Running a private museum is no easy task. According to one expert, success is based 50 percent on love, 40 percent imagination, and 10 percent money. While many small museums do not lack the necessary commitment or creativity, they continue to suffer from small budgets. What is in store for these labors of love?
People passing by a high-rise building located on a tree-lined street in downtown Taipei may be surprised to find a utopian escape from the city's busy streets in the building's basement--a place to relax and soak in ancient Chinese culture at the same time. "We've tried to create a space where people can come in, forget their troubles, and embark on a journey of art discovery," says Liao Kuei-ying, executive curator of the Chang Foundation Museum. "Our doors are wide open and we encourage members of the public to visit the museum as part of their daily recreation, not something they do only on weekends and holidays."
Museums may not yet be a part of the public's everyday life, but Taiwan has no shortage of such institutions. More than one hundred private museums have been established since 1980, and their variety is surprising. The gamut extends from the traditional to the obscure, from the mundane to the unusual. The Chang Foundation Museum, established by the Hong Shee Group in 1991, is one of the more highly regarded in the field. It displays Chinese art collected by two generations of the Chang family with artifacts dating from 3000 B.C. to the nineteenth century. The collection includes over 30,000 traditional Chinese items such as snuff bottles, jade carvings, and stone seals, as well as paintings, pottery, porcelain, and bronze objects.
The Chang Foundation, which runs the museum, aims to offer more than a piece of history to the public. "Today's museums are no longer silent castles; they should center on education," Liao notes. "By providing a relaxing environment, we want to help people understand and appreciate the beauty of art. We hope they'll extend this appreciation to their everyday lives." Toward that goal, the museum also offers itself as a venue for live performances and has organized a number of lectures, workshops, handicraft demonstrations, and musical appreciation events to complement its exhibitions. "In addition to providing local residents with a place to view art and gain spiritual fulfillment, we also engage in international exchanges by sending our exhibits overseas for display," Liao adds.
Although the Chang Foundation Museum's contents will never rival that of publicly funded ones, it has often been called the mini-National Palace Museum because of the broad scope of its collection. "Private collectors can never hope to catch up with the National Palace Museum, but we can and should concentrate on acquiring and displaying objects that aren't represented in other museums," Liao states. She notes that small museums such as hers can better serve the community by providing the public with more convenient access to works of art.
The proliferation of museums in recent years has come on the heels of sustained economic growth and improvement in Taiwan's living standards. "The establishment of museums is an important indication of a nation's level of development and vitality," says Huang Kuang-nan, director of the National Museum of History. "In this regard, Taiwan has progressed more quickly than some of its neighboring countries. Now that the population is relatively affluent, it wants more cultural facilities."
What motivates someone to start a private museum? Some are spurred by personal interest in a subject, others want to foster a good corporate image, and still others are seeking a tax break. "Most of these individuals are aware of the need to tap into a particular market segment. As a result, we've seen museums thrive featuring a variety of themes," observes Huang, who also serves as the chairman of the Chinese Association of Museums. "They each have their own characteristics, and that contributes to the diversity of private museums."
A majority of Taiwan's private museums are products of collectors' lifelong passions. After years of acquisitions, many of these people decide to open their exhibits to the public. The Shung Ye Museum of Formosan Aborigines, located in Taipei, is one such example. Taiwan's first museum featuring aboriginal artifacts was established by entrepreneur Safe Lin, who collected aboriginal items for over twenty years. His slogan, "In loving our native place, we must cherish each other's cultures," encapsulates the museum's mission. "Taiwan's aborigines have long occupied a somewhat underprivileged position in society. We need to pay more attention to this group, and that's where the museum comes in," Curator Eric Yu explains. "Only through appreciation and respect can we develop a better understanding and a harmonious relationship among various ethnic groups."
With a total investment of about NT$1 billion (US$29 million), the Shung Ye Museum is housed in a unique glass pyramid-shaped structure and uses advanced multimedia technology to introduce the artifacts to visitors. Its numerous displays feature everyday utensils from different native tribes and include hunting and woodcarving tools, rattan items, musical instruments, looms, and traditional costumes and accessories, plus replicas of aboriginal houses. Relevant historical documents and explanations of their significance are also provided.
In addition to displaying artifacts, the museum sponsors numerous activities--including woodcarving competitions, traditional song and dance performances, summer camps, lectures, and film appreciation classes--in an effort to promote a greater awareness of aboriginal culture. It also publicizes relevant books and offers scholarships in the study of aboriginal culture to encourage more research in the field. The museum participates in projects with the graduate institutes of anthropology at National Taiwan University, National Chengchi University, and National Tsinghua University, as well as foreign institutions including Tokyo University, Oxford University, and the University of California at Berkeley.
