An exhibition featuring hundreds of insect-themed postage stamps from around the world is on display at the National Museum of Natural Science in Taichung.
Stamps are like “miniature versions of encyclopedias,” the Ministry of Education, which runs the museum, said in a statement yesterday.
Besides enabling correspondence, stamps, from a humanities perspective, contain designs that can express regional characteristics, natural landscapes and major historical events, the ministry said.
From a scientific and cultural viewpoint, they bear the imprint of the times, and reflect scientific developments and social changes, it said.
The insect collection at the museum is not only the best in Taiwan, but also a leading one in Asia, museum director-deneral Sun Wei-hsin (孫維新) said in a statement.
Unlike other insect-themed exhibitions the museum has held, “Insects on Stamps” (郵說昆蟲) introduces the science and wonder of insects to viewers through the stamps, he said.
The exhibition, which opened on June 24, is divided into five sections: “Successful Adaptation,” “Spinning Silk to Make Cocoons,” “All About Bees,” “The Human-Mosquito War” and “Coexistence of Humans and Insects.”
It was co-organized by the Postal Museum, the Miaoli District Agricultural Research and Extension Station, National Taiwan University’s Department of Public Health and the Chinese Culture and Fine Arts Philatelic Association.
In addition to stamps from around the world, the exhibition also features nearly 100 insect specimens and silk products, the ministry said, encouraging visitors to use the magnifying glasses at the exhibition to get a closer look at the exhibits.
A BBC video introducing the mysteries of insects would also be played at the exhibition, it said.
“Insects have flourished on Earth for more than 300 million years,” the National Museum of Natural Science said.
“Through morphological, physiological, biochemical and reproductive adaptations, they have adjusted to changes in the environment,” it said, adding that they are important components of the Earth’s biosphere.
The ministry hopes the exhibition will enable viewers to not only appreciate the beauty of stamps and explore the insect world, but also consider the relationship between humans and insects, and how they can coexist in harmony, it said.
Postal Museum director Wang Chun-ju (王君如) said in a statement that she hopes the exhibition will inspire among the public a passion for stamp collecting.
From Wednesday next week to Aug. 30, the National Museum of Natural Science, typically closed on Mondays, would be open daily, it said.
Insects on Stamps runs through Feb. 21 next year.
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