The Kaohsiung Museum of Fine Arts yesterday apologized for forbidding children from copying paintings by freehand drawing, saying it welcomes visitors to make sketches of paintings on drawing tablets or sketchpads.
The museum issued the remark after a museumgoer nicknamed “Mickeyelk Gesner” on Thursday posted on Facebook that her son had been sketching a painting by Pablo Picasso on a tablet computer at the exhibition “Capturing the Moment” on Wednesday when a museum worker told him to stop drawing.
“The staff told us, ‘Only taking photos is allowed. No copying. This is a rule,’” she quoted the worker as saying.
Photo: CNA
Physician Lee Chia-yan (李佳燕), who witnessed the incident at the museum, on Friday said in a Facebook post that she was appalled by the staff’s handling of the matter, which was “totally at odds with the common practice of the world’s leading arts museums.”
“Arts museums should not be haughty and condescending to visitors. It is not a place for adults to be arty and phony, but rather a place pleasantly accessible to people, especially to children,” Lee said.
The museum is “a public good” of the city and should help to nurture children’s ability to create and appreciate the arts, Lee added.
The museum yesterday said that it expects to align with international practices and create better experiences for visitors as a social and educational institution that allows for the enjoyment of art.
It apologized to the public for causing disputes due to inappropriate management and communications, and pledged to improve staff training to provide visitor-friendly services.
Museum visitors are allowed to make sketches on drawing tablets or sketchpads at exhibition sites, with detailed information provided on the museum’s Web site, it said, adding that everyone is welcome to explore the classic artworks created by renowned international artists during the summer vacation.
The Chimei Museum, a prestigious museum in Tainan, and the UK’s Tate Modern, one of the museums that contributed artworks to the Kaohsiung museum’s exhibition, allow visitors to copy paintings through freehand drawing, Facebook fan page “Takao Gooday” (高雄好過日) said on Friday.
“The entire incident indicates that the Kaohsiung Museum of Fine Arts, being a hub of arts in southern Taiwan with a 30-year history, has a disappointing attitude toward arts education and promotion,” Takao Gooday added.
“Copying” and “freehand drawing” are two different things when it comes to visitors drawing to mimic a painting, literary and historical worker Wei Tsong-jou (魏聰洲) said in a Facebook post on Friday.
“One would have to file an application to ‘copy’ painting exhibits and undergo a review afterwards,” Wei said. “‘Free drawing’ does not require any application and is considered a way of appreciating artworks in terms of museum education.”
The museum seemed to be “unable to differentiate freehand drawing from copying” and made the child “feel as though he had made a mistake and fearfully asked to leave the spot,” Wei 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
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
DEADLOCK: As the commission is unable to forum a quorum to review license renewal applications, the channel operators are not at fault and can air past their license date The National Communications Commission (NCC) yesterday said that the Public Television Service (PTS) and 36 other television and radio broadcasters could continue airing, despite the commission’s inability to meet a quorum to review their license renewal applications. The licenses of PTS and the other channels are set to expire between this month and June. The National Communications Commission Organization Act (國家通訊傳播委員會組織法) stipulates that the commission must meet the mandated quorum of four to hold a valid meeting. The seven-member commission currently has only three commissioners. “We have informed the channel operators of the progress we have made in reviewing their license renewal applications, and
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
RSS