The Yunlin Hand Puppet Museum () is a

museum A museum is an institution dedicated to displaying or Preservation (library and archive), preserving culturally or scientifically significant objects. Many museums have exhibitions of these objects on public display, and some have private colle ...

about

hand puppet A hand puppet is a type of puppet that is controlled by the hands that occupies the interior of the puppet.Sinclair, A, ''The Puppetry Handbook'', p.15 A glove puppet is a variation of hand puppets. Rod puppets require one of the puppeteer's han ...

s in Huwei Township,

Yunlin County Yunlin is a Counties of Taiwan, county in Regions of Taiwan, western Taiwan. Yunlin County borders the Taiwan Strait to the west, Nantou County to the east, Changhua County to the north at the Zhuoshui River, and Chiayi County to the south at th ...

Taiwan Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia. The main geography of Taiwan, island of Taiwan, also known as ''Formosa'', lies between the East China Sea, East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocea ...

History

The museum building was initially built in 1931 as the Huwei District office. After the handover of Taiwan from Japan to the

Republic of China Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia. The main geography of Taiwan, island of Taiwan, also known as ''Formosa'', lies between the East China Sea, East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocea ...

in 1945, the building was converted into a police station. In 1989, the station was relocated to its new place and the building was left idle for years. In 1997, Huwei Township Office hosted the National Festival of Culture and Arts which made people aware of the historical value of the building. During the preparation of the festival, local government officials discussed the historical value and preservation possibility of the building. In the end, they decided to preserve the building and buildings nearby. Afterwards,

Yunlin County Government The Yunlin County Government () is the local government of Yunlin County, Taiwan Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia. The main geography of Taiwan, island of Taiwan, also known as ''Formosa'', lies ...

applied subsidies to

Council for Cultural Affairs A council is a group of people who come together to consult, deliberate, or make decisions. A council may function as a legislature, especially at a town, city or county/shire level, but most legislative bodies at the state/provincial or nation ...

. In 1999, the county government received NT$20 million of subsidy to restore the building, in which the county government also provided additional NT$8 million. In early 2000, the county government commissioned

National Yunlin University of Science and Technology National Yunlin University of Science and Technology (YunTech or simply NYUST, ) is a university of science and technology in Taiwan. Founded in 1991 and located in Yunlin County. It was restructured as a technological university in 1997. It's a ...

to make the planning report. Detailed planning and open tender were completed in October of the same year. The restoration work was completed by December 2004. In January 2005, meeting to discuss the building layout and future operational plan was made. In April 2007, the interior design was completed and the museum was officially opened in November the same year. In April 2009, the Yunlin County Culture Foundation took over the management of the museum.

Architecture

The building is a courtyard house with a 2.5-story wooden structure. It is the oldest of such building in Huwei township.

Exhibitions

The museum showcases various sizes and types of hand puppets as well as their history.

Events

The museum regularly holds the annual exhibition of Yunlin International Puppet Festival with the collaboration with

Yunlin Story House The Yunlin Story House (also Yunlin Storyhouse, ) is a historic building in Huwei Township, Yunlin County, Taiwan Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia. The main geography of Taiwan, island of Taiwan ...

, organized by the Cultural Affairs Department of

government. Other events including puppetry master commemoration, international puppet arts festival etc.

References

External links