A private museum owned and operated by retired policeman Wang Chih-ming (王志明) in Pingtung County’s Chaojhou Township (潮州) is a repository of everyday artifacts representing different Taiwanese cultures, including Hoklo, Hakka and Aboriginal groups.
Wang, 60, said the museum, called the Space for Retro Culture, Aesthetics and Recreation (人文懷舊美學生活空間), is a showcase of things that he has collected using his own money, to the tune of about NT$5 million (US$156,534), over a 40-year period. Admission is free.
Wang’s personal collection — which ranges from illustrated journals, groceries and cigarettes to Aboriginal woodcarvings, molds for making Hakka rice noodles, old bicycles and ice cream machines — fill almost every nook and cranny of the museum, with the remaining space filled wall-to-wall with reference books on antiques.
Photo: Chiu Chih-jou, Taipei Times
“I have been interested in collecting since I was a boy, but I could not afford the expensive stuff, so I started with canned drinks, matchboxes and movie posters,” he said.
“When I started working as a policeman and earning money, I began buying real antiques that were within my means,” he added.
While his displays attract many tourists and even wedding photography shoots, he insists on making it a free space for visitors, because “a collection has to be relevant to the life of the community,” he said.
Photo: Chiu Chih-jou, Taipei Time
Wang said he believes his household treasures are of value to the township, which lies at the border of almost every ethnic group represented in his museum, because they help provide a sense of continuity to the town’s inhabitants.
“If I store all of this under my bed, what would be the point?” he said.
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