Establishing the RTAHP was widely considered a defining moment in the country’s art community, with Taiwan artists lacking visibility compared to their international peers. To provide a platform for broadening their appeal, more central- and local-level museums like Tainan Art Museum in the southern city are being founded with a focus on the nation’s artistic past.
TAM’s first exhibition hall is based in a former Japanese colonial administrative office constructed in 1931.
TAM director Pan Fan considers Tainan the ideal location for the mission, given the city’s long history as the center of Taiwan culture. The RTAHP, he noted, marks the first wide-scale use of public money in service of the country’s art history. “It demonstrates a determination to form a national cultural identity,” Pan said. “The government’s leadership is helping create a new, forward-looking vision for the future.”
One of the main beneficiaries of this newfound policy orientation, TAM is building a base of local art historians by providing on-the-job training. According to Pan, many curators and researchers are unfamiliar with pre-World War II Taiwan artists.
To bridge the gap, permanent exhibitions are set to open featuring painters from the past including Chen Cheng-po, Kuo Po-chuan, Kuo Hsueh-hu, Hsu Wu-yung, Shen Che-tsai and Hong Tong. “We’re re-presenting their works to introduce them to a modern audience,” Pan said.
A visitor admires works by Taiwan artist Kuo Hsueh-hu during an exhibition at TAM.
With one of the museum buildings refurbished from a Japanese colonial administrative office constructed in 1931, TAM is located in a downtown Tainan area featuring a number of government-designated historic structures. For Pan, convenient, frequent exchanges with city dwellers and visitors are a priority concern for museum management, which is why the opening hours are extended to 9 p.m. on Saturdays. “We want to give residents an alternative option for night life, something with a slower pace,” the director said.
The blueprint used to establish TAM is now being followed to construct similar institutions in places like the northern port city of Keelung as well as the central metropolis of Taichung. Thanks to the RTAHP, the country’s art history looks to be on the right track for long-term preservation. (E) (By Pat Gao)
“Courtyard in Sinlau” by Chen Cheng-po, oil on canvas, 1941
Write to Taiwan Today at ttonline@mofa.gov.tw
(This article is adapted from “Redrawing the Past” in the July/August 2020 issue of Taiwan Review. The Taiwan Review archives dating to 1951 are available online.)