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National Taiwan Museum launches "Treasures of Taiwanese Poo-Te-Hi" to showcase the history of Taiwanese puppetry

  • Date:2021-08-25
National Taiwan Museum launches 'Treasures of Taiwanese Poo-Te-Hi' to showcase the history of Taiwanese puppetry

The National Taiwan Museum (NTM) launched a special exhibition "Treasures of Taiwanese Poo-Te-Hi (布袋戲風物-偶的故事偶來說)" from Aug. 24 through Nov. 11, which details the multifaceted nature of Taiwanese puppetry in its 200 years of development by presenting more than 100 puppets of different categories. The exhibition will combine simulated reality from front and backstage to bring out the artisanship, coupled with museum professionalism and modern science to portray a century of traditional art.

The opening ceremony on August 25 was attended by Vice Minister of Culture Lee Lien-chuan (李連權), puppetry maestro Chen Hsi-huang (陳錫煌), chairman of Society Seden (西田社布袋戲基金會) Chen Rong-hsian (陳榮祥), and Chairman Chen Yu-xiu (陳郁秀) of the Taiwan Broadcasting System who visited the exhibition site with NTM Director Hung Shih-yu (洪世佑).

NTM Director Hung Shih-yu pointed out in recent years, it has successively received 2,800 puppets and cultural relics from Society Seden, and more than 10,000 puppets from Taiyuan Asian Puppet Theatre Museum, making NTM an important place for the preservation of puppets and traditional art. After a series of adjustments, research, and exhibition planning, NTM will continue to present the precious art of puppetry in the future.

The exhibition hall employs real scenes to arrange the front and back scenes of the puppetry stage to highlight the composition of the puppet troupe. The guardian deity, stage performers, backstage musicians, and puppeteers of the puppet troupe allow the audience to understand the unique and wonderful skills that staffs working in the backstage possess.

For more information, please visit NTM’s official website here.