The Spatiality of the Local Museum under Neoliberalism: A Case Study of Lanyang Museum

• Main Authors: HUANG, KAI-LAN, 黃凱蘭
• Other Authors: Wang, Sung-Shan
• Format: Others
• Language: zh-TW
• Published: 2019
• Online Access: http://ndltd.ncl.edu.tw/handle/2anzgu

碩士 === 國立臺北藝術大學 === 博物館研究所 === 107 === In this thesis, I explore the notion of spatiality in the permanent exhibition of the Lanyang Musuem. Through a spatial analysis of exhibited texts and objects, this study presents the idea of spatiality in the Lanyang museum against the backdrop of neoliberalism. My analysis is mainly based on the spatial narrative theory of Gabrial Zoren and the theory of a general matrix of spatialities proposed by David Harvey. Under the influence of globalization, increasing attention is being paid to the local. That being said, in modern society the global and local have become so entangled that it is hard to make a distinction between them. At the same time, the budget cuts, forced searches for funding and limitations in human resources brought by neoliberalism are challenging the operation of local museums. To prevent local characteristics from drowning in the current wave of globalization, exhibitions have tended to the emphasize local characteristics in their narratives, thereby trying to improve the commercial competitiveness of their specific locality. Still, a museum’s operation and its exhibitions’ narratives are all set in a framework of globalization. Is the local as it is exhibited in the museum just some idealized place that makes people dream? Or is there a more positive meaning? While the Lanyang Museum is a publicly funded local museum, its establishment was initiated by the population. From this perspective, it is both a forerunner and a model for the local museum movement in Taiwan. Its founding mission is ‘If Yilan is a museum, the Lanyang museum is the window by which this museum can be known’. However, if the whole of Yilan county is defined as a museum, this raises the question whether the museum can guarantee the preservation of local culture and keep up the possibility of a long-term dialogue with local residents. Under the influence of neoliberalism, the local museum faces numerous challenges, but also sees numerous new possibilities. I argue that for public local museums, tourism and government development will always be of influence on the spatiality of the narratives of exhibitions and the exhibitions themselves. The hometown of the exhibition in reality is a different place. While the focus of the current narrative of the permanent exhibition of the Lanyang museum mainly is on the exhibition of culture and history, it is the description of the local environment that actually has the most potential for development. Such an approach would fit in with current issues and ensure that local museums and broaden the base for the museum. At the same time, local culture, history and the participation of local residents will continue to be important issues for local museums.