Dates：2018-03-29 ~ 2018-06-10
Opening Hours : Tuesday–Sunday : 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Location：Special Exhibition AreasⅠ
Closing Day : The museum is closed every Monday, and Chinese New Year’s Eve to Chinese January 5th.
Since ancient times, people have been eager to use methods such as reproducing or rubbing to preserve wonderful artifacts and arts. Museums with an emphasis on the preservation of cultural assets also utilize reproduction techniques to conduct research tasks such as preservation, education, and repair on their collections. The methods, materials, and purposes they employ have varied in different eras. With the help of digital technology, the resolution of digital images has become increasingly higher, and techniques for reproducing prints have also improved over time. However, a group of collotype artisans still follows the ancient method, using the inherited manual means to separate colors for the negatives, to edit the print, and to separately print the different colors. They obey the requirement of quality over quantity to strive for the vividness of the artifacts.
Li Dongfang, a senior national artisan from China, is an expert at producing collotypes. In her early years, her enthusiasm brought him to Dunhuang to study collotype printing techniques for over twenty years. Although the colors of the murals have gradually become mottled and faded, collotype techniques allow the features of the murals to be frozen and preserved. Collotype printing has proven to be a way to preserve cultural assets, and it set the production standards for various later reproductions of classic calligraphy works and paintings. To present every technique in collotype reproduction, the exhibition specifically planned a multimedia interactive device to present a panorama of a collotype studio. Visitors will feel as if they were at the studio in Beijing and will be able to learn about the collotype production process.
Many cultural facilities in Taiwan are also devoted to preserving artifacts. National Central Library, National Museum of Taiwan Literature, National Dr. Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hall, and National Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall have precious reproduction collections to preserve artifacts and promote education. The industry also utilizes technology such as collotype printing, lithography, and inkjet printing, in cooperation with major museums in Taiwan and in China, to attract the attention of collectors. This exhibition uses the reproduction of museum collections as an example to demonstrate the reproduction process of inkjet printing for the visitors to compare and appreciate.
Reproducing exquisite artifacts not only stops time but also escapes the limitations of space. It has multiple functions, including cultural preservation, education, exhibition, and the addition of value to culture and creativity. Various reproduction techniques have their strengths and weaknesses, and each has their supporters. When appreciating these reproductions of exquisite artifacts, in addition to understanding the insistences and emphases behind the reproduction techniques, the viewer should also pay attention to the aesthetics and spirits demonstrated by the exhibits, for those are the reasons why the artisans spend so much effort to produce these fine reproductions.
Website：http://www.mwr.org.tw/2018doppelgangers