"By concentrating on the four main tasks of collection, research, exhibition, and education, we hope our museum can become a major 'database' of aboriginal culture," Yu says. "Following various joint events we've been involved in, we're happy to report that the public has gained a better understanding and acceptance of aboriginal culture in recent years."
Museums, however, serve roles other than educational, and some of them have adopted different approaches to the mix of exhibition, education, and entertainment. "The public largely considers museums academic institutions and places for study," says Floyd Tsao, curator of the Miniatures Museum of Taiwan. "But by putting greater emphasis on the recreational aspects of our establishment, we're showing people that museums can be interesting and fun. You don't have to take notes or have everything explained."
Tsao's museum showcases some 200 dollhouses and roomboxes from Europe, the United States, and Canada. The models mostly depict Western architectural styles and interior designs from the sixteenth century to the present. Despite being so small in scale, these replicas feature incredibly lifelike details. This collection was also born from a private obsession--that of retired businessman Lin Wen-jen, who has been collecting such works and commissioning the world's top miniature artists to create models for him since the early 1980s.
Founded in 1997, the Miniatures Museum in Taipei City claims to be the only one of its kind in Asia. Upon entering, visitors are greeted by a magnificent miniature of the Rose Mansion, an extravagant home built in Los Angeles at the turn of the twentieth century. The elaborate re-creation features twenty fully furnished rooms. Reginald Twigg, the creator of the model, devoted five years to researching and constructing the impressive work of art. Visitors can also get a peek at today's American lifestyles in a series of roomboxes depicting the décor of contemporary homes in the United States, or they can examine the detailed replicas featuring sixteenth-century Tudor architecture.
"The making of miniatures is a combination of art, fantasy, and history," Tsao states. "Through the appreciation of these displays, you learn about the history and cultural significance of the period and the place. At the same time, you can enter the imaginary worlds of Alice in Wonderland, Gulliver's Travels, or Snow White." Unfortunately, Taiwan has not moved beyond appreciation of such artifacts. Unlike Western countries, the island lacks a tradition of depicting real life in small scale. Despite Tsao's efforts to foster a local group of artisans specializing in miniatures, the craft remains a relatively obscure art form. To promote the art as a professional skill and a challenging leisure pursuit, the Miniatures Museum hosts national competitions and workshops for the public, and invites overseas artists to share their expertise with local novices.
The museum also cooperates with elementary schools, providing them with materials and instruction on how to incorporate dollhouse-making into their art classes. Teachers are invited to bring their classes to the museum on field trips free of charge. "Such educational visits are conducive to students' cultural awareness," Tsao says. "And we hope to help cultivate their interest in this field while they are young."
The Taiwan Folk Arts Museum is another example of a well-established private operation. Opened in 1984, it exhibits works of art and everyday artifacts from Taiwan's history. A noteworthy aspect about the institution is the distinctive building that houses it. Built in 1921 during Japanese colonial occupation (1895-1945), the structure is often mistakenly referred to as Japanese in style. It is in fact a replica of a Tang dynasty (618-907) home complete with a landscaped garden. In light of the building's significance, the Taipei City Government designated it as a historical landmark in 1998.
Many of the Folk Arts Museum's exhibits feature items from the daily lives of Fujian and Hakka settlers. Strong emphasis is also placed on the development of northern Taipei's Peitou district, where the museum is located, during the Japanese occupation and the post-1945 period. The building's low ceilings and glass cases evoke the atmosphere of a dusty antique shop, but the accompanying information is well presented, and much of it has been translated into English.
Exhibit highlights include a traditional bridal palanquin, kitchen setting, clothing and accessories, embroidery, ancestral portraits, and aboriginal arts and crafts, as well as photographs and maps of old Taiwan. "The folk artifacts we have on display are not worth as much as the exhibits in the National Palace Museum in terms of monetary value," says Wu Ling-ling, acting director of the museum. "But they offer a different view of what life was like for the majority of the people who weren't part of ancient China's elite." To provide a comprehensive introduction to these artifacts, the museum arranges regular exhibitions on selected themes and organizes special activities during the holidays. "Our hope is to create a vivid picture of the lifestyles of our ancestors through the displays and live performances," Wu explains.
