Po-Sheng Kuo, Hsiao-Ping Chuang

Collaborative O. Consultancy

Taiwan, Kaohsiung City

Po-Sheng Kuo (first author),Master of Engineering(Graduate Institute of Building and planning), National Taiwan University.
Kuo is a researcher and strategic planner in Collaborative O. Consultancy, engaging in participatory planning and design work and likes to create various forms of encounterings with diverse culture and knowledge. In recent years he endeavors to assist the NMTH(National Museum of Taiwan History) in curating the project of  “Taiwan Multi-ethnic Cultural Route ”. 

 Hsiao-Ping Chuang, Master of Engineering (Graduate Institute of Building and planning), National Taiwan University.
Chung has a bachelor degree in journalism and has worked in the magazine publishing industry. She enjoys moving between urban and rural areas, listening to stories and also writing stories. In recent years she also assists the NMTH(National Museum of Taiwan History) in curating the project of  “Taiwan Multi-ethnic Cultural Route ”.

Mobile Bamboo Panels, On-site Objects and Local Stories: the Taiwan Multi-ethnic Cultural Route’s Collaborative Exhibition Strategies and Techniques.

Based on the concepts defined by institutions such as “The Council of Europe” and “The ICOMOS Charter”, the Taiwan Ministry of Culture has proposed its own definition of “Cultural Routes” which refers to “communities and their facilities and activities that integrate tangible and intangible cultural assets under narrative themes”. It expects to guide the public to these sites through cultural tourism, and promote the cultural exchange.

The “Taiwan Multi-ethnic Cultural Route” is one of the six routes. The foundation of it was the exploration made by the missionary James L. Maxwell and the photographer John Thomson. They walked across Taiwan's southwestern foothills from Tainan to Kaohsiung extending over 40 kilometers, crossing multiple administrative districts nowadays.

As the member of the work team the authors have endeavored to bring together various stakeholders along the route since 2022. Six different narrative themes have been established by the “participatory heritage workshop”. The next year this project started to focus on several key "anchor points", in which on-site exhibitions, performances, and activities had been held.

Faced with the challenges (scattered and diverse on-site locations, the lack of formal exhibition space), the team developed three universal, movable prototypes of "bamboo display panels", which were inspired from John Thomson’s image of "thorny bamboo forest landscape” depicted before. Interestingly, the materiality of the bamboo also triggered the local community partners to collect agricultural products, bamboo crafts and folkloric products derived from bamboo, which made the display of each sites diversified atmosphere. 

The author found that such panel could not only flexibly respond to the spatial constraints of the exhibition site but also effectively forming an exhibition circulation in considerate with various display scripts. In conjunction with the guide from local people, a contact zone is created, making it possible to create a vibrant corridor of ecomuseum.
 

mobile bamboo exhibit panel, participatory heritage, Taiwan Multi-ethnic Cultural Route