In order to foster exchange between museums in Taiwan and Thailand, and deepen cooperation with Southeast Asia, the Taipei Economic and Cultural Office in Thailand collaborated with Museum Siam, National Discovery Museum Institute, NDMI, as well as Thai museums and academic institutions to organize the Museum Forum 2021 in a ZOOM conference from Sep. 16 to 18.
Titled "Farsighted Museum: Sighting forward to Aging Society," the forum intends to explore the actions and roles that museums can play in the face of an aging society in continuing their educational function, as well as encouraging more elderly people to participate in museums. On the first day, NTM and representatives of museums from Thailand, Singapore, and Finland were invited to speak about their international experiences.
The head of the NTM educational promotion team introduced the way in which NTM responds to Taiwan’s aging society and assist senior citizens in finding ways to participate in museums to the museums in Thailand. It includes designing activities for different age groups, setting up age-friendly facilities, as well as introducing cross-domain thinking for cross-industry cooperation.
The director of Museum Siam Rames Promyen thanked Taiwan for its participation, and pointed out that the title of the forum "Farsighted Museum: Sighting forward to Aging Society" not only reminds us of the presbyopia and long-sightedness commonly experienced by the elderly, but also the importance of foresight in preparation for an ageing society.
The Museum Siam is operated by National Discovery Museum Institute (NDMI) as a special unit under the Office of the Knowledge Management and Development. In 2019, the "Tattoo COLOR, Tattoo HONOR" exhibition curated by the National Taiwan Museum ran from July 16 through Oct. 27 at the Museum Siam of Thailand to showcase the facial and body tattoos of the Taiwanese indigenous Atayal and Paiwan tribes.