ABSTRACT
Museum branding provides a shared understanding of a museum's value internally while presenting a consistent image of the museum externally. Amid the increasing complexity and uncertainty of the 21st century, museums need to reinvent their approach to branding. This chapter presents a case study of the Daxi Wood Art Ecomuseum (DWAEM) in Taiwan which demonstrates an innovative approach to branding, particularly highlighting its initiatives by ‘corner houses’ since 2013. The museum brand offers a reinvented interpretation of ecomuseums which reflects the changing environment of the 21st century; it merges into its local context in Daxi, Taiwan, and is conveyed through social engagement. The resulting ‘corner houses’—various local shops that play the role of small museums to gather the collective identities of Daxi—act as co-creators for the sense of place of Daxi through a co-learning methodology and collaborative actions. Furthermore, the ongoing process of museum branding illustrated by this case study focuses on local social networks and depends on interaction, interconnection, and interdependence and equitable relationships fostered with residents and local communities.
