A new exhibition at the National Museum of Taiwan History, “Southeast Asian Immigrants and Migrant Workers in Taiwan,” explores the lives of these people through personal artifacts and creative works.
Personal items from three families and 14 workers were collected by curators at the Tainan museum, who said they are hoping to show the new face of Taiwan through individual stories.
The exhibition opened on Saturday last week with a performance by women from the Philippines, Vietnam and Indonesia who sang a “eulogy to sisters” to the melody of a Thai folk song.
Photo: Hung Jui-chin, Taipei Times
The song expresses the challenges the women face in migrating to a new place far from their homes, and the difficulties of leaving family members who cannot stay with them in Taiwan because of the nation’s immigration laws.
Museum Director Margaret Wang (王長華) said Taiwan is home to more than 140,000 Southeast Asian immigrants and 680,000 migrant workers, and Southeast Asians have long been an important part of the nation’s culture.
The exhibition explores 50 years of immigration from Southeast Asia, telling individual stories through video clips, sound recordings and creative works, Wang said, adding that she hopes it will inform others about the immigrant and migrant worker communities.
One section focuses on the rapid growth in the number of immigrants starting in the 1990s, Wang said, adding that it reflects on challenges that emerged due to immigration regulations and questions related to human rights and social justice.
Social groups such as the TransAsia Sisters Association, Taiwan and the 4 Way Voice media outlet have been active in leading discussions on these issues, Wang said.
The exhibition runs through Nov. 5. More information about the show can be found on the museum’s Web site in Chinese, English and Japanese.
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