The National Taitung Living Art Center is exhibiting items from the early days of Taiwan’s agricultural society.
A recreation center of the Guanshan Township Farmers’ Association in Taitung provided the objects to the art center to teach local residents and travelers about agricultural development from a different perspective.
The Taitung Valley has always been a primary production area for rice and an agricultural center, art center director Lee Chi-chung (李吉崇) said at the opening of the exhibition on Thursday last week.
Photo: Wang Hsiu-ting, Taipei Times
“We hope tourists and locals will gain a better appreciation of local agriculture, the aesthetics of farm life and how farming brings people together,” he said.
Recreation center Director Peng Yen-fang (彭衍芳) said it was the first time that the items have been lent out.
Many older people who visited the exhibition were moved by the sight of everyday objects that they regularly saw or used as children, Peng said.
Some discussed the objects with other visitors, and explained their use and origin, he added.
“One visitor said that most ox carts in western Taiwan used to have four wheels, but those in Taitung had two, due to the muddy roads of Hualien and Taitung counties,” Peng said.
Another visitor pointed to a large saw and said it was a common sight on farms in Taitung, mainly used for camphor logging in the Guanshan area, Peng said.
The saw was left behind on a farm by loggers and was preserved, Peng said.
Aside from exploring static displays, visitors can also learn to make rice and rice noodles, and explore other uses of rice, Peng said.
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