The National Palace Museum, home to one of the world’s biggest collections of imperial Chinese treasures, must expand its horizons internationally to let the “world see Taiwan,” President William Lai (賴清德) said on Friday as it marked its centenary.
The museum was re-established in Taipei in 1965 after the Republic of China government lost the Chinese Civil War against Mao Zedong’s (毛澤東) communists and fled to Taiwan in 1949, taking with it thousands of cases of antiques once owned by China’s emperors, saving them from destruction during and after the revolution.
Speaking to inaugurate an exhibition of French impressionist and early modernist paintings from New York’s Metropolitan Museum of Art (Met), Lai said that the National Palace Museum was a “state asset.”
Photo: CNA
“The National Palace Museum not only needs to deepen its roots locally, it also needs to deepen them internationally. We need to go into the world, to let the world see Taiwan, but also to bring the world to Taiwan,” he said at the museum.
“The National Palace Museum is not only the National Palace Museum of Taiwan, but also the National Palace Museum of the world and I believe these values should be strongly supported by the international community,” he added.
A competing institution is in Beijing, the similarly named Palace Museum, although the National Palace Museum is not planning any joint anniversary events with China.
Quincy Houghton, the Met’s deputy director for exhibitions and international initiatives, speaking at the event with Lai, praised the close relations between the Taipei and New York museums, including in 1996 when the National Palace Museum sent some of its collection to the Met.
“We are honored to collaborate with the National Palace Museum on its very special centennial year,” she said.
Works by Pierre-Auguste Renoir, Vincent van Gogh and Paul Cezanne are on show at the National Palace Museum through Oct. 12.
The show is the Met’s first large-scale presentation in Taiwan and is the first stop on its Asia tour before heading to the National Museum of Korea in Seoul.
Organized into five themed sections — “The Body,” “Portraits and Personalities,” “In Nature,” “From the City to the Country” and “By the Water” — the exhibition explores how artists responded to a century of social change and artistic evolution.
Highlights include Two Young Girls at the Piano by Renoir, celebrated for its luminous brushwork, and a preparatory study by Seurat for A Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte, the National Palace Museum said.
For ticket details, visit: www.mediasphere.com.tw.
Taiwan has received more than US$70 million in royalties as of the end of last year from developing the F-16V jet as countries worldwide purchase or upgrade to this popular model, government and military officials said on Saturday. Taiwan funded the development of the F-16V jet and ended up the sole investor as other countries withdrew from the program. Now the F-16V is increasingly popular and countries must pay Taiwan a percentage in royalties when they purchase new F-16V aircraft or upgrade older F-16 models. The next five years are expected to be the peak for these royalties, with Taiwan potentially earning
STAY IN YOUR LANE: As the US and Israel attack Iran, the ministry has warned China not to overstep by including Taiwanese citizens in its evacuation orders The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) yesterday rebuked a statement by China’s embassy in Israel that it would evacuate Taiwanese holders of Chinese travel documents from Israel amid the latter’s escalating conflict with Iran. Tensions have risen across the Middle East in the wake of US and Israeli airstrikes on Iran beginning Saturday. China subsequently issued an evacuation notice for its citizens. In a news release, the Chinese embassy in Israel said holders of “Taiwan compatriot permits (台胞證)” issued to Taiwanese nationals by Chinese authorities for travel to China — could register for evacuation to Egypt. In Taipei, the ministry yesterday said Taiwan
‘LIKE-MINDED PARTNER’: Tako van Popta said it would be inappropriate to delay signing the deal with Taiwan because of China, adding he would promote the issue Canadian senators have stressed Taiwan’s importance for international trade and expressed enthusiasm for ensuring the Taiwan-Canada trade cooperation framework agreement is implemented this year. Representative to Canada Harry Tseng (曾厚仁) in an interview with the Central News Agency (CNA) said he was increasingly uneasy about Ottawa’s delays in signing the agreement, especially as Ottawa has warmed toward Beijing. There are “no negotiations left. Not only [is it] initialed, we have three versions of the text ready: English, French and Mandarin,” Tseng said. “That tells you how close we are to the final signature.” Tseng said that he hoped Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney
POSITIVE DEVELOPMENT: Japan and the US are expected to hold in-depth discussions on Taiwan-related issues during the meeting next month, Japanese sources said The holding of a Japan-US leaders’ meeting ahead of US President Donald Trump’s visit to China is positive news for Taiwan, former Japan-Taiwan Exchange Association representative Hiroyasu Izumi said yesterday. After the Liberal Democratic Party’s landslide victory in Japan’s House of Representatives election, Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi is scheduled to visit the US next month, where she is to meet with Trump ahead of the US president’s planned visit to China from March 31 to April 2 for a meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平). Japan and the US are expected to hold in-depth discussions on Taiwan-related issues during the
RSS