The quality of a museum's collection and presentation of artifacts depends primarily on adequate funding. As is the case with many cultural institutions, the financial challenges for private museums are daunting. "The two leading objectives of museums are education and research. Taiwan's museums, particularly private ones, tend to fall behind in terms of research because of a lack of talent and budget," observes Huang Kuang-nan of the National Museum of History. "As a result, many of them simply showcase selected items without providing in-depth explanations, thus diminishing their function."
Chang Sze-yun, a researcher with the Taipei City Government's Cultural Affairs Bureau, concurs. She notes that budgetary limits make it hard for small museums to develop fully. "Since private museums are nonprofit organizations, most of them are stretched beyond their means, given the meager ticket sales and scant government support," she says. "Under such circumstances, they can't afford to hire necessary research personnel to offer detailed and interesting interpretations of exhibits."
Both Huang and Chang agree that Taiwan's private museums as a whole have fallen behind acceptable standards in terms of the quality and quantity of their contents. Only a handful of them have reached sizable scales in their collections and operations, as well as professionalism in management. "Each year many new private museums are established, but at the same time many old ones disappear," Tsao of the Miniatures Museum of Taiwan points out. "For all of us, the greatest challenge is how to keep the operation going as you can never make enough revenue to cover costs."
A major stumbling block remains the limited public acceptance. Wu Ling-ling of the Taiwan Folk Arts Museum indicates that many people are not accustomed to spending money to gain entrance to museums. "Visitors are often surprised to learn that museums charge NT$100 [US$2.90] or more," she says. "The general view is that all museums should charge the same paltry NT$30 [US$0.87] admission as government-operated ones."
In order to survive and remain independent, the island's private museums must cultivate support from the private sector, or as is usually the case, draw repeatedly from the pockets of those who established them. For example, Eric Yu of the Shung Ye Museum notes that more than two-thirds of his museum's annual operating costs of around NT$30 million (US$870,000) are covered by Shung Ye Group Chairman Safe Lin.
Privately-run organizations typically experience a gauntlet of obstacles before becoming firmly rooted. The initial stage of establishing a museum is said to be the hardest, as it requires not only enthusiasm and comprehensive planning but also perseverance. A lack of clear governmental procedures and laws makes it difficult for potential operators to get through the bureaucratic red tape. As a result, many museums continue to be registered as foundations.
The government tried to address the problem by moving a relevant draft law up from the back burner three years ago, but legislators have failed to vote on the bill and it again remains in limbo. More recently, a draft bill regarding social and educational institutions was scheduled for revision, but it has since been shelved. If passed, the revisions would ease restrictions on the founding of private museums, no longer requiring them to own the land on which they are built and exempting them from paying property taxes.
"The government should map out clear regulations governing the establishment and operation of private museums as soon as possible," Floyd Tsao urges. "The authorities should not only grant legal status to those who comply by the rules, but also provide assistance to those who fall short of qualifying and put them on the right track." He laments that the government currently offers more restrictions than encouragement to private museums. Given this lack of official support, twenty-seven private museums joined forces in July last year to lobby for the establishment of a museum law and to create a forum for the sharing of resources and experiences of museum operators.
Taiwan has a long way to go before its governance of private museums reaches the level of that in advanced countries. Japan, for example, has a simple museum law that contains only two basic regulations. It directs educational authorities to offer technical expertise and consultation to those who wish to set up a private museum, and it requires central and local governments to provide financial support to museums that request their assistance. The United States utilizes an accreditation system whereby private museums are evaluated on an annual basis. Accredited museums generally receive more support from both the public and private sectors than unaccredited ones. Currently in Taiwan, the semiofficial National Culture and Arts Foundation plays a similar role, but its financial resources are extremely limited.
To improve the situation in Taiwan, Eric Yu proposes that the government set up a grading system based on the size of operation and offer financial assistance to large-scale museums that are operating legally. In the same vein, Huang Kuang-nan suggests that the government establish an evaluation committee and offer subsidies or other incentives to those that have performed well.
Liao Kuei-ying of the Chang Foundation Museum says she does not expect to receive any financial support from the government because of its tight budget for cultural development. But she hopes the relevant authorities can help provide free publicity by featuring private museums in the brochures and other promotional materials that they publish.
Although private museums in Taiwan may have made some headway in recent years, they still have many challenges ahead. What would help make the industry more stable is a shot in the arm from the government or philanthropy-minded businessmen. After all, love and imagination alone can accomplish only so much without a workable budget.