Dates：2022/09/01 ~ 2022/10/30
Opening Hours : 10: 00 - 17: 00（Closed on Mondays, open as usual on consecutive holidays, and will be closed until the next day.）
Location：6F Special Exhibition Areas II
Website：https://www.mwr.org.tw/2022xinzhuang
If one considers religious history as an integral part of Taiwan’s history, then the evolving religious landscape is an undercurrent of Taiwan’s history through which we can glimpse a side of history that is not commonly known, inviting contemplations on the diversity and complexity of Taiwan’s history. This is because behind the changing landscape lies the manifestation of the influence of various civilizations in Taiwan since the Age of Discovery.
Over the last two years, Taiwan, like the rest of the world, has been profoundly impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. However, it is in these challenging times, in the face of separation and death, that we find that religious faith has largely complemented the lack of psychological comfort and counseling in modern society and can attest to the strength and resilience of religious faith. Therefore, the Museum of World Religion (MWR) is holding a special exhibition “Bright as Night, Dark as Day: A Walk with the Death” to explore death and the afterlife. In addition to presenting the concept of death for various faiths, the exhibition also reaffirms the importance of faith in life and extends to the study and presentation of religious landscapes.
Since 2017, the MWR has been cooperating with the Department of Religious Studies at Fu Jen Catholic University to conduct a long-term research project on the religious landscape of Taiwan, the “A Project for Religious Landscape Survey” . During the project, the Department of Religious Studies has also collaborated with the Academia Sinica Center for Digital Cultures to construct a “GIS for Religious Landscape in Taiwan, GISRL” through GIS technology and focusing on religious buildings as the main axis. This project combines historical research and field surveys to outline the details of the changes of religious landscapes in various regions of Taiwan and to lay the foundation for contemporary religious studies in Taiwan. In 2021, the Department of Religious Studies of Fu Jen Catholic University was included in the list of “The Benchmark Project of the Humanities and Social Sciences in the Colleges and Universities of the Ministry of Education” . By proceeding with the “Religious Landscape, Healing and Society Benchmark Project” , the importance of contemporary religious studies in Taiwan has been affirmed by the Ministry of Education, furthermore, it also demonstrates the social significance and academic contribution of the exhibition in collaboration between the museum and the department.
On this basis, the exhibition “Religious Landscapes @Xinzhuang” is transformed by visual art, and the main subject of this study, the religious landscape of the Xinzhuang area, is first organized with video materials, and research documents generated by the study are encapsulated in the exhibition venue. Through the museum’s curatorial and mediation efforts, the research results are presented to the public in an aesthetic context. In addition to the passive exhibits, the exhibition will also serve as an entry point for the public to understand the different communities active in Taiwan and the changes in the local society through subsequent workshops and activities, demonstrating both the polyphony and shared commonality of Taiwan’s history, and opening a more diverse and multifaceted contemporary study on Taiwan’s religions.
