The National Palace Museum held a press event Dec. 24 in Taipei City to announce its 2024 performance results and plans to celebrate its centennial anniversary next year.
According to NPM Director Hsiao Tsung-huang, the main site has received 1.8 million visits so far this year, with visitors from outside Taiwan accounting for half the number. South Korea is the leading source of international patrons with 304,000 visits, followed by Japan with 295,000 visits. The Southern Branch has received more than 950,000 visits to date, mostly domestic.
To mark the 100th anniversary, a special exhibition will be staged simultaneously at the main site and Southern Branch next October to showcase its development over the past 75 years in Taiwan.
Highlights of the exhibition are to include a Buddhist sculpture dating from the North Wei dynasty (386-534 ) and a Guanyin Bodhisattva silk mandala from the Later Jin dynasty (936-946). The two pieces are both currently on loan to Japan’s Kyushu National Museum and will return home for display at the main site. The NPM’s three iconic national treasure paintings—“Travelers Among Mountains and Streams” by Fan Kuan (950-1032), “Early Spring” by Guo Xi (1023-1087) and “Whispering Pines in Myriad Valleys” by Li Tang (1049-1130) —will be on display at the Southern Branch for the first time.
Other events include exhibitions on the ancient board game of go and Ukiyo-e from the NPM collection, as well as two others using the artificial intelligence technology to offer visitors an immersive experience on the beauty of classic calligraphy and rare books from the Sung Dynasty (960-1279).
NPM Deputy Director Huang Yung-tai said construction of an administration building and a new library, part of the main site’s expansion project, will be completed by the end of 2024. Huang added that a renovated building will be opened in June 2025 to serve as a new exhibition venue.
With all these celebratory events and projects, the NPM expects visitor numbers to reach 2.5 million for the main site and 1 million for the Southern Branch in 2025. (SFC-E)
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from Taiwan Today – Top News