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National Museum of Prehistory Sets Sail Again — Exploring a New Chapter in Austronesian Culture


The story begins with The Alliance Cultural Foundation’s (ACF) third “Hawaiʻian Culture Sustainability Educational Tour” in 2018. Yu-lun Huang, an assistant researcher at the National Museum of Prehistory (NMP) in Taitung and co-translator of “Pathway of the Birds: The Voyaging Achievements of Māori and their Polynesian Ancestors,” was among more than a dozen talented young people from Hualien and Taitung who flew to Hawaiʻi for a 10-day study tour that year. It was her first time setting foot on Hawaiʻian soil, not realizing that this small step would lay the foundation for her work over the next five years. The NMP, which reopened last year after renovations, features a permanent exhibition on the Austronesians curated by Huang and her colleagues.


Originally designed by American postmodern architect Michael Graves and later renovated by architect Ja-Sheng Chen, the museum is an excellent choice for travelers seeking to escape the Taitung heat. Huang shares the highlights of the renovation and the thought process behind it.

Photo by Tzu-en Chang

Article by: Yu-lun Huang (Assistant Researcher, National Museum of Prehistory)


In May 2023, after four and a half years of planning and nearly three years of renovation closure, the National Museum of Prehistory (NMP) finally reopened. The museum commented on this fresh presentation as “NMP, where Taiwan meets the worlds.” As one of the lead curators for the permanent Austronesian exhibition hall, being part of such a large-scale project involving the construction of permanent space was a rare opportunity for me.

During the nearly three-year closure for extensive renovations, we collaborated with various types of creative professionals, including those in voice, animation, graphic design, spatial design, architecture, and more. (Photo by Yu-lun Huang)

At the end of 2018, just before my six-year tenure at the NMP, the museum decided to undertake a large-scale renovation project funded by a budget that had been approved by the Executive Yuan. I eagerly joined to co-curate the “Taiwan Austronesian Hall, which was initiated alongside the “World Austronesian Hall,” a field I was not fully familiar with. Later, these two halls merged into the “Austronesian Hall.” Despite having conducted field research in Indonesia, the vast Oceania beyond Southeast Asia was still an unknown territory to me—honestly, I had just begun to open a window to it.


Less than two months before this, thanks to an invitation from ACF and a recommendation from the Hunter School, I had the opportunity to travel and learn with over ten partners from the Hualien and Taitung regions, sharing translation duties along the way. This was my first visit to Hawaiʻi and my initial exploration of Oceania. At that time, I did not know that this experience would become the cornerstone of my work for the next five years. Due to my experience with ACF, the following year, the museum planned to conduct four overseas Austronesian field research projects (in Vietnam, Malaysia, Palau, and Hawaiʻi). I was given the opportunity to visit Hawaiʻi once again. Within one year, two visits—initially with a learning mindset, I had no idea that the Hawaiʻi experience would become an integral element of the Austronesian Hall, a permanent exhibition.

In 2019, Yu-lun Huang made a second visit to Hawaiʻi and, along with colleagues from the National Museum of Prehistory, visited the Polynesian Voyaging Society. The exchange with the crew provided many insights and reflections, ultimately leading to the introduction of the concept "The Island is Our Canoe" in the Austronesian Hall as one of the key inspirations for the audience.

Renovation Plan: The Rite of Passage for the National Museum of Prehistory


Since its opening in 2002, the NMP has been the only national museum in the Hualien and Taitung regions (excluding Green Island). In its early years, the museum’s architectural design was uniquely selected through an international competition, ultimately choosing the proposal by American postmodern architect Michael Graves. This added internationally recognized and highly distinctive architectural elements to Taiwan’s museum landscape. Additionally, the museum’s permanent exhibitions attracted the participation of internationally renowned exhibition design firms Ralph Applebaum Associates (USA) and MET Studio Design (UK).


However, planning from the 1990s no longer meets contemporary expectations for museums. Over time, with the development of curatorial training and museology, the museum field has experienced several paradigm shifts, including viewing museums from being temples to forums, shifting the focus from objects to audiences, and giving equal importance to education and collections. For the NMP, this large-scale renovation plan comes at an opportune time, feeling like an 18th birthday celebration for the museum.


