The National Palace Museum’s average replacement budget for each artifact’s storage equipment last year was only NT$1.41 (US$0.04), the National Audit Office said in a report, saying it should raise the budget and store each artifact separately.
In October last year, the museum was reported to have broken three artifacts, sparking a public uproar.
The office’s central government final accounts audit report for last year showed that the museum has a collection of 70,706 artifacts.
Photo: Lu Chun-wei, Taipei Times
As of Oct. 18 last year there were 2,079 repair records, including 359 for ceramic or porcelain artifacts, museum data showed.
The museum’s budget last year for antiquities archives and artwork storeroom management was more than NT$5.2 million, but the storeroom equipment maintenance and replacement budget was just more than NT$100,000, so the average replacement budget for each piece of storage equipment was only NT$1.41, which is not enough, the office said.
The museum stores multiple artifacts in one box, which risks them being damaged when moved or touched, and while the museum’s Department of Antiquities had proposed storing each artifact in a separate container and replacing the boxes with specialized cabinets, the idea has not been executed due to insufficient funding, the office said, adding that the museum should raise the budget to protect national treasures.
The Executive Yuan said it has approved an estimated annual budget of NT$206 million from next year to 2027 for the museum to manage the ceramic and porcelain artifacts storeroom, order customized archive cabinets to replace the metal boxes artifacts are stored in, and manufacture specialized containers so that artifacts can be stored separately.
The office also said that some of the employees and contracted assistants who are in charge of moving the artifacts have not completed professional training.
The museum did not clearly divide responsibilities among personnel involved in collaborative work, such as taking inventory, arrangement of artifacts, cataloging, photography and exhibition preparation, which could easily result in damage, the office said, adding that the museum should improve this.
The Executive Yuan said the museum has recruited two experts in ceramic history and ceramic repairs who would instruct and train storeroom personnel in the handling of artifacts, while the project coordinator would be trained in storage and a procedural flow chart has been created for the storeroom.
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