Department of Cultural Affairs

Located on the outskirts of Taipei, Beitou Heart Village is a hot spring town in Beitou with a public hot spring bath and the sole military dependents’ village in Taiwan specifically designated for military physicians and surgeons. 

In 2023, spaces donated by the National Women’s League of the R.O.C. were divided into “permanent exhibitions” and “special exhibitions”, and four military family housing units were transformed (two themes for each exhibition). A trial run began on September 30 and the opening ceremony and tea reception were held on October 7, officially inaugurating the exhibition.

Beitou Heart Village now presents a brand-new permanent exhibition, “The Sounds and Stories of Heart Village”. Co-created by the Ministry of Culture’s “Demonstration Project for Introducing Cultural and Creative Innovation to Local Spaces” (地方場域導入藝文創新服務示範計畫) and Beitou Heart Village, the exhibition recreates realistic living spaces from the 1970s military dependents’ village, including living rooms, bedrooms, and kitchens, based on oral history and research data. 

The exhibition highlights the distinctive elements of military hospitals and hot springs in Beitou Heart Village, integrating immersive in-person experiences and virtual reality puzzle games and using innovative technological approaches. 

By connecting the in-person and virtual exhibition spaces in Beitou Heart Village, the exhibition enables visitors to try to solve the mystery game “Unseen Love” (無人知曉的眷戀) or to explore the exhibits online. The interactive games provide an informative, entertaining experience, offering a new perspective from cultural displays in other military dependents’ villages.

The special exhibition “Windows to the Past of Heart Village” focuses on the memories of military dependents. During the preparation period, a “Military Dependents’ Village Story Box” workshop was held, with most of the participants being elderly military dependents. Through hands-on crafting, they embedded their memories of the military dependents’ village into the scenes designed within the story boxes and also placed corresponding precious objects and data, thus creating the 13 story boxes which are the main exhibits of this special exhibition.