After 15 years of planning and construction, the Southern Branch of the National Palace Museum (NPM) opened its doors on Dec. 28 last year, marking a major milestone in Taiwan’s cultural development. During a six-month soft opening, the institution, located in Chiayi County’s Taibao City, is welcoming visitors who schedule appointments in advance, offering thousands of people each day a chance to explore the striking new venue and its diverse exhibitions. “Rather than a duplication of the original museum in Taipei, which centers on Chinese art, the Southern Branch is the first museum in Asia with a designated focus on art and culture throughout Asia,” explains Fung Ming-chu (馮明珠), director of the NPM. “The two museums have points in common, but also differences. They complement each other.”
While the NPM in Taipei primarily displays collections concerning Chinese dynastic courts, the Southern Branch highlights three great Asian civilizations, namely China, India and Persia. “Chinese civilization belongs to East Asia, but since ancient times China has had connections via land and sea to other areas of Asia and has been influenced by them,” Fung says. “The Southern Branch seeks to take a broader perspective through its research, collections and borrowed works, displaying content that highlights concepts in Asian art.”
The permanent exhibition “The Far-Reaching Fragrance of Tea: The Art and Culture of Tea in Asia” includes a reproduction of a Ming dynasty (1368-1644) teahouse. (Photo by Jimmy Lin)
The Southern Branch was previously slated for completion in 2008, but building work was stalled for several years due to contractual disputes. After President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) took office in May 2008, the museum was listed among the government’s dozen prioritized infrastructure development programs, known as the i-Taiwan 12 Projects, and construction was resumed.
Located on a site formerly owned by the state-run Taiwan Sugar Corp., the Southern Branch and its grounds span 70 hectares. The museum was designed by acclaimed Taiwanese architect Kris Yao (姚仁喜), whose works are known for their sleek exteriors and pervading sense of tranquility. The Southern Branch has four floors, though its height is more typical of a building of 10 or more stories. It also features solar and wind power facilities, and has attained diamond-level certification in Taiwan’s Green Building Label.
As the museum is surrounded on three sides by two interconnected manmade reservoirs, the primary pathway to the main entrance is Zhimei Bridge, a 142-meter single-span arch. The path at the end of the bridge leads to a courtyard that sits between the two interlinked bow-shaped structures that comprise the museum. From there, visitors can enter the main lobby.
The museum’s 1,120-square-meter Children’s Creative Center contains exhibits on ceramics, textiles and tea utensils. (Photo by Jimmy Lin)
The architectural design of the Southern Branch was inspired by three techniques found in traditional Chinese ink painting—nongmo, which literally means “dense black” and refers to the thick application of ink; feibai, “flying white” or streaks of white that appear in brushstrokes where the ink did not take; and xuanran, the application of watery ink or color in order to produce a hazy effect. The pathway leading to the museum and the central courtyard were influenced by the xuanran method. The museum’s east wing, meanwhile, is named Feibai Hall, and features blue-gray glass curtain walls that offer views of the grounds and the Jianan Plain beyond.
Inspired by the nongmo technique, the west wing is called Moyun Hall. The structure was built using reinforced concrete, while its outer wall is covered with mosaic tiles and studded with almost 36,000 aluminum disks of five different sizes. As it lacks large windows, the hall appears completely sealed. In fact, it has 89 small cylindrical windows of painted glass that admit natural light.
The Southern Branch has five galleries for permanent exhibitions, as well as three others for special exhibitions, multimedia exhibitions and exhibitions of loaned works, respectively. It also includes a Children’s Creative Center, where kids aged 5 to 12 can learn about Asian art and culture through games, interactive displays and multimedia exhibitions. The museum’s display cases meet the highest international standards. Those used to exhibit textiles and Buddhist artifacts, for instance, are 7.2 meters high. Meanwhile, the longest display case, which contains ceramic works, spans 20 meters.
Some of the display cases used to exhibit textiles and Buddhist artifacts are 7.2 meters high. (Photo courtesy of National Palace Museum)
Ten teams, comprising domestic and foreign experts, reviewed the NPM’s holdings to select works for the Southern Branch’s five permanent exhibitions, which showcase Buddhist art, the art and culture of tea in Asia, the history of Chiayi, Asian textiles, and a multimedia guide to Asian art. The groups also considered temporary displays and exhibits of loaned works from abroad. Altogether, 10 exhibitions were arranged for the museum’s opening. These comprise the five permanent displays as well as three temporary exhibitions of items from the NPM’s collection and two exhibitions of loaned works. The temporary exhibits showcase Islamic jades, Ming dynasty (1368-1644) porcelains and South Asian costumes, while the two exhibits of loaned items present Goryeo celadon works and Imari porcelain wares.
