The National Museum of Taiwan Literature opened the doors of its restoration studio to members of the press for the first time on Nov. 9. Here is where the museum's specialists work to restore manuscripts and artifacts relating to the nation's literary heritage.
Established in 2009, the 22-ping restoration studio has played a pivotal role in the preservation of donated collections pertaining to literary giants such as Liu Na'ou (劉吶鷗), Yang Kui (楊逵), Yang Chih-chang (楊熾昌), and Lin Hsien-tang (林獻堂). This year, the museum devoted considerable time and resources into the research and restoration of items left behind by Heruo Lu (呂赫若), a Hakka author who disappeared in mysterious circumstances during the White Terror in 1951.
Su Shou-bin (蘇碩斌), director of the National Museum of Taiwan Literature, explained that the most common threats to the museum's collections are cracked book spines, yellowed pages, watermarks, insect bites, acidification, and faded writing. For artifacts not in book or scroll form, archival specialists customize paper boxes to store each separate item. Extra precautions are also taken to account to prevent damage from Taiwan's humidity and frequent bouts of earthquakes.
To expand the scope of use of the literary artifacts in its collection, the National Museum of Taiwan Literature has launched its own brand Si̍p Tsông (拾藏) — Taiwanese for "to obtain and treasure" — earlier this October. This vertically integrated effort encompasses tasks from digitization of manuscripts to taking inventory of the rights to items and developing related products.
The Si̍p Tsông collection will be available for purchase both online and at select retailers, with some exclusive items only sold at the Tainan-based museum. The notebooks will also be available at various locations in Tainan, including historic department stores, independent bookstores, and local merchants, creating stronger regional links in the process.