Kaohsiung Museum of Fine Arts Introduction
The Kaohsiung Museum of Fine Arts (commonly referred to as Kaohsiung Fine Arts Museum), established in 1994, is located within the Neiweipi Cultural Park in the northwest metropolitan area of Kaohsiung City, within the area once known as the Neiweipi wetland. The region is surrounded by scenic landscapes, including Guishan and Banping Mountain to the north and Shoushan, which runs north-south on the west side, converging the love river flowing through the area. In 2017, the museum transitioned into an administrative corporation under the auspices of the Kaohsiung City professional cultural institution, continuing to delve into local culture by collecting works from Taiwanese artists. Each year, it fosters emerging artists through initiatives like the "Kaohsiung Award" and "KS Kaohsiung Experimental Field," alongside planning thematic exhibitions and artist research exhibitions. The museum also strives to collaborate and exchange with world-class museums, introducing various large-scale international exhibitions, thus providing the public with a broader and more diverse contemporary art experience. In recent years, the museum has actively developed online interactive resources such as a 360-degree virtual exhibition space, online guided tours, an online art database (including a visual image database, a South Island contemporary memory project database, and the "Hundred Nights of Silent Reading" collection), and a YouTube channel with updates according to exhibitions, making the museum not only a place for cultural art visits but also a platform for knowledge sharing. The main building of the museum features four floors above ground and two basement levels: the first floor houses international special exhibitions and a contemporary art hall, the second floor focuses on thematic exhibitions or artist research exhibitions, the third floor is home to the Great Southern Diverse Historical Perspective Collection Room, and the fourth floor serves as an exhibition space for contemporary experimental creations. The basement includes a lecture hall with 352 seats, art resource classrooms for group art education, and an art research room housing over 46,000 art books and materials for public access and research. In 2005, the museum transformed the "Visitor Service Center" located on the west side of the park into a Children's Art Museum, the first public museum in the country dedicated to children. This includes a three-story main building and an outdoor landscaped garden, creating an ecological landscape space that combines culture, art, education, recreation, and play. Unlike school-based art and humanities education, the Children's Art Museum integrates museum education with children's art education, combining interactive displays with arts educational programs. Through thematic planning, it offers rich, engaging, and lively educational display designs that enable children to learn about art through play, creativity, exploration, observation, experience, and imagination. In recent years, the Children's Art Museum has integrated the ecological landscape of the Neiweipi Cultural Park with the resources of the Kaohsiung Fine Arts Museum, focusing on deepening children's art education, promoting it, and integrating community and school resources, moving towards goals of "ecology, environmental protection, culture, and art." The surrounding area is shaded by green trees, and the sand pit in front serves as a shared playground for parents and children. Spanning 43 hectares, the museum park features over 40 art sculptures and public art spread throughout the park's lakeside woodlands and meadows, presenting diverse visual effects and extending the natural environment into a part of the museum's exhibition space and education. With various visiting mechanisms, the establishment of the Kaohsiung Bookstore, premium restaurants in the park, and the development of ecological guided tours, cultural markets, and numerous outdoor activities in recent years, the core spirit aims to create an experience for visitors centered around a "one-day art ecological living circle" at the museum, realizing the goal of making the museum a platform for artistic life and aesthetic experience. The museum area encompasses the Kaohsiung Museum of Fine Arts, the Children's Art Museum, and the Neiweipi Art Center, forming a cultural hub that integrates ecology, art, and leisure. Amidst the sounds of nature and shimmering waters, art, like lush green sprouts, takes root, grows, and thrives under the bright sun of southern Taiwan.
