Collection and research form the classical foundations of the museum institution. Through the research and display of collections, art museums play a crucial role within the art ecology in preserving and constructing "artistic canons." Concurrently, through exhibitions and educational outreach, they shoulder the mission of promoting public learning and cultural dissemination. As the first modern art museum in southern Taiwan, the Kaohsiung Museum of Fine Arts (hereafter referred to as KMFA) has consistently promoted artistic exchange both domestically and internationally since its establishment in 1994. By focusing on and presenting the artistic landscape of southern Taiwan, and through long-term, systematic research into its collections and exhibitions, KMFA has shaped an art-historical and cultural genealogy unique to the "Greater South," amplifying its voice to a broader audience.
 
The establishment of national art banks globally—pioneered by Canada in 1972—has facilitated the capitalization and circulation of art. Through mechanisms of artistic support, public education, and industry advancement, the art bank has emerged as a novel institutional paradigm within the art ecology, successfully integrating art into everyday public life. In 2013, the Ministry of Culture established the Taiwan Art Bank (hereafter referred to as the Art Bank). Through an acquisition mechanism based on open calls for submissions, it supports Taiwanese artists in the early stages of their careers. Furthermore, its leasing system cultivates potential collector communities, thereby establishing a solid public foundation for the development of art in Taiwan.
 
Within Taiwan’s art ecology and social structure, KMFA and the Art Bank each shoulder distinct missions and objectives; nevertheless, both institutions profoundly impact the development of Taiwanese art and society through their respective collection mechanisms. This exhibition focuses on the roles and functions of the "collection/acquisition" systems of KMFA and the Art Bank within the art ecology. By inviting three researchers who occupy different roles in the art world to conduct comparative studies and select works by artists collected by both institutions, the exhibition examines how their respective mechanisms sustain artistic creation, facilitate the circulation of artworks, and reflect the career trajectories of the artists.
 
Furthermore, in an era marked by a significant proliferation of art museums in Taiwan, this exhibition seeks to flexibly employ diverse and heterogeneous display vocabularies to fulfill its social educational function. In doing so, it aims to foster the audience's nuanced understanding of the differences between museums and various contemporary art institutions, ultimately providing deeper insight into the operational logic of the art ecology.
 

‧ART BANK TAIWAN 



Supervisors: Ministry of Culture, Bureau of Cultural Affairs, Kaohsiung City Government
Organizers: Kaohsiung Museum of Fine Arts, Taiwan Fine Arts Foundation