A key focus of this renovation plan is the reimagining of the architecture. The building itself defines the essence of a museum. Graves’ original design was filled with metaphors, posing the critical question – which elements should remain and which should be discarded? Some of my favorite renovations retain much of the structure while making minimal yet effective changes – ones that demonstrate how the original design was transformed into a new form.


Graves initially designed the museum with ubiquitous grids symbolizing archaeological test pits, converging in a central courtyard featuring a massive jade earring installation. This monumental piece symbolized exquisite artifacts unearthed from excavation pits, with subtle internal lighting giving it a sacred, untouchable aura. However, during the renovation, architect Ja-Sheng Chen removed this symbolically rich installation and introduced skylights to bring in natural light. This change transformed the “archaeological pit” into a “village square,” symbolizing a space for the exchange of ideas, people, and objects, thereby redefining the space in alignment with the aforementioned paradigm shift.

After removing the jade earring-shaped monument that originally stood in the exhibition atrium, and with natural light cascading from above, the architect redefined this space as a place for the convergence of people, objects, and ideas. (Photo by Yu-lun Huang)

This concept also extends to public art installations. Like most visitors, I am particularly fond of the artwork “Birthplace of the Rising Smoke” by artist Reretan Pavavaljung. In this painting, a fire burns at the center, surrounded by various fantastical objects. Upon closer inspection, one can find many permanent exhibits from the museum embedded within. The artist explains, “The smoke rising from the hearth enters the skylight and drifts into the unknown sky.” In indigenous tribes, whenever a fire is lit, it signifies a gathering; the smoke acts as a medium of communication between people on the ground and the spirits. Through this artwork, the artist illustrates the museum as a place for people to gather and exchange ideas. The smoke drifting into the unknown represents playful spirits who have already explored every corner of the museum. If you are lucky, you might encounter them in unexpected places—some sliding down the handrails, others basking in the sunlight by the windows. There are 20 such spots in total (as shown in the right image).

"Birthplace of the Rising Smoke" by artist Reretan Pavavaljung. It is installed along the route to the exhibition hall, with the smoke rising from the center of the painting extending towards the skylight. (Photo by Yu-lun Huang)

A Perfect Introduction to the Austronesian Hall


“Sea Wind” in the Taiwan Prehistory Hall


Following the path from “Birthplace of the Rising Smoke,” you first enter the Taiwan Prehistory Hall exhibit area. While this is not my primary domain, it houses my personal favorite exhibit, the one I’d choose if I could only view a single piece, “See Wind.” This wooden sculpture, created by artist Han Hsu Tung depicts a giant holding an outrigger sailing canoe in his hands, blowing a powerful gust of wind that propels the boat and its crew forward. The giant’s body is covered in pixelated grids, a “pixel carving” technique crafted by the artist for the contemporary era, evoking a strong digital aesthetic. This design cleverly mirrors the way archaeologists work—meticulously excavating archaeological pits grid by grid to gradually construct our understanding of prehistoric cultures.

The Taiwan Prehistoric Hall features "Sea Wind," by artist Han Hsu Tung, to present the pioneering era of the early Neolithic ancestors who crossed the sea to arrive. (Photo by Yu-lun Huang)

“See Wind”, which introduces the Tapenkeng culture from approximately 6,000 to 4,200 years ago, belongs to the early phase of the Neolithic era and involves the origins of Proto-Austronesian language. The Austronesian language family, the most widely dispersed language group globally, has linguists reconstructing its “family ancestor”—Proto-Austronesian—as originating in Taiwan. Archaeologists, based on data, infer a close connection between Proto-Austronesian and Taiwan’s prehistoric Tapenkeng culture.


Before the emergence of the Tapenkeng culture, there was a gap in Taiwan’s prehistoric record. Beyond this gap, we find the Changbin culture, dating back about 30,000 to 15,000 years ago during the Paleolithic period. It is within this archaeological void that the Ice Age ended, sea levels rose, and Taiwan became an island. Archaeologists speculate that during this time, a group of skilled navigators crossed the sea – “See Wind” depicts this pioneering era. These people established a culture that gradually spread across the island’s river mouths and coastal terraces, initiating Taiwan’s rich and diverse cultural heritage that continues to this day. This prehistoric heritage of Taiwan always fills me with awe.


