Two days after a Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) lawmaker dropped the bombshell that the National Palace Museum (NPM) in Taipei was planning to shut its doors for three years for a renovation project, Executive Yuan spokeswoman Kolas Yotaka scotched the idea, saying the Cabinet did not want it to close.
NPM Director Chen Chi-nan (陳其南) had already backtracked a bit on Tuesday, saying that his staff would “work toward staying open.”
That was not enough to quell the firestorm that erupted at the idea that Taipei would lose one of its major tourist attractions for any length of time, so Kolas took pains to make it clear that the Cabinet in December last year approved a plan for a partial relocation of staff and exhibits to the museum’s southern branch in Taibao City (太保), Chiayi County, but not a closure.
KMT Legislator Ko Chih-en (柯志恩) told the Education and Culture Committee on Monday that she had been told the museum was planning to close its library on July 1 and its main building at the end of 2020, move the exhibits in 2021 and carry out the renovations in 2022 and 2023.
Chen told the committee that his staff were not willing to operate amid construction work given their previous experience, referring to the renovations that began in 2002 and finished in early 2007.
He rather disingenuously told the committee that since the museum has two branches, Taipei and the Taibao branch, it would not really be closing, but simply shifting the venue of its exhibits, which would help the southern branch attract more visitors.
While Chiayi County Commissioner Helen Chang (張花冠) welcomed such a plan, the reality is that the NPM in Taipei attracts nearly 5 million visitors a year and there is no way that anywhere near that number would travel south to see a much reduced showing of its collections.
Even if large numbers of foreign visitors did decide to follow the collections down south, neither Chiayi nor Chiayi County have the tourism infrastructure to house, feed and transport them, nor would it be worth spending large sums for what would only be a temporary tourism boost.
Once the Taipei museum reopened, the southern branch would see the same precipitous drop in visitor numbers that it experienced after its opening.
Even Chen, when he took over leadership of the museum in July, said the problem with the southern branch was that it is not near any major urban area.
While closing the main venue could give a small boost to Chiayi County’s tourism income, it would be a massive blow to Taipei, even if temporary alternatives could show some pieces.
Other major world museums have managed to stay open even during massive renovation work.
The Smithsonian’s National Air and Space Museum in Washington, which draws about 7 million visitors a year, is beginning an extensive seven-year renovation at the end of this year of all 23 of its exhibition and presentation spaces, but it is to remain open.
The Louvre in Paris stayed open during its almost three-year renovation of its Pyramid entrance and lobby space, while the British Museum last year announced it was planning a 10-year renovation project, but would stay open.
The Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam closed for nearly a decade to carry out its renovation, but it was supposed to be closed just for three years — a problem-plagued tendering process, asbestos problems and protests by cyclists delayed the overhaul.
Given the costly overruns that this nation has seen with other major cultural projects, finishing the renovation in three years would take a miracle.
No matter the difficulties of staging exhibitions while work crews are on site, having just the southern branch open should never have been seen as a possible option. It is a good thing the Cabinet weighed in before the museum finalized its plans.
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