Ju Ming Museum

I was never really into museums, so I didn't give it any thought when I saw the name Ju Ming Museum in a couple of travel brochures. It wasn't until one of our company's senior executives strongly encouraged me to visit this place that I made plans to see it. And indeed it was a great find! 

Ju Ming Museum (朱銘美術館) is located just outside Taipei City, in a town called Jin Shan. Ju Ming is a famous Taiwanese sculptor. In one of the videos about his life, the young Ju Ming often lamented that he could not carve delicate details like those of other sculptors. His mentor, however, encouraged him to focus on his strengths and make this his unique stamp and contribution to the world of art. And so, unlike other sculptors who focus on creating small, intricate details in their works of art, Ju Ming's work has big, bold strokes. His creations are life size, if not bigger. 

The museum is a big compound which showcases all his works. Eighty percent of the exhibit is located in open air, so make sure to go there when the weather forecast is good. We went there despite warnings of a storm and got soaking wet. But we still enjoyed ourselves. The only regret was my friend couldn't take many pictures because she was worried her lens might get damaged. But I had my handy digital camera, so no worries! 

Here are some of my favorites among his work. It amazes me that although there are less intricate details in his sculpture, they still look real and convey a lot of emotion. 

One of the major exhibits showcased different types of soldiers -- those in the army, navy and the airforce. Ju Ming wanted to honor the soldiers who fought during the war by showing various scenes such as soldiers standing in formation, medics carrying the injured, and navy soldiers in warships. I was so impressed by the parachuting soldiers of the airforce -- watch out for that! 

Ju Ming's famous work was also these massive stone sculptures featuring Tai Chi movements. The sculptures look simple enough, but surprisingly, they convey the fluidity and movement of Tai Chi. See for yourself!

There were also sculptures of regular folks, which were painted and life size. It was hard to distinguish if they were real people or not! We had a kick posing with these sculptures and taking pictures with captions of "guess which one is real".

Here's a sweet sculpture of a young couple dating. We added our umbrella to shield them from the rain. :) 

This one is a haunting series for me. The Jail Series was exhibited indoors. The dark curtains, accompanied by dim lights, added to the feeling of desolation. For me, this was the exhibit that oozed with the most emotion.

You can feel the despair and agony just by being in the room with this exhibit!

Well, that's it! I don't want to post more pictures since that would just take away the element of surprise and awe which his works inspire. But I do strongly and highly recommend an afternoon in this museum. Even those who find museums boring will certainly like this place.

Getting There

To get there from Taipei, you can hop on to a bus headed to JinShan District / Township Office. You can take the Kuo Kwang Bus number 1815 (same bus that goes to Yehliu). Alight at the Jin Shan District Office and either wait for the museum shuttle van or take a taxi to the museum. The museum shuttle van only runs twice or thrice a day, so it may be more convenient to take the taxi. The trip from Jin Shan District Office to the museum goes through a winding hilly road and takes about 20 minutes.

I haven't tried it but some blogs talk about a bus from outside the Taipei Fine Arts Museum which takes you directly to the museum, going through the Yang Ming Shan route. It leaves twice a day (8:40 am and 1:10 pm).

Check out the museum's website for more details: www.juming.org.tw