The imagery and understanding triggered by “See Wind” succinctly narrate the era and scene of the “Austronesian Origin,” making it the perfect introduction to the Austronesian Hall. If curating is about urgently communicating with society—then what I urgently want to convey through the Austronesian Hall is another way to discuss Austronesian, beyond the linguistic homeland issue. In the Austronesian Hall, we no longer focus on the origin of the language but instead on how Austronesian-speaking people migrated, interacted with other groups and cultures, and exchanged ideas and goods.

The Austronesian Hall’s permanent exhibition begins with the first section "kita (we)," highlighting that this is an Austronesian Hall that includes you, belonging to "kita." (Photo by Yu-lun Huang)

Not About Others, But the Austronesian We Are Part Of


As mentioned at the beginning of the article, my experiences in Hawaiʻi unexpectedly became the inspiration for several key points in the Austronesian Hall, one of which is the “kita (we)” section. During the educational tour with ACF, I quickly noticed that the locals rarely used the term “Indigenous People” due to my role as a translator. According to the 2020 census, Native Hawaiʻians account for 10.2% of the population in Hawaiʻi, and if those of partial Native Hawaiʻian ancestry are included, this percentage rises to 21.6%. At that time, we were constantly searching for these “true Hawaiʻians,” but in reality, we did not encounter many. However, those who were not Native Hawaiʻians made an effort to practice saying “aloha” and to feel each other’s presence.


This experience reminded me of my own growth in Taiwan. When I was young, my fifth uncle worked at an electronics factory in Taoyuan, where he had many indigenous colleagues. As I was the second granddaughter in the family, and my older sister was the first, my uncle often took our photos to share with his colleagues. The colleagues who spoke Taiwanese often said that the eldest granddaughter was beautiful, but the indigenous colleagues said they preferred me, the little doll. By the time I was a junior in college, I began to travel alone to the Amis tribes in Hualien and Taitung, assisting anthropology professors in recording harvest festivals. Whenever I walked through the tribes, the elders would always ask me in Amis, “Whose child are you?” “Paylang (Han Chinese) ako (I).” This became the first sentence I learned in the Amis language. I am a paylang’s child, but I have an Amis aunt who has loved me since I was a child, and a Puyuma uncle who used to take me to bathe in wild hot springs in Chihpin and catch snails in the fields. My grandmother was originally a Hakka child bride adopted by a Hokkien speaking family, and my grandfather might have been from the long-sinicized Kulon tribe in Sanxia. Am I a paylang’s child?

Diverse knowledge and practices of the Austronesian culture. (Photo by Yu-lun Huang)

This is the Taiwan I am familiar with, and it is also the Austronesian I understand – diverse, complex, and varied. This thought ultimately evolved into the first section of the Austronesian Hall, “kita (we).” The Austronesian language family has many common linguistic features. A significant characteristic is the distinction between inclusive and exclusive first-person plural pronouns. The former, known as “kita” in Indonesian and Malay, includes the listener. Choosing “inclusive first-person plural” as the opening narrative of the exhibition, my intention is to guide the audience to consider this as an Austronesian Hall that belongs to “kita.” There inevitably exists some form of connection or relationship between the exhibition content and the audience. We hope that visitors from any background can find a resonant place during their visit.


The newly reopened NMP has been welcoming visitors from all over for over a year. Through this curated selection (also inspired by Hawaiʻian culture), we hope to introduce the unique aspects of the NMP 2.0 to those who have already visited or those who have yet to visit.


Note: A full museum tour takes approximately 3 hours.

The exhibition hall presents the concepts "The Island is Our Canoe, the Sea is Our Pathway," which reflect the curator’s fieldwork and reading experiences. "The Island is Our Canoe" is inspired by Hawaiʻian navigation culture, while "The Sea is Our Pathway" derives from the writings of Oceania scholar Epeli Hauʻofa. (Photo by Tzu-en Chang)

Footnote


Brittany Rico, Joyce Key Hahn, and Paul Jacobs, September 21, 2023, “Detailed Look at Native Hawaiʻian and Other Pacific Islander Groups,” on United States Census Bureau.

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