The Trials and Tribulations of Taking National Treasures Abroad

The National Palace Museum has previously shipped exhibits abroad, including the Jadeite Cabbage for two weeks’ exhibition at the Tokyo National Museum, and the Meat-Shaped Stone for the same duration at the Kyushu National Museum in 2014. These exhibitions attracted 150,000 and 7,000 visitors respectively.

Fung Ming-chu, NPM director at the time, notes that the letter sent by the Tokyo National Museum left quite the impression, particularly a section that read, “Since antiquity, our nation has held a great admiration for the culture of the Chinese people.... Were our exhibition to lack relics from the National Palace Museum, we fear it would be nearly impossible to properly appreciate this time-honored culture.”

The NPM’s world-class collection is a showcase for Taiwan’s artistic and cultural soft power. This exhibition will present it to the world.

Fostering exchange between museums

Yu Pei-chin, chief curator at the NPM’s Department of Antiquities, took part in the planning of both the Japanese and the American exhibitions. “Once the exhibits are shipped over,” she says, “it’s up to the curators on the other side to take the lead and arrange the exhibition. In Japan, their planning was meticulous, and this time in the States they applied a very detailed division of labor. Both of these experiences have been very useful for NPM staff in providing a model for future exhibitions.”

The NPM first received the selection criteria and framework for this year’s exhibition from San Francisco’s Asian Art Museum two years ago. In the time that followed, the NPM’s curatorial departments (Antiquities; Painting & Calligraphy; and Rare Books & Historical Documents) carefully examined their holdings of calligraphies, documents and paintings, of artifacts in bronze, porcelain and jade, and of various curios, to determine whether each item was in a suitable condition to be sent abroad. Along the way, there was no small amount of push and pull.

Deputy director Ho Chuan-hsin has been involved in exhibition curation for 20 years, and has seen the impact that exhibitions of Chinese artifacts in the US can have.

Doing their duties

The Asian Art Museum, meanwhile, divided the various duties among its personnel in great detail, and because the museum is responsible for the safety of the loaned items during transportation and exhibition, when the exhibition curator visited Taiwan to inventory the exhibits before shipment, he did so with a meticulous care and peerless professionalism that made a deep impression on Yu. “With the help of China Airlines, we flew the items over in four planes. We had to split them up, not only for the sake of safety and secrecy, but also because there was an upper limit on the insurance for each plane. The people escorting the items were also spread out across the planes and their presence was not public knowledge. We deliberately kept everything low key.” Not only did the process include Taiwanese guards and escorts, the US curators also flew over to Taiwan to accompany everything along the way.

The Americans were tremendously professional, requiring the crates to be secured in place in the aircraft’s holds using special frames. As every­thing was loaded and unloaded, escorts from both Taiwan and the US were on hand to keep a close eye on things.

Once the crates arrived at the museum in the US, they could not be moved for 48 hours, to let the items adjust to the local temperature and humidity. Only once everything had balanced out could the containers be opened.

The entire process was carefully supervised. For Yu, the biggest concern was obviously that an item might be damaged. The whole team was on edge, she recalls, until everything was finally set up at the US end. “The Asian Art Museum staff were meticulous in their setting up, bringing in lighting specialists and even getting professionals to handle the stands and supports, which had to be in colors that complemented each of the items. On top of that, every single display setup had to be approved by people from our end.”

Getting everything prepared for the exhibition took more than three weeks. In three months’ time, they will again have to go through the same rigorous process in order to transport the exhibition to Houston.

Another major effort involved in an exhibition is the preparation of the catalog. The NPM took primary responsibility for the Chinese writing, while the US side handled translation and adaptation, with the aim of making it easy to follow for Western audiences. To make sure everything was faithful to the research done by the NPM, the two sides engaged in protracted discussions, ultimately striking a balance between readability and academic depth.

Yu Pei-chin explains that any museum curating an exhibition will want final say on the catalog text, so it was inevitable there would be differences of opinion between the two sides. This necessitated a great deal of in-depth discussion. “We stood firm on the need to give a detailed explanation of each item that reflects the current state of academic research, while also presenting the information in a way that is appropriate for today’s audience.”

NPM deputy director Ho Chuan-hsing, who was involved in the NPM’s exhibition tour in the US 20 years ago, remarks that in the time since then a lot of new research has been done. “To make sure the catalog this time offered some new ideas, the US side invited several art historians to engage with us, which was a great chance to exchange ideas.”

Behind every exhibition of national treasures outside Taiwan’s borders there is the meticulous hard work of many people. “Emperors’ Treasures” not only showcases the richness of Chinese culture through artistic expression, but has also helped foster closer relationships between the NPM and overseas museums, opening the door to future cultural exchange. 

The Asian Art Museum has taken great pains in setting up this exhibition, including special lighting and stand design. (courtesy of NPM)

Yu Pei-chin (right), chief curator of the Department of Antiquities at the National Palace Museum, worked hard to ensure the safety of the museum’s artifacts. (courtesy of NPM)

Yu Pei-chin (right), chief curator of the Department of Antiquities at the National Palace Museum, worked hard to ensure the safety of the museum’s artifacts. (courtesy of NPM)