The International Council of Museums (ICOM) held its annual conference in Taipei yesterday, bringing together curators and other museum professionals from around the world to discuss how to keep museums relevant and interesting in the age of globalization.
The conference, titled "New Roles and Missions of Museums," was hosted by the Council for Cultural Affairs at the Taipei International Convention Center.
The conference sought to "increase [Taiwanese] museums' self-consciousness and the concept of product management, so that the quality of the museum industry in Taiwan can be raised," Minister of Cultural Affairs Chiu Kun-liang (
Chinese Association of Museums Chairwoman Lin Mun-lee (林曼麗) told the participants that Taiwanese museums' task in the new millennium was to "preserve the distinctive features of local cultures [in Taiwan] in an increasingly globalized Internet-reliant world."
Academic exchanges like the conference were helpful to Taiwan in fulfilling such a task, she added.
What specific challenges do Taiwanese museums face? Meredith Blake, Secretary-General of the Pacific Islands Museums Association, said that a lack of funding was a common theme among museums in the Asia-Pacific region.
"Governments love to pay lip service to the preservation and celebration of culture, but are not so keen to put up the cash to those ends," Blake said.
"Also, Asia-Pacific cultures are `living cultures,' meaning that their artifacts tend to be organic and practical and are not easily preserved, especially in a tropical environment," Blake said.
Gary Edson, Director for Advanced Study of Museum Science and Heritage Management, said that the region was experiencing "rapid social change and development," which pose unique challenges to museums as they must keep up with the pace of development to remain relevant.
"Museums in this region are trying to hold on to what makes the cultures that they reflect so unique, while the cultures themselves are changing," Edson said.
In a pamphlet entitled Old is New, the National Palace Museum advertised its Internet services at the conference, boasting an online presence that allows users to view images of museum collections in cyberspace.
Lin touted the museum's digital interface at the conference as a reflection of new aesthetic sensibilities in an increasingly digital era.
US climber Alex Honnold is to attempt to scale Taipei 101 without a rope and harness in a live Netflix special on Jan. 24, the streaming platform announced on Wednesday. Accounting for the time difference, the two-hour broadcast of Honnold’s climb, called Skyscraper Live, is to air on Jan. 23 in the US, Netflix said in a statement. Honnold, 40, was the first person ever to free solo climb the 900m El Capitan rock formation in Yosemite National Park — a feat that was recorded and later made into the 2018 documentary film Free Solo. Netflix previewed Skyscraper Live in October, after videos
Starting on Jan. 1, YouBike riders must have insurance to use the service, and a six-month trial of NT$5 coupons under certain conditions would be implemented to balance bike shortages, a joint statement from transportation departments across Taipei, New Taipei City and Taoyuan announced yesterday. The rental bike system operator said that coupons would be offered to riders to rent bikes from full stations, for riders who take out an electric-assisted bike from a full station, and for riders who return a bike to an empty station. All riders with YouBike accounts are automatically eligible for the program, and each membership account
NUMBERS IMBALANCE: More than 4 million Taiwanese have visited China this year, while only about half a million Chinese have visited here Beijing has yet to respond to Taiwan’s requests for negotiation over matters related to the recovery of cross-strait tourism, the Tourism Administration said yesterday. Taiwan’s tourism authority issued the statement after Chinese-language daily the China Times reported yesterday that the government’s policy of banning group tours to China does not stop Taiwanese from visiting the country. As of October, more than 4.2 million had traveled to China this year, exceeding last year. Beijing estimated the number of Taiwanese tourists in China could reach 4.5 million this year. By contrast, only 500,000 Chinese tourists are expected in Taiwan, the report said. The report
Temperatures are forecast to drop steadily as a continental cold air mass moves across Taiwan, with some areas also likely to see heavy rainfall, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. From today through early tomorrow, a cold air mass would keep temperatures low across central and northern Taiwan, and the eastern half of Taiwan proper, with isolated brief showers forecast along Keelung’s north coast, Taipei and New Taipei City’s mountainous areas and eastern Taiwan, it said. Lows of 11°C to 15°C are forecast in central and northern Taiwan, Yilan County, and the outlying Kinmen and Lienchiang (Matsu) counties, and 14°C to 17°C
RSS