National Taiwan Museum of Fine Arts

History

The National Taiwan Museum was opened on June 26, 1988, under the auspices of the Taiwan Provincial Government’s department of education; it was originally named Taiwan Museum of Art. It was established under the policy to strengthened cultural development, on the basis of the needs of the people and recommendations from figures in the world of the arts, held by Taiwan Provincial Government.

NTMoFA was closed in 1999 for renovation, due to the damage caused by 921 earthquake. Later it was placed under the jurisdiction of the Council of Cultural Affairs (restructured as the Ministry of Culture on 20 May 2012), and renamed as National Taiwan Museum of Fine Arts, as Taiwan’s first and the only national-grade museum of fine arts. Since 2004, the National Taiwan Museum of Fine Arts began to organize digital art related exhibitions, events and forums in addition to traditional exhibitions. Series of biennial exhibitions are also established since 2007, which expand networks for international cooperation, as well as expand the depth of dialogue in the art scene between Taiwan and the world.

Architecture

With the building area of 37,953 square meters and outdoor courtyard area of 102,000 square meters, the National Taiwan Museum of Fine Arts contains 16 galleries, plus a gallery street and main lobby in the 4-story-building, which composed a total exhibition area of 13,525 square meters, marks NTMoFA one of the largest art museum in Asia.

The main building breaks the traditional scheme of building that integrated the exterior views and activities with the artistic performances and exhibitions. A transparent corridor connects the museum and outdoor nature scenes, and to create a spatial transition and communication a mutual awareness. The museum formed a communication bridge with the public through the extension of urban greenbelt, the unification of public services (including café and dining area, and the library), in order to encourage the general public to visit the museum.

The exterior of the Museum echoes the artistic atmosphere and obtains a sculpture park that contains 45 pieces of sculpture. These sculptures showcase the development of sculptural art in Taiwan. Along with the sculptures, the outdoor area also has a stone tablet forest with 50 calligraphic tablets that displays traditional brush-and-ink styles, featuring the fine penmanship of renowned Taiwanese scholars who have been engraved onto stone.

Exhibitions

The National Taiwan Museum of Fine Arts systematically curated exhibitions around the central theme of the development of art in Taiwan, and international cultural and artistic exchanges, as a path of communication between museum audience and the art works. Series of biennial exhibitions, including the Asian Art Biennial (est. 2007), the Taiwan Biennial (est. 2008) and the Contemporary Art Across the Strait Exhibition (est. 2009) and the International Biennial Print Exhibition, R.O.C, expand the networks for international cooperation and depth the dialogue in the art scene of Taiwan and the World. The National Taiwan Museum of Fine Arts also organizes "Venice Architecture Biennale-Taiwan Pavilion" since 2000, which promote the interaction between Taiwan and the world, and encourage the mutual interchange of creativity and city development.

Under the program of Cultural & Creative Industries Development Plan, the National Taiwan Museum of Fine Arts also in charge of the Digital Art Promotion Project, which aims to assist young artists in accumulating and express their creative momentum and to turn Taiwan into a hub of international digital art. Since 2004, international digital art exhibition and forums and the related activities are held onsite to introduce the latest digital artworks from different countries. The NTMoFA also established DigiArt (Digital Art Creativity and Resource Center) in 2007, with the mission to lay the foundation for the development of digital arts in Taiwan. In 2008, the Cyclorama Theater was constructed, housed commissioned works and juried exhibitions. New project Digital Technology and Visual Arts Collaborative Project (DTVACP) was initiated in 2012, aimed to promote cross-disciplinary collaboration between technologies and arts, and to strengthen communication between Taiwanese and international digital arts communities.

List of Exhibitions

1. * Unique Vision: Highlights from the National Taiwan Museum of Fine Arts Collections
2. * Unique Vision II: Highlights from the National Taiwan Museum of Fine Arts Collections

Collection Highlights

The National Taiwan Museum of Fine Arts expands its collection based on the regional characteristics of Taiwan, and observes the interactions between Taiwanese art communities and their Asian counterparts. NTMoFA’s Collection Committee selected representative works that comply with the museum’s collection policies continue to be selected annually to replenish the collection. Correspondingly, a wide range of artworks generously donated by different members of the society composed an important part of the collection and a key public cultural resource of the museum. NTMoFA Collections

Open entries for young artist’ works are called annually under the Young Artist Collection Project, through which the outstanding works of new generation artist become museum collections. Young artist collections

Service

Library The NTMoFA library committed to collecting, organizing and preserving art-related references, literatures and materials from Taiwan and other countries. The library has 119,076 titles by June 2014, including 77,392 books, 29,086 periodicals, 2,712 digital resources and 8,904 multi-media collections. Reader service also extends to the management of the Museum’s Digital Arts Creativity and Resource Center, E-Transit, Video Platforms and the Children’s Picture Book Area. The library follows museum’s opening hours.

Family Room National Taiwan Museum of Fine Arts has a special designed Family Room for family with children. With the concept of hands-on explorations, the Family Room provided various DIY activities that designed based on museum exhibitions. A sense of creativity is inspired by taking various approaches and different forms to help children develop an appreciation for originality in arts.

Hours & Admission Tuesday – Friday 9:00-17:00; Saturday and Sunday 9:00-18:00, Monday Closed

Guided Tours Daily regular guided tours at 10:30 and 14:30 Reserved guided tours are available for group of 15 or more. Reservations should be made online at least 2 weeks in advance.

Entry to NTMoFA is free except for special exhibitions.

Transportation

From Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport: take Kingbus (Guoguang) or U Bus (Tunglien) towards Chao Ma Station. Get off at Sogo Department Store and take a Taxi to National Taiwan Museum of Fine Arts.

From TRA Taichung Station :

1. Take city bus 5, 75 to National Taiwan Museum of Fine Arts.
2. Take city bus 51 at Taichung Train Station Rear Entrance to Cultural Center.

From THSR Taichung Station: take shuttle bus #159 and get off at Tuku Station, walk for 15 minutes to National Taiwan Museum of Fine Arts.

Other city buses stops at National Taiwan Museum of Fine Arts or Cultural Center: 71, 23, 56, 30, 40, 89

By car:

1. National Highway #1: Nantun Interchange → Wu-Chuan West Rd → Mei-Tusen Rd
2. National Highway #3: Zhongtou Interchange → Zhoungtou Expressway → Wu-Chuan West Rd → Mei-Tusen Rd