The director of Taiwan’s National Palace Museum said she hopes upcoming exhibitions of cultural treasures in Japan will showcase Taiwan’s “soft power.”
Fung Ming-chu’s (馮明珠) remark came as more than 200 pieces from the museum are set to be exhibited at the Tokyo National Museum from next month and later this year at the Kyushu National Museum.
It marks the first time National Palace Museum pieces will be displayed in an Asian country other than Taiwan.
“For the National Palace Museum, [it is an opportunity] to show our nation’s soft power through our collection,” Fung said in an interview with the Central News Agency and Japan’s Kyodo news agency. “We hope that it will increase cultural exchanges between the Republic of China [Taiwan] and Japan” and boost bilateral tourism.
She described the exhibitions as the result of years of “very lengthy discussions” and negotiations between the two sides.
The National Palace Museum agreed to lend its artifacts to Japan after the latter passed a law in 2011 that renders foreign-loaned cultural objects immune from seizure, allowing Taiwanese pieces to be exhibited in Japan without fear of losing them to China, which considers the artifacts to be its property.
Fung revealed that initially the museum had “flatly rejected” Japan’s request to lend its most popular artifact, the Jadeite Cabbage with Insects, and another famous piece, the Meat-shaped Stone, but museum officials were finally “moved” by Japan’s sincerity.
In exchange for the National Palace Museum’s most popular items, Fung said that the two Japanese museums have agreed to jointly display 150 of their cultural artifacts, including 68 of their National Treasures and Important Cultural Properties in Taiwan, in a reciprocal exhibition in 2016.
The Jadeite Cabbage with Insects is to be on display for two weeks at the Tokyo museum, while the Meat-shaped Stone can be seen for two weeks at the Kyushu museum. It is the first time the two artifacts are to be exhibited abroad.
The exhibitions are also to feature rare ancient books, calligraphies, paintings and embroideries, as well as ceramic, bronze and jade objects.
Fung said that the exhibitions will “touch the hearts” of Japanese visitors, as the two nations share very similar cultural roots.
Strong Chinese influences can be seen throughout Japanese calligraphy, embroidery, lacquerware and porcelain art, Fung said.
A team of Japanese experts are scheduled to arrive in Taiwan early next month for a final check before the artifacts are packed, individually boxed and flown to Japan.
The insurance value of the artifacts remains confidential, but the Japanese government has guaranteed their safety.
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