Museum needs modern makeover, says director

This article was published by the Taiwan Headlines on March 27, 2006. It profiles Lin Mun-lee, director of the National Palace Museum in Taiwan. Lin's vision is that the museum needs to reinvigorate its vast collection of some 600,000 items by linking it to Taiwan's local culture and people. Indeed, the National Palace Museum is the home to the world's largest collection of Chinese art.

The museum is currently undergoing renovation, which is expected to complete by the end of 2006. In addition to enhancing the museum's ability to withstand earthquake vibrations, the renovation will expand and modernize the museum's existing gallery space and make it more visitor-friendly.

According to Lin, the National Palace Museum was initially designed to preserve its priceless collection. Now, the museum's new layout aims to establish a connection between people and the museum. In Lin's words: "The artifacts are like the heart of the museum. Without the heart, the museum, like humans, cannot exist. However, to have a spectacular life, a person needs to have a soul. Similarly, the museum needs its education element to bring out its social responsibility."

The museum's new design is centered on improving the visitor's overall experience. This includes better traffic management to ensure pedestrian safety, better lighting in display galleries, and the prominent use of digital technology and three-dimensional presentations. One of the museum's special interactive features is a Discovery Room where children can touch, play with and disassemble replicas of the museum's artifacts. It will not only be a do-it-yourself experience, but also an opportunity to learn about the traditional handicraft industry. Meanwhile, there will also be a multimedia center that offers visitors a technologically advanced visual experience by showing cutting-edge 3D and 5D films.

More significantly, the museum has established a multilingual web site and a wide range of audio guided tours. A new system called "My Collection" will be launched, which is capable of producing personalized booklets for visitors to record all the art works they have seen in the museum. A resource center is being created, where teachers can study the museum's collection in order to help their students during and after an educational tour.

According to Lin, all these efforts are being made in order to bring the National Palace Museum closer to the people in Taiwan, and to find a balance between Taiwan's own culture and the museum's collection of Chinese artifacts. For example, the museum's southern branch is currently under construction in Chiayi County. The new branch is intended to function as a museum on Asian culture and will display items from all over the region, including works from indigenous peoples in Taiwan and Southeast Asia.

It should be noted that in recent years the National Palace Museum has been collaborating with the entertainment industry in order to liven up its image. Soon after the Chinese martial arts film "House of Flying Daggers" premiered in 2004, the museum modeled its plaza on the Tang Dynasty setting shown in the movie. Such move successfully raised the younger generation's awareness of the museum.

Meanwhile, the National Palace Museum is cooperating with Alessi of Italy to design modern versions of Qing Dynasty figurines. It is also working with Franz Collection to produce high-end porcelains. These are examples of the museum's new marketing strategy that is based on the theme of "Old is New".

In Lin's words: "It is important for us to attract more young people. A museum exists to pass along tradition and create new innovations. Without the generation of new ideas, the museum loses its purposes."