Exhibitions

The Kaohsiung Museum of Fine Arts is the only major public museum of arts in southern Taiwan and it shoulders the important social responsibility of providing local residents with art education. Therefore, during the past ten years after its establishment, the KMFA always expects itself to serve as a multi-functional and composite museum for the public. The museum designs its exhibitions mainly based on the principle of providing comprehensive introductions to a wide variety of arts and also laying the foundation for art research design with an view to satisfying the needs of local residents who would like to appreciate the beauty of arts, both ancient and present, Eastern and Western. With its abundant resources accumulated from the exchanges with other museums both at home and abroad as well as all the exhibitions for research purposes, the museum can be expected to establish itself as an important center for art research in southern Taiwan.

Ever since its opening in June 1994 up to Dec. 31 st , 2003, the museum has held totally 282 exhibitions during the past decade among which 195 are national exhibitions, accounting for less than 70% of the total while 87 are international, accounting for more than 30%. The museum also published books, posters and booklets along with some of the exhibitions. It has published 139 books, 192 posters and 241 booklets in total up to the present.

Based on their different attributes and purposes, all the KMFA's exhibitions can be divided into the following categories:

I. Exhibitions to Promote International and Cross-Strait Cultural Exchanges:

For the past decade, the museum has held nearly 90 international exhibitions which allowed citizens in southern Taiwan to appreciate at a close range artworks by both ancient and modern masters of western arts. These exhibitions also helped the museum keep in tune with the updates of art development in other countries and learn from the essences of other cultures in different geographic areas. The museum also curated exhibitions which were held abroad, increasing the international exposure of Taiwan's culture and outstanding artists. The museum has earned its reputation as an international museum by forging cooperative ties with other museums and cultural institutions around the world and gradually winning their trust and recognition.

II. Exhibitions to Enhance Exchanges with Other Museum in Taiwan:

There are currently many museums and art institutions, both public and private, in Taiwan and each of them holds unique collections and rich resources in the local areas. The KMFA has curated many exhibitions jointly with these museums, art foundations and institutions in Taiwan. With their participation, the exhibitions were enriched and the museum could also exchange experiences and resources with them so that each party could benefit and progress from the cooperation. Meanwhile, these exhibitions were also intended to present to the general public how the museums and arts development had prospered in Taiwan.

III.  Exhibitions to Lay Foundation for Art Research

All the first-hand information, interview data, application from about participating artists, and statistics accumulated before these exhibitions were also displayed in the exhibitions to enhance the depth and width of the exhibition content and also to provide viewers with more professional knowledge about arts in addition to appreciation of the exhibits. These data and records can also be used as valuable references for research in related fields in the future. The museum expects itself to better consolidate and then optimize its functions in collection, research, exhibition and art education promotion.

IV.  Exhibitions to Encourage Art Creations and Critique:

Examples of these exhibitions include the “Kaohsiung Award and the Kaohsiung Fine Arts Exhibition” which calls for submission of creations of different types, “Year Painting Print Exhibition,” “Forum for Creativity in Art” and “Gallery for Citizens” as well as the “Joint Exhibition of Artists,” which call for submissions of creations in particular by local artists or groups in Kaohsiung. These exhibitions are intended to encourage art creations and critiques, establishing an open platform for different artists to express their diversity in art creations. Take the “Forum for Creativity in Art” as an example. In its evaluation meeting, the curators and members of the judging panel can have direct communication and discussion about their concepts and ideas or review the structures and expressions of their exhibitions in order to ensure that the exhibitions can provide viewers more inspirations and room for discussion.

V.Exhibitions to Encourage Art Development in Kaohsiung:

The KMFA was established under high expectation and concerns of Kaohsiung citizens about the local art development. Therefore, it has always been one of the museum's priorities to observe, coordinate and participate the art development in Kaohsiung. For examples, the “Gallery for Citizens,” starting from collection and filing of the data about early artists in Kaohsiung and now shifting its focus on the presentation of the current development of local art community, has recorded in details the activities and development of artists in Kaohsiung. In addition, the museum has started to work on the exhibition series, “Arts of Kaohsiung,” since its establishment. Starting from 2001, the exhibition series became theme exhibitions and each of them was characterized with local points of view and highly acclaimed domestically for its difference from the dominant art mainstream in Taipei.

In the modern era of telecommunication and Internet, globalization and consumer culture are two irresistible trends. It will become a common mission for people or organizations in different geographic area to maintain the culture unique in their area and further promote the sustainable development of the culture. The Kaohsiung Museum of Fine Arts is deeply aware of its responsibly of fulfilling this mission. Exhibitions are an important channel of communication between the museum and the citizens. Therefore, in planning for exhibitions in the future, the KMFA will try its best to optimize it functions as a museum for the public.