Introduction
In 2013, the International Committee of Museums (ICOM) proposed the theme of “Museums (Memory + Creativity) = Social Change” for International Museum Day. The INTERCOM and FIHRM 2014 were held in Taipei covering the theme of the social impact of museums, which explored how the museums of the era had responded to the continuous changes in politics, economy, and social environments and whether they had reacted appropriately in their management and operations. The INTERCOM and FIHRM invited me to present the keynote speech, giving me the opportunity to carefully consider how the National Palace Museum (NPM) had responded to the pressures brought on by social changes.
On October 10, 1925, the Palace Museum was erected within the compounds of the Forbidden Palace. This national museum inherited the cultural treasures of the Qing imperial family, offering a collection of premium artifacts from the many previous dynasties in Chinese civilization. When the Sino-Japanese War broke out in 1933, the Palace Museum selected the best artifacts of the collection for crating. These 19,557 crates escaped the Forbidden Palace and were moved southwest in five separate groups. In the same year, the Palace Museum changed its name to the National Palace Museum of Beiping, establishing the Preparatory Office of the National Central Museum. After the end of the Sino-Japanese War in 1945, the artifacts were transferred back to Nanjing, the capital of the Republic of China at the time. When civil war broke out between the Nationalists and Communists in 1948, the National Palace Museum of Beiping again selected artifacts to be sent to Taiwan. In total, 3,824 crates of artifacts from the National Palace Museum of Beiping and the Preparatory Office of the National Central Museum were moved in three separate shipments, a mere quarter of the artifacts moved from the Forbidden Palace to Nanjing. In 1949, the National Palace Museum of Beiping constructed a storeroom in Beikou, Wufeng Village in Taichung County, thus beginning the museum’s Beikou period. In 1965, for the centennial celebration of Dr. Sun Yat-sen, the National Palace Museum of Beiping and the Preparatory Office of the Central Museum combined to form the NPM and reopened at Waishuangxi in Taipei. The NPM has been operating for 90 years, or 50 years if one counts from the museum’s reopening in Taipei.
Looking back at certain events and milestones over the past 90 years, the history of the NPM can be divided into five periods.
Founding period (1925–33): This period covered the founding of the Palace Museum to the time of the Sino-Japanese War. Artifacts were moved out of the Palace Museum to ensure their safety.
Moving period (1933–38): The artifacts of the Palace Museum were separated into three groups and moved out of the museum to Southwest China. After the Sino-Japanese War, the artifacts were moved back to Nanjing.
Beikou period (1948–64): The artifacts of the museum were shipped to Taiwan. They arrived at Beikou Village, Wufeng Town in Taichung, where they remained for more than a decade.
Growth period (1965–83): The National Palace Museum of Beiping and Preparatory Office of the National Central Museum combined to form the NPM in Waishuangxi, Taipei. The various operations of the museum developed quickly. Its number of visitors rose continuously along with its popularity and fame.
Reinvention period (1983–present): Taiwanese society, politics, and economy have undergone rapid changes since the time of former museum director Chin Hsiao-yi. The NPM has transformed itself in the face of these challenges and reinvented itself to become the museum it is today.
This chapter focuses on the NPM’s reinvention period.
Challenges facing the NPM over the past 30 years
The NPM has undergone rapid change over the past 30 years in response to the changes in Taiwan’s social and economic development. For example, changes in the era and environment resulted in changes to the museum’s facilities in addition to its relocation and expansion. To discuss the NPM’s transformation over the past 30 years, we must identify the challenges it faces and which social changes have affected the NPM enough to make the necessary changes. Analysis reveals that the following six social challenges influenced the NPM to take action and transform its policies.
- Challenges presented by the arrival of the digital technology era.
- Challenges presented by the regional Taiwanese culture.
- Challenges presented by the Taiwanese public’s demand for equity in cultural resources for both Northern and Southern Taiwan.
- Challenges presented by the needs of disadvantaged communities.
- Challenges presented by the rise of the cultural creativity industry.
