This Taiwanese museum presents history, art, and fantasy in mini installations

When you plan your first trip to Taiwan, the National Taiwan Museum or the National Taiwan Museum of Fine Arts is likely what you will put on your itinerary if you want to understand the country’s culture on a deeper level. 

It’s one of the most straightforward ways for tourists — and even residents — of any country to pay respect to the events and the people that shaped the land they are setting foot on, because we’ve seen time and time again what happens when a nation forgets its history. 

In typical national museums, we are met with multiple levels of artifacts and installations. But there’s another museum in Taipei that allows us to see so much of the world at large all in one room. How? Through miniatures. 

Blink and you’ll miss it

Tucked in what looks like an unassuming office building in Taipei’s Zhongshan District, the Miniatures Museum of Taiwan has somehow managed to fit much of world history, art, and even representations of some of our favorite fictional stories in a single quiet space. 

Its founders, married couple Lin Wen-jen and Lin Chin-mei, had spent years traveling across Europe and North America. It was when they reached Holland in The Netherlands that their passion for all things tiny had started. Over the years, their miniature collection had grown enough to build an entire one-floor museum, which they finally established in 1997, making it the first of its kind in Southeast Asia. 

The Lins had enlisted the expertise of Taiwanese artists for the miniatures depicting the country’s rich culture, and had also acquired an extensive curation of miniature artworks from all around Europe and America. 

When you first pass through the museum’s wooden doors, the first thing you will lay your eyes on is the Rose Mansion, one of the main attractions built by miniature artist and architectural historian, Dr. Reginald Twigg. It had taken Twigg four years to build the massive doll house. 

The Rose Mansion at the Miniatures Museum of Taiwan. All photos by Juno Reyes/Rappler

At first glance, you might think that’s all there is to it. But when you make your way to the other side of the box, you will be surprised to see that you can look into rows upon rows of little rooms that are designed to have different functions, like a kitchen, bedrooms, a music room, and even a billiards room. 

Each room contains small dolls that the museum later added on its own — making sure to throw in a baker, a pianist, a family, pairs of friends, and married couples. It’s up to you to decide what these people’s stories are. 

LITTLE ROOMS. Go to the back of the Rose Mansion and you will find many little rooms that each tells a story of its own.

But the installations in the museum are all presented differently and with intention. While some of them are closed off in clear glass panels like the Rose Mansion, others are placed into what looks like blown up picture frames on the wall. From afar, they appear to be one-dimensional, but when you get closer, you will find that they are carefully designed miniature rooms — some of them modeled after real-life rooms across the world, and some of them based on well-known fictional stories. 

DEPTH. The frames on the walls of the Miniatures Museum of Taiwan look like one-dimensional photos at first glance.

One of them is the Phantom of the Opera, originally published as a novel in 1910 by Gaston Leroux, and later adapted into a musical by Andrew Lloyd Webber in 1986. This miniature room was created by Ray Whitledge in the US in 1997, and shows young soprano Christine Daaé preparing to take the stage. 

The lights in this piece flicker intentionally, and every so often, Erik — the Phantom of the Opera — appears in the mirror and disappears quickly, compelling you to take a longer look to confirm that your eyes aren’t deceiving you.

The lights in the Phantom of the Opera piece flicker intentionally to have Erik appear and disappear seamlessly.

The whole world in one room

The Miniatures Museum of Taiwan seems to have everything.

Always wanted to see the Roman Ruins but find that it’s out of your budget? Perhaps you can view it in its miniature form instead.

The Roman Ruins in miniature form.

You can do the same with the iconic Buckingham Palace. You see its cream and gold exteriors when you first come face-to-face with it, and then when you go around back, you will be able to look into the palace, complete with its red carpets, extravagant chandeliers, domed ceilings, and royal portraits.

England’s Buckingham Palace is remade as a doll house. Inside the miniature version of the Buckingham Palace.

Close by is this humble collection of traditional Japanese shops, which you can get do-it-yourself kits of in the gift shop.

Traditional Japanese shop dioramas.

These don’t even begin to cover what the Miniatures Museum of Taiwan has. But by the time you reach the exit, you will have been able to say you traveled the world in just a matter of minutes (in miniature form, at least).

More than the “cuteness” these little installations offer, though, the Miniatures Museum of Taiwan will unknowingly encourage you to be more present as you go through each turn. Because everything here is so small and compact, it beckons visitors to slow down and look closely so you can really appreciate the art and history behind the glass walls.

How to get there

The Miniatures Museum of Taiwan is located at B1, No. 96, Section 1, Jianguo North Road, Zhongshan District, Taipei, Taiwan. It’s approximately 20 minutes away from the Ximen Station via the Songshan-Xindian Line. From Exit 5 of the Songjiang Nanjing station, it’s about an eight-minute walk away.

The museum is open from Tuesday to Sunday from 10 am to 6 pm. Ticket prices range from NT$125 (~P230) to NT$250 (~P460).

While admission tickets may be bought at the museum’s counter at the entrance, you may also get free entry when you avail the Taiwan Fun Pass, which may be booked through the Klook app, or through the Klook kiosk at the pre-departure area of the Clark International Airport in Pampanga.

You can claim the Taiwan Fun Pass at the Klook booth in the Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport.

The Taiwan Fun Pass allows you to get unlimited public transportation rides and grants you entry into over 30 attractions across the country.

– Rappler.com