Students and faculty at the Taipei National University of the Arts on Tuesday urged visitors to the Yoshitomo Nara exhibition on its campus to maintain decorum, following reports of illegal parking, theft of the university’s turtles and trespassing into classrooms.
The exhibition, which opened at the university on March 12 and is to run through June 20, has drawn a mixed crowd.
Since the opening, some visitors have absconded with turtles from the university’s ecological pool, while others picked berries from the university’s mulberry trees, faculty and students said.
Other students said they saw visiting parents using public works of art as playground equipment, while many visitors with vehicles parked in no-parking zones.
Some visitors have barged into parts of the university not open to the public to use drinking fountains or restrooms in teaching areas, the students said.
Over the past month, faculty and students have been stopped by visitors asking for directions, while some students have had their pictures taken by visitors, the school said.
While some parts of the university have been open to the public, certain areas — such was classrooms — are off-limits to protect students and faculty, the university said, adding that it has placed signs asking visitors to refrain from entering the areas.
The university has not put up signs near the works of art placed throughout the campus, as that would affect the general aesthetics of the campus, it said, adding that it hopes visitors would only look at the works and not touch them.
The university reserves the right to take individuals to court over charges of destruction of property should any work of art or plants be damaged, the university said.
Temporary parking zones are made available during weekends and holidays, it said.
The university’s student council president Lu Wei-cheng (盧韋丞) said the university is trying to identify the people who stole the turtles.
Lu also called on people to give public art installations on campus a wide berth when taking pictures, adding that while art is meant to be admired, it should be done so with respect.
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