A portrait of Chiang Kai-shek (蔣介石) that went missing from the Legislative Yuan during the Sunflower movement protests is now in the possession of 228 Memorial Museum Director Iap Phok-bun (葉博文).
Students involved in the Sunflower movement had denied knowledge of the painting’s whereabouts after it was found to be missing, Iap said in an interview yesterday.
The painting was found crumpled up in a ball in a plastic bag in the Legislative Yuan, and the person who found it asked him if he wanted it, Iap said.
Photo courtesy of Iap Phok-bun
However, he did not say when it was found.
The painting was badly damaged, with pieces cut off and paint rubbed off in many places, he said.
It appeared to have been sliced with a utility knife, while the damage to its surface likely occurred when it was crumpled up.
Iap found an artist to iron out the painting and reframe it, and he has since stored it in his home.
Some people who have seen the repaired painting at his home have told him that it is dark and gloomy, while Chiang’s face appears ghost-like, he said.
Asked if the painting should be returned to the Legislative Yuan, Iap said: “It was garbage when it was given to me. I recycled it for my own use.”
He said that he plans to donate it to a museum or to the collection of Sunflower movement artifacts.
The painting is a cultural artifact that should be preserved because of its connection with the movement, he said.
“Why do people always vent their anger toward Chiang Kai-shek statues on 228 Memorial Day?” Iap said.
There should be a public consensus before artifacts are destroyed to avoid the annual pan-blue and pan-green confrontations over the issue, he said.
The government should not avoid dealing with Chiang’s statues and portraits, while the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) should avoid burdening young students with ideology, he said.
However, its recent decision to stop sales of Chiang Kai-shek memorabilia at the Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall in Taipei was right, he said.
“It is not about getting rid of traces of Chiang Kai-shek, it is about getting rid of traces of autocracy and authoritarianism,” he said.
A collection of 7,200 artifacts from the Sunflower movement gathered by historians and Academia Sinica researchers, including the activists’ daily logbook, letters, banners and post-it notes left by supporters over the course of the movement, was handed over to the National History Museum in November last year.
The museum said that given the large number of artifacts, it would take about two years to prepare them for display or for storage.
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