National Palace Museum, Taiwan

The National Palace Museum in Taiwan (here after the NPM) is one of the best museums in the world and definitely the best place to explore Chinese culture and history. It is incomparable in its comprehensive collection of quality Chinese art.

In recent years, the NPM in Taiwan won several important international awards that recognized its creative maneuver in managing the museum, in particular, in its efforts in transforming the culture of antiques into a fashion.

It might still be a fashion of culture tourism, but more significantly, it also creates a fashion for museum culture. The NPM has introduced a new lens of technology through which ideas of past, history, and culture could be seen from a up-to-date viewpoint.

I am frequently appalled by some popularized forms of culture, to be honest. However, efforts in makingthe so-called high-brow culture in museums 'popular' and 'known', like what the NPM is making, have to be appreciated. New technology adds a modern flavor to the hidden beauty of objects from the past, and this modern touch also meets the expectation to draw closer to each other the modern audience and the artifacts.

One of the NPM movies that I have been intrigued by is the 'Adventures in the NPM'. The story takes place on a quiet night in the NPM where national treasures all come alive and run in search for a missing katydid.

Follow the click below for a view of the film:

Adventures in the NPM

(Originally downloaded from the NPM website)

This 3-D animation stars a small child, whose image is derived from an artwork of NPM's collection--"Child Pillow"--a ceramic pillow that is molded into a sleeping upper-class child. Another star in the film is a katydid, probably the most valuable insect in the world. The katydid is drawn from another famous work of art: a jadeite cabbage upon which a katydid perches. The film is also narrated against a stream of images, which is made up of some of the most representative features of Chinese art: calligraphy, dragon, plump ladies from Tong dynasty, etc..

Every click on the NPM website ushers me into my memory of such a rich culture that I grew up with. Every turn of the web-page provokes unceasing amazement that I once had in the classroom of Chinese art years and years ago.

Let's talk more about this place in the future.


More reading:
* The news of the premium of 'Adventures in the NPM';

More adventures:
* National Palace Museum in Taiwan