Beautiful Waters, Beautiful Treasures

Each year, the National Palace Museum (NPM) extends its cultural reach by organizing hybrid exhibitions that blend physical artifacts with digital installations across Taiwan. In 2025, the spotlight turns to Yilan, a region defined by its deep traditions and the iconic Lanyang Museum. The exhibition is themed "Water," a choice that reflects Yilan’s rainy climate and symbolizes water’s life-giving power. By linking NPM artifacts to Yilan’s landscape of "Mountains, Oceans, and Fields," the exhibition bridges the gap between historical imagination and local reality.
The narrative begins with "Prehistoric Yilan's Sui-Sui Relics"—a play on the Taiwanese word for "watery" and "beautiful"—exploring how hydrology guided human settlement. A major highlight is the integration of GIS technology, which allows visitors to compare Indigenous and Han immigrant perspectives on the land. Through aerial imagery and animations of "dragon vein" trajectories, viewers can explore Yilan’s topography from a unique geographical standpoint.
Interactivity is central to the experience. In the "Mountains, Oceans, and Fields" section, artifacts like the Jade Brush Rest and Falangcai Painted Enamel Bowl are transformed into digital stamps, enabling visitors to compose their own landscape paintings. Furthermore, 3D modeling technology allows for the intimate examination of miniature treasures. For instance, the Carved Olive-Pit of a Miniature Boat can be digitally disassembled, revealing microscopic details and figures that are otherwise invisible to the naked eye.
Finally, the exhibition emphasizes community connection through "Lanyang Landscapes." Developed through workshops with Yilan residents, these digital works use algorithmic coding to translate local memories—such as the sight of Guishan Island or the opening of the Hsuehshan Tunnel—into visual art. Visitors can interact with these pieces by adjusting parameters to generate new imagery. Utilizing blockchain technology, these interactions are permanently preserved, transforming personal emotions into an enduring digital memory of Yilan’s cultural heritage.