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Guei Ren Junior High School (2009 CyberFair Project ID 5805)
Taiwan,
Tainan County
Official Status:
Final Project: Ready for Judging
Teacher:
Category: 1. Local Leaders
We estimate 11 student(s) from 13 to 14 will work on this entry.
Description of Our Community: Remotely situated by Shanhu Pond of Dachi Village, Guantian Township, Tainan County, Tainan National University of the Arts is the arts university that has the most frequent international changes and follows the world trend, among the three arts universities in Taiwan. It establish the Graduate Institute of Conservation of Cultural Relics in 1999 with the mission to “cultivate the world-class relics conservation professionals to preserve the relics, prevent the loss of relics information, extend the life of the heritage assets, and conserve the excellent culture and aesthetics of mankind.” It is the highest academic institute that cultivates professionals in conservation and preservation of relics in Taiwan. The program is 3 to 4 years, and comprises 4 emphasis divisions. It has invited overseas scholars and international experts for lectures, and Professor Chang was invited by President Pao-teh Han of the University to return to Taiwan from the U.S. to chair the Asian Painting Division. In the initial stage, the establishment of the institute underwent serious hardship, yet it successfully developed from a small office of 2 desks and 2 computers to a specialized institute with its own building and equipment. Each division recruits 5 graduate students each year, and the students are required to complete a 4-month internship at renowned domestic or overseas museums before graduation. Its rigorous program can be regarded as the most difficult institute to be graduated from in Taiwan.
Project Description: In the dawn of June 11, 2004, the “beheaded Matzu statue” incident in the Matzu Temple of Main Tianhou Temple in Tainan City astonished the public and academia. The clay sculpture of Matzu, with height of 220cm and weight of 120kg, was ruptured from the chest area due to many years of termite erosion. The statue collapsed severely, and the religious followers were very saddened. The temple, cultural center, and Tainan City Cultural Department urgently commissioned the chair of the Asian Painting Division at the Graduate Institute of Conservation of Cultural Relics, Prof. Yuan-feng Chang, to take charge of investigation, design for restoration, and supervision, so that the oldest Matzu statue in Taiwan could rebuilt and be worshipped by the followers. Prof. Yuan-feng Chang is the only person with a doctoral degree in conservation science in Taiwan. Since she returned to Taiwan to teach in Tainan County, Tainan National University in 1999, she has been devoting to promote the conservation and restoration concept that integrates traditional techniques and conservation science. One successful example of the research and conservation by academic institutes is the restoration of the Matzu status enshrined in the Main Tianhou Temple. Traditional craftsmen and Japanese experts cooperated to preserve the statue with modern technology. Prof. Chang has exerted her utmost efforts in developing the conservation and preservation of relics. Besides cultivating professionals, she also promoted the education of cultural property conservation. She has been occupied by commissioned projects, teaching, and lectures, and spared little time on her young children and family. She is like an ascetic monk that is fearless of the obstacles ahead of her, and contributed to the conservation and preservation science in Taiwan with solid steps. This is the reason that she condemned the Main Tianhou Temple for coating golden lips for Matzu statue after the restoration. The public of Taiwan lacks preservation and restoration ethics, and often puzzled with the conservation of physical relics and traditional techniques. These erroneous concepts have affected our descendents seriously. The advisor of this project is a graduate student of Prof. Chang. To promote Prof. Chang’s education in cultural conservation, fulfill the mission of public education, and educate the students about restoration and conservation, this project discusses the restoration of Matzu statue, introduces the concepts of conservation and restoration, and presents the restoration procedures demonstrated by Prof. Chang. The cases presented in this project are Oriental art crafts, in order to provide a basic understanding of the cultural property conservation and restoration.