The Southern Branch also contains additional exhibition space for installations related to its displays. For instance, for the permanent exhibition “The Far-Reaching Fragrance of Tea: The Art and Culture of Tea in Asia,” the curators recreated a Ming dynasty teahouse. And the display of loaned works “Sailing the High Seas: Imari Porcelain Wares” features a reproduction of a type of boat used by Japanese emissaries to sail to Tang dynasty (618-907) China.
As evidence of the NPM’s commitment to sharing its foremost treasures equally between its two sites, the Southern Branch will house the Jadeite Cabbage with Insects, perhaps the institution’s most well-known piece, until Oct. 2 this year. After the famed artwork returns to Taipei, another of the NPM’s most prized items, the Meat-Shaped Stone, will then be exhibited at the Southern Branch.
“Radiating Hues of Blue and White: Ming Dynasty Blue-and-White Porcelains in the NPM Collection” is one of the 10 major exhibitions at the Southern Branch. (Photo courtesy of National Palace Museum)
Director Fung also notes that the new museum will “work with all the schools in the south and with the Ministry of Education to make it convenient for students in Nantou, Yunlin and Chiayi [counties in central and southern Taiwan] to enjoy exhibitions in the museum. We aim to realize a more equitable north-south balance in terms of cultural resources.”
As an auspicious gesture to mark this new era for the NPM, Fung decided to have Chinese characters meaning “eternal stability, constant harmony” written on the highest beam in the Southern Branch. The phrase is a reference to the names of a gold chalice and jade candlestick in the NPM’s collection that date to the reign of the Qianlong Emperor between 1735 and 1795. The pieces were regularly used by Qing dynasty (1644-1911) rulers in a Lunar New Year ceremony to wish for peace and prosperity in the coming year. Honoring a museum that has been in existence for 90 years, the phrase expresses the hope that the NPM will continue to grow and flourish, and that the Southern Branch will further enhance the nation’s cultural vibrancy.
______________________________
A version of this article originally appeared in Taiwan Panorama.
Unique Exhibit of Vatican Artifacts
The National Palace Museum in Taipei stages an extraordinary exhibition of precious Catholic artifacts in cooperation with the Holy See.
A manifestation of the deep friendship and formal diplomatic ties between the Republic of China and the Vatican, a unique exhibition titled “Treasures from Heaven: A Special Exhibition of Artifacts from the Holy See” is being held from Feb. 5 to May 2 at the National Palace Museum (NPM) in Taipei. “These artifacts are kept in St. Peter’s Basilica in a highly secret location accessible only to designated officials of the papacy,” says NPM Director Fung Ming-chu (馮明珠). “In the past, the Vatican would perhaps allow one of these uniquely sacred items to go abroad for public display, but never before have more than 60 artifacts been allowed out collectively for an overseas show. This is really a radical, groundbreaking event.”
The exhibition is divided into six major sections—The Holy See; The Liturgical Year; The Altar; The Pope and History; The Sacraments; and Catholicism Spreads East. Together, these categories elaborate on the close relationship between the liturgy of the Roman Catholic Church and the Pope, as well as the history and development of the church.
Among the items on display is a reliquary containing a bone from the arm of St. Francis Xavier (1506-1552). “St. Francis Xavier was the first Jesuit to be assigned to China as a missionary. He was sent to Asia in 1540, going initially to the East Indies, Malacca and Japan,” explains Chen Fang-chung (陳方中), an associate professor of history at Fu Jen Catholic University in New Taipei City. “In 1552, as he was preparing to enter China, he died on Shangchuan Island, just off Macao.” The Society of Jesus (Jesuits) later acquired one of his bones, which was sent back to the order’s headquarters in Rome.
Also included in the exhibition is the famed Image of Edessa, also known as the Mandylion of Edessa, dating from the 3rd to 5th century. “This object traces its origins back to a piece of cloth on which the image of Jesus’ face miraculously appeared,” Fung says. “According to one Christian tradition, after the death of Jesus, a king who had been aided by Jesus sent a painter to the Holy Land to create a drawing of him, but the painter was unable to do so because Jesus’ face was giving off a glaring holy light. Later, he washed Jesus’ face and used a piece of cloth to dry it, and Jesus’ image miraculously appeared on the cloth.”
A major cultural event, this exhibition offers visitors a unique opportunity to explore the artistic value of over 60 remarkable Catholic artifacts and retrace the historical development of the church in the Chinese-speaking world.
—Lee Hsiang-ting
A jeweled closure used by Servant of God Pope Benedict XIII (reign: 1724-1730) (Photo courtesy of National Palace Museum)
The exhibition of Vatican artifacts features a reliquary containing a relic of St. Francis Xavier (1506-1552). The reliquary dates from the mid to late 19th century. (Photo courtesy of National Palace Museum)
The nave of St. Peter’s Basilica in the Vatican (Photo courtesy of National Palace Museum)
The Image of Edessa, dating from the 3rd to 5th century, traces its origins to a piece of cloth on which the image of Jesus’ face is said to have miraculously appeared. (Photo courtesy of National Palace Museum)