The National Museum of Taiwan History will hold its grand opening in Tainan City Oct. 29, following 12 years of preparation, museum authorities announced.
“We will present the history of the Taiwanese people, in a museum designed for them,” Director Lu Li-cheng said at a news conference in Taipei Oct. 24.
To this purpose, more than 60,000 items have been collected from home and abroad, including materials and documents pertaining to local cultural life, interactions among ethnic groups and folk heritage, Lu said.
Of particular note is the collection of historic maps, charts and documents that the museum has obtained from foreign collectors. “They will provide us with different viewpoints from which to look at Taiwan’s history.”
The museum presents “both history and Taiwan in one museum,” Lu said, distinguishing it from the National Taiwan Museum and the National Museum of History, both in Taipei. The NTM focuses on natural history while the NMH highlight Chinese culture in Taiwan, he explained.
The Tainan museum is located in the Annan District—historically an estuary and foreign trading hub until the river silted up in the 18th century.
According to the museum, the 20-hectare facility, to echo this past and its legacy, includes a nature reserve of 10 hectares and buildings combining Han Chinese red bricks with aboriginal architecture. It also sports a wall of photovoltaic panels that reflects the sky and provides electricity for the museum.
Beginning opening day, a series of concerts, folk art performances and market fairs will take place around the museum. Entry will be free for the first year of operation, the museum said. (THN)