David on Formosa

On Saturday afternoon I went to visit the martial arts exhibition at the Taipei Story House. I read about it in the Taipei Times and it sounded interesting.

The exhibition wasn't quite what I expected. Rather than being about martial arts in Taiwan per se, it was about martial arts in the arts and popular culture in Taiwan. There were a few weapons on display though that might satisfy those who come to learn something about martial arts.

Taiwanese puppets

The exhibition detailed the role of martial arts in popular culture in Taiwan. Originally martial arts were a popular theme in literature with stories published in newspapers and in novels. This later developed to comic books and movies. In the present day martial arts are a popular theme in computer games and puppet dramas.

Martial arts in computer games

The Taipei Story House is located next to the Taipei Fine Arts Museum. So I wandered over there for a look. A new exhibition of photos by Luo Xiang-lin (駱香林) had just opened. It contained many wonderful photos of Hualien taken in the 1960s. They gave some fascinating insights into Taiwan's past. There was another exhibition of photo portraits which offered a similarly interesting look at Taiwan's not so distant past.

Taiwanese puppets