Taitung Story Museum

It’s sometimes joked that you can bump into an artist wherever you are in Taitung. Indeed, the vibrant triangle area between the Taitung Railway Art Village (台東鐵道藝術村), Tiehua Music Village (鐵花村) and Taitung Theater (台東劇團) is a lively hub for performing arts, music, visual arts and stimulating lectures. To add to the mix in Taitung’s arty city center is the Taitung Story Museum, also known as the Eslite Taitung Story Museum. This is the first arts-space to be both publically and privately owned in eastern Taiwan and is a joint venture between the Taitung County Affairs Department (臺東縣政府文化處) and the famous Eslite Bookstore.

Located on the busy intersection of Boai Road (博愛路) and Tiehua Road (鐵花路), the building contains architecture from the Japanese colonial era. On the first floor of the museum, the only Eslite Bookstore in eastern Taiwan and the accompanying coffee shop are a welcome rest-stop for those travelling around the island, who want to cool down under the air-conditioning and find some more information about nearby attractions. On the second floor, museum exhibitions show the spirit of Taitung through the retelling of stories of music, sport, settlers and politics. The third floor is used for lectures, book launches, panel discussions, music performances and workshops. Outside the building, installations and graffiti catch your eye. In particular, architect Guo-Cang Liu’s “Blue Print” (藍晒圖) is worth a visit. The deep sapphire of his art wall, on which he has painted white lines of windows and furniture, contrasts with the concrete of the other walls nearby. The furniture stuck onto it gives it a three dimensional effect, almost as though the past has come alive. Indeed, although the use of the space here has changed from when it was the Taitung Land Administration Office (台東地政事務所), the story of the building is tangible, as is the story of Taitung in general. There is no better place to experience the art and history of beautiful Taitung all in the same place.