- Challenges presented by the NPM’s expanding operations and the consequent lack of space on the museum grounds.
I discuss the NPM’s responses to the aforementioned challenges as follows.
Challenges presented by the arrival of the digital technology era
Digital technology has undeniably brought about revolutionary change to human civilization. In response to the challenges presented by the advent of digital technology, the NPM quickly addressed its archives management, education, services, and new media applications in ways that changed the museum’s original operation model, reinvented its image, and transformed it from a traditional museum into a “museum without walls.” The NPM’s digital development can be divided into the following stages.
- Transformation from the Information Services Center into the Department of Education, Exhibition and Information Services
In 1987, the NPM established the Information Technology Center for IT affairs and began to research the application of digital technology to artifact archiving and preservation. The Information Technology Center gradually expanded its scope due to the heavy demands of projects and tasks. Finally, in 2011, it was combined with the Department of Exhibition to form the Department of Education, Exhibition and Information Services, under which the Information Technology Education and Information Services sections spearhead museum projects such as the research, planning, management, and maintenance of IT software and facilities and network services. This transformation marked an innovation made by the NPM in response to the advent of the digital technology era.
- Digital archiving
It is widely known that computer technology can systematically integrate, transport, and propagate complex information. Of course, digitally archiving the NPM’s 70,000-piece collection required a great amount of labor, material, and finance. In 2002, the government launched a preliminary version of the Digital Archives Program to provide necessary resources for the NPM to completely digitize its archives. At the beginning of the program, the NPM participated in six projects. After a decade of effort, the museum had established 21 databases, cementing the foundation of its digitization efforts. All digital archiving databases are helpful, whether in terms of artifact management, preventative restoration, exhibition planning and design, education programming, research and publication, new media and digital art creation or innovations in cultural creativity and visitor services. With the use of IT, they enhance the functionality and quality of the NPM’s service, making the museum’s rich and fine collection more valuable and effective.
- Museum without walls
In 1997, the NPM launched a global website in both English and Chinese, adding nine languages later on (Japanese, Korean, French, German, Spanish, Russian, and Arabic). In conjunction with the opening of the NPM Southern Branch Museum of Asian Art and Culture on December 28, 2015, versions in Southeast Asian languages such as Thai, Cambodian, Indonesian, Vietnamese, and others are currently being added and are due to appear online in August. In December 2002, the NPM began circulating its e-newsletter in both Chinese and English. It has since launched various learning resources for the artifacts, made the archives database public and produced and released 33 thematic websites and 3D virtual displays, truly becoming a “museum without walls.”
- New media art creation
In 2006, based on the digital archives, the NPM began to cooperate with various educational institutions and industries, combining technology with art and stepping into the field of new media art creation. Its efforts in this area have fallen under the following categories.
- Painting animation
In 2006, the NPM worked with Professor Chiu Chia-hua from the Chungyuan Christian University to interpret the painting One Hundred Horses by Giuseppe Castiglione of the Qing Dynasty. Using new media technology, they created and imagined day–night, time and weather transitions and movement in the painting, bringing Castiglione’s quiet world to life. In 3 short minutes, the environment within the painting undergoes a series of weather changes as its 100 horses charge ahead, creating a grand scene that has captivated audiences. The NPM has developed six additional painting animations since 2010, including Imitating Zhao Bosu’s Latter Ode on Red Cliff, Spring Morning in the Han Palace, Return Clearing, Up the River During Qingming, Activities of the Twelve Months, and Syzygy of the Sun and Moon and the Five Planets. These paintings are currently on view on a rotational schedule in the Painting Animation corridor.
- 3D animated films
In 2006, the NPM began working with Digimax Inc. and Director Tom Sito from Hollywood, USA, to produce a 3D animated film titled Adventures in the NPM. Four films in the Adventures in the NPM series have been produced since, bringing audiences closer to the ancient artifacts and serving as a great educational tool for children and school students.
- New media arts exhibition
In 2011, the NPM worked with new media artists for the first time to simultaneously produce new media ...
