Budai 543 Story House Introduction
In front of the Budai 543 Story House, there is an installation art piece called "Budai Mouth," which is the old name of Budai. The Story House was formerly the "Customs Bureau of Kaohsiung, Ministry of Finance Budai Detention Center," commonly referred to by locals as "the Customs." The venue now showcases the historical changes and cultural context of Budai through artistic curation, presenting an innovative and interesting way for visitors to gain insight into Budai's past. The first floor of the Story House features paintings that illustrate the 400-year history of Budai, with each artwork representing a different colonial period: Prehistoric Taiwan, the Dutch and Zheng Chenggong era, the Qing Dynasty, the Japanese rule era, and the period after Taiwan's restoration, when Budai was known as "Little Shanghai" due to the prosperous maritime trade with China. The children's reading room in the Story House is modeled after the bustling ship house of that time, featuring tatami flooring where children can sit and read picture books; its exterior is decorated with well-known shops from that period, like Yongle Tea House and Night-Blooming Jasmine, as well as with commodities such as rice and sugar that were the highest exports at the time, highlighting Budai's former glory. The second-floor exhibition area presents the daily life of Budai residents through old photographs and installation art. One striking piece, a "three-dimensional painting," looks like a flat oil painting when photographed, but in reality, the artist painted the colors of three-dimensional objects like tables and chairs, creating a large installation artwork that makes you feel as if you've become the protagonist of the painting. The next time you visit Budai, in addition to tasting delicious seafood at the fish market and admiring the High Heels Church, don't forget to visit the Budai 543 Story House to gain a deeper understanding of Budai's past through an artistic experience.
