National Human Rights Museum Digital Collection
Reviewed by: Connie Cordon
Review date: April 2, 2025
Site Link: https://collections.culture.tw/nhrm_collectionsweb/Default.aspx
Archive Link: https://archive.ph/WylAk
Keywords: Political Science, Postcolonial Studies, Cultural Heritage
Data Sources:
- Family letters
- Manuscripts
- Paintings
- Calligraphy
- Newspaper
- Journals
- Books
- Photographs
Processes:
- Scanning and photographing artifacts with ColorChecker Rendition Chart (Macbeth chart) to maintain consistent color balance and exposure for all images.
- Standardize data of object weight, measurement, material, author/owner, date of item, collection name, and author/owner, and how the artifact was obtained.
- Artifacts are accompanied by a small description of the item, followed by a standard biography of the prisoner and the references used.
Presentation:
The project is presented as a digital archive organized by category of the item. The user is intended to explore this digital archive by browsing each category, which has a photographic icon displayed above the page. The collection is organized by categories of “manuscript,” “multimedia,” “letters,” “paintings and calligraphy,” “newspaper,” “journals,” “books,” “artifacts,” and “photography.” Below the top half of the page, a collected sample of artifacts are displayed under the “Collection Selection.” They are handpicked artifacts from researchers that are randomly displayed each time the page is refreshed. A navigation bar on the top includes tabs like collection search, about us, browse by collection, and contact.
Digital Tools Used:
- Web frameworks: Microsoft ASP.NET
- UI frameworks: Bootstrap
- Tag managers: Google Tag Managers
- JavaScript libraries: jQuery, Slick
- CDN: Cloudflare
- Analytics: Google Analytics
- Misc: Popper
Languages:
- Mandarin
- English (reviewed using Google Translate)
Review
The Cultural Collections is a smaller project of a larger organization that was launched on December 13, 2017 when the Presidential Office started the “National Human Rights Museum Organization Act.” This organization completed the preliminary collection after 6 years of preparation, and in 2018, the National Human Rights Museum was officially established. It promotes the collection and research of political victims of human rights violations that occurred in Taiwan during a 40-year repressive rule, known as the White Terror Period. Due to the constant monitoring and terrorizing of Taiwanese citizens, the collective memory of political suppression and losing loved ones via detainment, imprisonment, and/or death, is not an openly discussed topic. The National Human Rights Museum established this “Collection and Research and Archives Center” as a means to accept donations from families of victims, who are lucky enough to have any physical memorabilia.
The aim is to collect as many personal relics and artifacts of political prisoners and preserve them for review, restoration, digitization, and display. This is to honor the victims and the physical materials left behind, which serves as a form of remembrance to the people. By navigating through categories of artifacts, the user is able to read the letters written by/to prisoners, photographs taken during their detainment, their favorite books, handmade crafts created using the limited materials on the island and from shipments from family, their artwork and calligraphy, and even musical instruments. The collection also accepts memorabilia of the political prisoner post-incarceration, to include the life that was led after their detainment. Some prisoners now work at the National Human Rights Museum as tour guides, offering walking tours of the prison to visitors.
For every artifact, a small biography of the prisoner is included following the item description. The biography highlights the prisoner’s birthdate, his educational background, how they were accused of dissent, and their life’s accomplishments after prison release, and references.
The user interaction of the collection allows navigation through what are essentially anonymous and private letters written during a very vulnerable period. Since letters were also under surveillance, prisoners were limited as to what topics they could discuss with loved ones. While reading through, the user is constantly reminded of what can’t be communicated in the letters and the collective silence everyone experienced.
One aspect I like is the query search. You can filter the search results by keyword, collection name, year, subject category, author, and accession number. You can view the results in a grid-like display which shows the image in a smaller icon, or item-list display, which lists the accession number, collection name, author, category, and era. Using the Google Translate add-on in Chrome, it’s easier for English speakers to navigate the contents available, which can be up to 14,000 items for a single individual.
How are the collaborative aspects reflected in the project and are there elements that work particularly well?
I believe the collaborative aspects are strong. Considering the suppression of any political activism and the taboo nature of being a survivor of the White Terror, the academics and researchers had to open up a portal of discussion amongst a traumatized community.
Do you see an opportunity for collaboration that would be helpful to the project?
I can see translations being added into this project, but considering the language history of the country I don’t feel so inclined for the written content to be available to everyone.