A Centenary Dialog:Joint Exhibition Celebrating 100 Anniversary of National Library of Public Inform
2023 / 09 / 24
2024 / 03 / 17
A Centenary Dialog: When Transnational Migrants and National Taiwan Museum Collections Cross Paths—Joint Exhibition Celebrating 100 Anniversary of National Library of Public InformationVenue｜1 Fl., National Library of Public Information (No. 100 Wuquan S. Rd., South Dist., Taichung City)Duration｜2023.9.24~2024.3.17 09:00-18:00TAIPEI, Taiwan - The National Taiwan Museum, the National Public Information Library, and the Taiwan Museum Foundation are proud to present a special joint exhibition, "A Century of Dialogue: Cross-National Movers and the Encounter with Taiwan Museum Collections". The exhibition will be held at the first floor exhibition hall of the National Public Information Library from September 26, 2023 to March 17, 2024. The opening press conference was held on September 26, 2023, in the first floor lobby of the National Public Information Library. The event was co-hosted by Indonesian new residents Chen Yayu and Wang Yijie. The event kicked off with traditional dance performances from Indonesia and Thailand. Representatives from Southeast Asian countries stationed in Taiwan and new residents gathered together to share the deep emotional ties of the first generation of new residents to their homeland, and the cultural stories of the second generation of new residents growing up in Taiwan. The event was attended by many distinguished guests, including Deputy Minister Lin Mingyu of the Ministry of Education, Deputy Director Huang Xiu of the Taiwan Museum, Director Ma Xiangping of the National Public Information Library, Representative Mr. Iqbal Shoffan Shofwan of the Indonesian Economic and Trade Office in Taipei, Director Zhu Jingya of the Manila Economic and Cultural Office - Taichung Branch, Deputy Director Wang Zonghan of the Singapore Business Office in Taipei, and Director Danli Bai of the Australian Office's Economic and Policy Department. This event coincides with the centennial of the National Public Information Library. Over the past century, the library has experienced colonization, restructuring, and migration. Each book in the library carries the stories of people's encounters and opportunities, farewells and reincarnations. These precious cultural memories are waiting for us to take out and read from the library, to regain the power of life. Over the past century, new resident friends have bravely crossed national borders, come to Taiwan for marriage or work, and have borne the burden of family finances, child rearing, language barriers, and the pressure of cultural adaptation such as dietary habits and values. With deep thoughts of family, country, and culture, they have woven together the stories of "people and things" and "things and books" moving and meeting in Taiwan. Each person is a micro-library. The exhibition features a collection of works by Indonesian artist I Made Sukariawan from Bali. Mr. Sukariawan returned to Bali to purchase related materials and re-engraved a set of Barong and Randa in Taiwan, which were grandly exhibited in the National Public Information Library for the first time. This is not only the cultural glory of Balinese immigrants, but also promotes Balinese culture to the public. In addition, the exhibition also collected Kris daggers, Thai tableware, Indonesian peacock feather crown tiger lion, Gamelan instrument model, Philippine national costume and other exhibits from research institutions and private collectors, presenting a dialogue between "objects" and "stories" across a century. The exhibition takes "reading and community connection" as the core of the exhibition, selects the rich Southeast Asian language collections of the National Public Information Library, focuses on the beliefs, arts and customs of the Southeast Asian region, and echoes the collections of the Taiwan Museum. It is hoped that books can be used as a link to connect Taiwan with the mother countries of new residents, encourage new resident communities to make good use of library resources to "co-create stories", understand the "contemporary Southeast Asia" multi-culture brought into Taiwan by contemporary cross-national movers, and show the power of the library to combine local and Southeast Asian communities to promote the practice of cultural equality. The Ministry of Education's social education institutions have many precious learning resources and are important platforms for lifelong learning. In response to the needs of change and innovation in a knowledge-based society, the social education institutions under the Ministry of Education have particularly listed New Southward Science Popularization Education and International Exchange as key implementation points. This time, the National Public Information Library, through cross-domain resource integration, joined hands with the National Taiwan Museum, a cultural institution under the Ministry of Culture, to curate an exhibition, adopting a two-way exhibition exchange mode, strengthening the two-way exchange of social education institutions, improving the performance and quality of social education services, and further adding value to the resources of various government units and private groups across domains. Through the extension of the exhibition's tentacles, it connects Taiwan with the mother countries of new residents, promotes cultural exchange and integration, builds a platform for exchange between Taiwanese people and new resident sisters, and enhances the understanding of the culture of new resident countries by the people of the country.