The Ministry of Culture has invited the public to celebrate International Museum Day on Friday next week, unveiling a new theme being promoted by museums nationwide.
“How a museum presents itself is a cultural perspective that reflects how society views its own civilization and presents its own point of view,” Minister of Culture Cheng Li-chiun (鄭麗君) said on Friday.
For instance, Musee du quai Branly-Jacques Chirac in Paris represents a “Eurocentric” outlook by featuring indigenous art and cultures from outside Europe, she said.
To celebrate International Museum Day, Cheng said the Ministry of Culture has come up with a theme of “diversity and friendship — exploring new publics and visiting museums,” echoing the theme — “hyper-connected museums: new approaches, new publics” — unveiled by the International Council of Museums (ICOM) for this year.
“More important than offering free tickets to visitors, museums should reflect on their meaning and function in a modern society,” Cheng said, adding that the theme chosen by the ministry this year also showcases its efforts to promote equal rights in culture by integrating different resources.
Vision-impaired visitors can now contemplate certain exhibits at Taiwanese museums by touching them, while multilingual services are available for new immigrants, she said.
The ministry has teamed up with the Ministry of Education to organize guided tours for students, while a plan to allow visitors to access museums nationwide using handheld electronic devices is being drawn up, Cheng said.
International Museum Day has been celebrated every year since 1977 and an annual theme has been adopted since 1992, said Hsiao Tsung-huang (蕭宗煌), curator of the National Taiwan Museum of Fine Arts and chairman of the Taipei-based Chinese Association of Museums.
“It was intended to encourage the public to reflect on the social responsibilities of museums and ask what else they can contribute to society,” Hsiao said.
A total of 72 museums nationwide are to mark International Museum Day by launching a series of special offers and activities, he said.
Many museums, including the National Palace Museum and its southern branch in Chiayi County, the National Museum of Prehistory in Taitung County and the National Museum of Natural Science in Taichung, are to offer free entry to visitors on Friday, he added.
WANG RELEASED: A police investigation showed that an organized crime group allegedly taught their clients how to pretend to be sick during medical exams Actor Darren Wang (王大陸) and 11 others were released on bail yesterday, after being questioned for allegedly dodging compulsory military service or forging documents to help others avoid serving. Wang, 33, was catapulted into stardom for his role in the coming-of-age film Our Times (我的少女時代). Lately, he has been focusing on developing his entertainment career in China. The New Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office last month began investigating an organized crime group that is allegedly helping men dodge compulsory military service using falsified documents. Police in New Taipei City Yonghe Precinct at the end of last month arrested the main suspect,
A cat named Mikan (蜜柑) has brought in revenue of more than NT$10 million (US$305,390) for the Kaohsiung MRT last year. Mikan, born on April 4, 2020, was a stray cat before being adopted by personnel of Kaohsiung MRT’s Ciaotou Sugar Refinery Station. Mikan was named after a Japanese term for mandarin orange due to his color and because he looks like an orange when curled up. He was named “station master” of Ciaotou Sugar Refinery Station in September 2020, and has since become famous. With Kaohsiung MRT’s branding, along with the release of a set of cultural and creative products, station master Mikan
LITTORAL REGIMENTS: The US Marine Corps is transitioning to an ‘island hopping’ strategy to counterattack Beijing’s area denial strategy The US Marine Corps (USMC) has introduced new anti-drone systems to bolster air defense in the Pacific island chain amid growing Chinese military influence in the region, The Telegraph reported on Sunday. The new Marine Air Defense Integrated System (MADIS) Mk 1 is being developed to counter “the growing menace of unmanned aerial systems,” it cited the Marine Corps as saying. China has constructed a powerful defense mechanism in the Pacific Ocean west of the first island chain by deploying weapons such as rockets, submarines and anti-ship missiles — which is part of its anti-access/area denial (A2/AD) strategy against adversaries — the
Eleven people, including actor Darren Wang (王大陸), were taken into custody today for questioning regarding the evasion of compulsory military service and document forgery, the New Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office said. Eight of the people, including Wang, are suspected of evading military service, while three are suspected of forging medical documents to assist them, the report said. They are all being questioned by police and would later be transferred to the prosecutors’ office for further investigation. Three men surnamed Lee (李), Chang (張) and Lin (林) are suspected of improperly assisting conscripts in changing their military classification from “stand-by
RSS