In a Facebook post on Thursday last week announcing the closure of its permanent exhibits until October, the National Museum of Taiwan history described the statues in its exhibits as “foreigners under isolation at the museum.”
The Tainan-based museum has since January made several Facebook posts related to the COVID-19 pandemic, including one on Feb. 3 linking to an online virtual exhibit on the history of mask usage in Taiwan.
The administrator of the museum’s Facebook page said that they generally aim to link the museum’s exhibits with current events.
Photo: Liu Wan-chun, Taipei Times
Its most recent pandemic-related post features statues of 17th-century merchants with a caption that reads: “People from China, Hong Kong and Macau have temporarily suspended travel to Taiwan.”
Other statues of contemporary foreigners — including a Spanish missionary, a Dutch official and a foreign merchant from a Qing Dynasty company in China — are depicted as “foreigners who are required to undergo 14-day quarantine,” while Chinese stowaways shown peeking out from the hold of a ship are referred to as “illegal immigrants.”
The caption reminds people to avoid using public transportation if they have a fever, and to avoid confined spaces.
A picture of an exhibit depicting the Taiwanese Cultural Association, which was founded by Chiang Wei-shui (蔣渭水) to further the resistance movement during the Japanese colonial era, is accompanied by a caption reminding people to avoid crowded events.
An image portraying a household embroidery factory is accompanied by a caption reminding people to stay home as much as possible.
The post also includes a photograph of a statue of Taiwan’s first female physician, Tsai A-hsin (蔡阿信). The caption thanks frontline doctors and nurses for their efforts amid the pandemic.
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