Minister of Culture Shih Che (史哲) yesterday announced plans to open an architecture and culture center in 2026, while museums nationwide prepared to celebrate International Museum Day with special events.
“Museums are the most important foundation of a country’s cultural power,” Shih told a news conference in Taipei.
While the Ministry of Culture is in charge of setting culture-related policies, museums come into direct contact with the public, he said, adding that museums can perpetuate the finite human existence when people are willing to entrust precious creations and stories to them.
Photo: CNA
The architecture and culture center is the result of the long-term advocacy and efforts of Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Rosalia Wu (吳思瑤), he said.
After consulting with experts, the ministry has chosen a building in the Railway Department Park in Taipei as the site of the center, he said.
The ministry is to allocate a budget of NT$160 million (US$4.94 million) to the project, including for renovating the building into exhibition spaces and curating exhibitions, he said.
Architecture represents the aesthetics of Taiwan’s social space, Shih said, adding that he hopes the center could facilitate studies of Taiwan’s architecture and bring the nation’s architectural aesthetics to the world.
He said that launching the project was meaningful to him before he on Monday next week hands over his position to incoming minister of culture Li Yuan (李遠), better known by his pen name Hsiao Yeh (小野).
Leaving the post is not a graduation ceremony, but the curtain call of a concert, Shih said.
“If we perform well and the audience feels it, I think we should continue to do this,” he said.
Wu said that museums should be close to society and people’s lives, adding that she has visited museums during legislative elections to calm her mind.
In 1977, the International Council of Museums designated May 18 as International Museum Day, and it organizes events on and around the date to “highlight the importance of the role of museums as institutions that serve society and its development,” the council said.
To mark the occasion this year, the National Taiwan Museum has collaborated with Taipei Garden Hotel to open museum-themed rooms and launch cultural sightseeing bus routes to encourage tourists to explore Taiwan’s culture, the ministry said.
The National Palace Museum, the National Taiwan Museum of Fine Arts, the National Museum of Natural Science, the National Museum of Marine Science and Technology and other facilities around Taiwan are also to hold special events over the weekend to celebrate International Museum Day.
Details can be found on the Facebook page “518 International Museum Day” (518國際博物館日).
‘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
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
RESPONSE: The government would investigate incidents of Taiwanese entertainers in China promoting CCP propaganda online in contravention of the law, the source said Taiwanese entertainers living in China who are found to have contravened cross-strait regulations or collaborated with the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) could be subject to fines, a source said on Sunday. Several Taiwanese entertainers have posted on the social media platform Sina Weibo saying that Taiwan “must be returned” to China, and sharing news articles from Chinese state media. In response, the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) has asked the Ministry of Culture to investigate whether the entertainers had contravened any laws, and asked for them to be questioned upon their return to Taiwan, an official familiar with the matter said. To curb repeated
Myanmar has turned down an offer of assistance from Taiwanese search-and-rescue teams after a magnitude 7.7 earthquake struck the nation on Friday last week, saying other international aid is sufficient, the National Fire Agency said yesterday. More than 1,700 have been killed and 3,400 injured in the quake that struck near the central Myanmar city of Mandalay early on Friday afternoon, followed minutes later by a magnitude 6.7 aftershock. Worldwide, 13 international search-and-rescue teams have been deployed, with another 13 teams mobilizing, the agency said. Taiwan’s search-and-rescue teams were on standby, but have since been told to stand down, as