Museum 207, which opened yesterday in Taipei’s Dadaocheng area (大稻埕), is today launching an exhibition showcasing Taiwanese terrazzo works.
The museum’s name is derived from its address at 207 Dihua St Sec 1 in a building built in 1962.
At the opening ceremony, museum director Chen Kuo-tzu (陳國慈), who acquired the building last year, said she hopes the museum in Taipei’s oldest commercial district would inspire people to cherish the city’s historic buildings, which embody the collective memory of its residents.
Photo: CNA, courtesy of Museum 207
The former National Performing Arts Center president also founded the Taipei Story House on Zhongshan N Road.
She said she was deeply moved by the appreciation people have shown for old buildings during her time as Story House president, which motivated her to buy the Dadaocheng building and transform it into a museum.
Historic buildings expert Lee Chian-lang (李乾朗) praised Chen’s efforts to revitalize the building and said he hopes that her example would encourage more people to follow in her footsteps.
Taiwanese history researcher Chuang Yung-ming (莊永明) said the museum would add to the area’s cultural charm.
The building formerly housed the Kuanghotang Pharmacy dating to the Qing Dynasty and was the residence of Chuang Shu-chi (莊淑旂), the nation’s first female Chinese medicine practitioner, museum volunteer Anchi Hua (華安綺) said.
The building was designated as a cultural heritage site by the city government in 2009 largely due to its terrazzo floors that portray a bee collecting nectar, a bunch of grapes and a Korean ginseng plant.
Once common in Dadaocheng, terrazzo is on the verge of extinction in Taipei, Hua said.
The exhibition showcases photographs of 185 terrazzo works collected from around the nation, as well as modern terrazzo pieces by senior artisans.
Visitors will be able to access the roof to view Minnan-style rooftops that predate the museum’s building.
The exhibition runs until Dec. 10.
Three Taiwanese airlines have prohibited passengers from packing Bluetooth earbuds and their charger cases in checked luggage. EVA Air and Uni Air said that Bluetooth earbuds and charger cases are categorized as portable electronic devices, which should be switched off if they are placed in checked luggage based on international aviation safety regulations. They must not be in standby or sleep mode. However, as charging would continue when earbuds are placed in the charger cases, which would contravene international aviation regulations, their cases must be carried as hand luggage, they said. Tigerair Taiwan said that earbud charger cases are equipped
Foreign travelers entering Taiwan on a short layover via Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport are receiving NT$600 gift vouchers from yesterday, the Tourism Administration said, adding that it hopes the incentive would boost tourism consumption at the airport. The program, which allows travelers holding non-Taiwan passports who enter the country during a layover of up to 24 hours to claim a voucher, aims to promote attractions at the airport, the agency said in a statement on Friday. To participate, travelers must sign up on the campaign Web site, the agency said. They can then present their passport and boarding pass for their connecting international
UNILATERAL MOVES: Officials have raised concerns that Beijing could try to exert economic control over Kinmen in a key development plan next year The Civil Aviation Administration (CAA) yesterday said that China has so far failed to provide any information about a new airport expected to open next year that is less than 10km from a Taiwanese airport, raising flight safety concerns. Xiamen Xiangan International Airport is only about 3km at its closest point from the islands in Kinmen County — the scene of on-off fighting during the Cold War — and construction work can be seen and heard clearly from the Taiwan side. In a written statement sent to Reuters, the CAA said that airports close to each other need detailed advanced
WEATHER Typhoon forming: CWA A tropical depression is expected to form into a typhoon as early as today, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday, adding that the storm’s path remains uncertain. Before the weekend, it would move toward the Philippines, the agency said. Some time around Monday next week, it might reach a turning point, either veering north toward waters east of Taiwan or continuing westward across the Philippines, the CWA said. Meanwhile, the eye of Typhoon Kalmaegi was 1,310km south-southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan’s southernmost point, as of 2am yesterday, it said. The storm is forecast to move through central
RSS