Renowned Hollywood director Tim Burton is known for his quirky, dark, and humorous style, creating many film classics such as “Beetlejuice,” “Batman,” “Edward Scissorhands,” “The Nightmare Before Christmas,” and “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.” In this large-scale exhibition, audiences will be able to see the character creations, storyboard sketches, scene sculptures, and other exhibits from the director’s past iconic films, as well as have the opportunity to glimpse into his studio. Definitely worth looking forward to!
This large-scale exhibition has previously toured around the world before arriving in Hong Kong a few years ago, and now it has moved to Taiwan, allowing more audiences to step into Tim Burton’s fantastical world.
Before becoming a director, Burton expressed himself through writing, drawing, and photography, all of which have become an integral part of his creative process. Even today, he continues to pursue these passions. His extensive artistic works are documented in books, including a representative collection of poems titled “The Melancholy Death of Oyster Boy,” where audiences can appreciate the manuscripts and creative notes from the collection.
The exhibition is divided into 10 exhibition areas, where you can see the director’s character sketches or written works from different journeys in the “Musings on the Journey” area. These sudden inspirations are recorded in some notebooks or napkins, showing his spontaneity in creation. In the “Back to the Past” area, Burton showcases imitations of works by Charles Addams from “The Addams Family” or Theodor Geisel, the author of “Ghost Spirit”.
In “He, She, or It?”, “Kind Monsters”, “Program Fantasies”, and “Bizarre Carnival”, Burton vividly presents various strange character designs to the audience through flat, three-dimensional sculptures, multimedia images, and other means. When horror and humor come together, everyone feels like they are entering a dark carnival!
Throughout the director’s decades-long filming career, he has created many legendary works. The “Road of Cinema” exhibition area showcases a large number of two-dimensional and three-dimensional works that have appeared in his works. Following various visual clues, we will be able to catch a glimpse of the magical world created by the great director. If you want to learn more about the behind-the-scenes stories of making movies, you can see the commemorative books Burton made for each film in the “Film Production Log” to understand various details in the film production process.
If you are interested in the director’s spare time or life off-screen, “Polaroids” and “Unreleased Works” will bring unpublished creative project manuscripts or color drafts, as well as their artistic works shot in life.
Taiwanese audiences must seize this opportunity to personally visit and experience the unique charm of the century’s weird talents at such a large-scale exhibition!
“The World of Tim Burton” Exhibition
Date: October 22, 2022 to March 5, 2023
Time: 10:00 AM to 6:00 PM
Location: Exhibition Hall 1, Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall, No. 21, Zhongshan South Road, Zhongzheng District, Taipei City
Image source and learn more: Tim Burton’s Imaginary World Exhibition, Tim Burton
