 19,400 Taiwanese athletes have registered Taipei city councilors yesterday blasted the organizers of next month’s World Masters Games over sudden timetable and venue changes, which they said have caused thousands of participants to back out of the international sporting event, among other organizational issues. They also cited visa delays and political interference by China as reasons many foreign athletes are requesting refunds for the event, to be held from May 17 to 30. Jointly organized by the Taipei and New Taipei City governments, the games have been rocked by numerous controversies since preparations began in 2020. Taipei City Councilor Lin Yen-feng (林延鳳) said yesterday that new measures by
RSS