The Chilin Foundation, founded by former Democratic Progressive Party chairman Lin I-hsiung (林義雄), is set to inaugurate a museum in Yilan County in May, although a pre-opening exhibition began on March 3, that is aimed at introducing a history of Taiwan’s democratic development.
The exhibition includes a speech on anti-nuclear movements by renowned film director Ko I-chen (柯一正) on March 21, the foundation said.
The new museum consists of an exhibition hall for democratic movements, a library of social movements — the first of its kind in Taiwan — and an art gallery, the foundation said.
Photo: Chu Tze-wei, Taipei Times
History of the nation’s social movements in textbooks is far from informative and comprehensive, foundation chief historian of Taiwanese social movements Chen Feng-ping (陳鳳萍) said, adding that the foundation is devoted to collecting documents relating to the nation’s democratic development, including those concerning the 228 Incident, the Kaohsiung Incident, Lin I-hsiung’s family tragedy and the more recent anti-nuclear movements.
Oil paintings and photographs, in addition to earlier publications, are to be put on display to chronicle the lives of human rights champions and the obstacles they faced under former authoritarian regimes, the foundation said.
Founded in 1991 by Lin and his wife, Fang Su-min (方素敏), the foundation houses a small exhibition center at its headquarters in the county’s Wujie Township (五結), the foundation said.
The foundation decided to build a more spacious museum to store and exhibit historical materials and Taiwanese art, the foundation said.
Exhibits originally collected at the foundation’s headquarters would be relocated to the new museum, with the headquarters’ exhibition center turned into a calligraphy gallery, including Lin’s artworks, the foundation said.
Open every week from Tuesday to Saturday from 10am to 2pm, the exhibition is scheduled to run through the end of next month, with guided tours available upon reservation for groups of 10 or more people, the foundation said.
Lin is scheduled to inaugurate the museum on May 9, the foundation added.
Lin built a Chilin Cultural and Education Center in Wujie over a decade ago, housing historical data and pictures of past dangwai (黨外, “outside the party”) rallies and election events. The term dangwai referred to all political activity during the 1950s conducted by people outside of the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT).
Lin participated in every part of the museum’s construction, the foundation said.
‘DENIAL DEFENSE’: The US would increase its military presence with uncrewed ships, and submarines, while boosting defense in the Indo-Pacific, a Pete Hegseth memo said The US is reorienting its military strategy to focus primarily on deterring a potential Chinese invasion of Taiwan, a memo signed by US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth showed. The memo also called on Taiwan to increase its defense spending. The document, known as the “Interim National Defense Strategic Guidance,” was distributed this month and detailed the national defense plans of US President Donald Trump’s administration, an article in the Washington Post said on Saturday. It outlines how the US can prepare for a potential war with China and defend itself from threats in the “near abroad,” including Greenland and the Panama
A wild live dugong was found in Taiwan for the first time in 88 years, after it was accidentally caught by a fisher’s net on Tuesday in Yilan County’s Fenniaolin (粉鳥林). This is the first sighting of the species in Taiwan since 1937, having already been considered “extinct” in the country and considered as “vulnerable” by the International Union for Conservation of Nature. A fisher surnamed Chen (陳) went to Fenniaolin to collect the fish in his netting, but instead caught a 3m long, 500kg dugong. The fisher released the animal back into the wild, not realizing it was an endangered species at
The High Prosecutors’ Office yesterday withdrew an appeal against the acquittal of a former bank manager 22 years after his death, marking Taiwan’s first instance of prosecutors rendering posthumous justice to a wrongfully convicted defendant. Chu Ching-en (諸慶恩) — formerly a manager at the Taipei branch of BNP Paribas — was in 1999 accused by Weng Mao-chung (翁茂鍾), then-president of Chia Her Industrial Co, of forging a request for a fixed deposit of US$10 million by I-Hwa Industrial Co, a subsidiary of Chia Her, which was used as collateral. Chu was ruled not guilty in the first trial, but was found guilty
The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) is maintaining close ties with Beijing, the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) said yesterday, hours after a new round of Chinese military drills in the Taiwan Strait began. Political parties in a democracy have a responsibility to be loyal to the nation and defend its sovereignty, DPP spokesman Justin Wu (吳崢) told a news conference in Taipei. His comments came hours after Beijing announced via Chinese state media that the Chinese People’s Liberation Army’s Eastern Theater Command was holding large-scale drills simulating a multi-pronged attack on Taiwan. Contrary to the KMT’s claims that it is staunchly anti-communist, KMT Deputy
RSS