Art museums shoulder the mission of preserving, researching, developing and popularising art, serving society at large and strengthening public service. Yet recently countries around the world, especially the countries of Asia, face the immense challenge of population ageing. Responding to the impact of population shifts and understanding the needs of visitors will be a means for art museums to develop sustainably. Furthermore, art museums are increasingly expected to play a role in urban development by driving the renewal of local districts, shaping cities’ images, and promoting local development and economic vitality.

Taipei Fine Arts Museum (TFAM) was founded in 1983 as Taiwan’s first museum of modern and contemporary art, taking pride in being the art museum of the capital city. In addition to fulfilling the mission of an art museum, TFAM also serves as a vehicle for grasping global trends and building a diversity of exchanges, to elevate the whole society’s understanding of and participation in modern and contemporary art. To celebrate the 40th anniversary of Taipei Fine Arts Museum, this conference will address the challenges and opportunities of contemporary art museums, in order to buttress the missions and objectives of art museums.

This conference will ponder the following topics:

Art Museums and the Public: The Challenges of Low Birth Rates and Ageing Populations

With economic development and changes in societal behaviour, many countries are facing a rapid increase in their elderly population and a sharp decrease in the number of births, which will result in the dramatic impact of a rapid population decrease in the future. Such changes in population structure will affect not only the overall environment of countries, but also the development of art museums, especially visitor relations and organisational management. Therefore, grasping the structural changes in visitor trends and encouraging the public to visit and make use of art museums more frequently will be an important challenge. Art museums need to conduct research and surveys on visitors, to gain clear insight into what they are like and their motivations for visiting, and also to understand their behaviour, their learning profiles and the accumulation of cultural capital in both physical and virtual spaces. This will allow art museums to actualise their role as public institutions and serve the public, while also developing sustainably even as the population continues to decrease.

This forum will consider the influence of changing population structures on art museum visitors, as well the special characteristics, motivations, behaviour and preferences of visitors to physical art museums. It will also employ new technologies and methods to analyse the digital participation and experiences of art museum visitors. Based on the results of research on trends in changing populations and visitor experiences, it will deduce the new mission of art museums in the context of the coming population crisis.

Art Museums and Local Area Renewal

Art museums play an important role in local area renewal. They can accelerate the development of art in local communities and promote the quality of life there. Their importance cannot be underestimated. As major cultural and artistic institutions, art museums often attract visitors and potential visitors with high cultural capital. With an increase in visitors, nearby areas begin to attract similar institutions and industries that can satisfy these members of the public with their special way of life. This provides momentum for the surrounding environment to gradually improve and become more attractive, thereby drawing more business investment, and this positive cycle gradually drives the transformation of the entire area.

This forum will discuss the relationship between art museums and their surrounding neighbourhoods, examining what roles art museums can play in community renewal, how art museums can collaborate with other organisations in the vicinity, and what results can be achieved.

Art Museums and City Images

In the digital age, international exchanges are increasingly common, greatly shrinking time and space. Competition among cities and countries is more intense. In the age of globalisation, raising a city’s visibility and enhancing its image, to stimulate urban development and attract more outstanding talent has become a crucial lynchpin in making a city competitive. The establishment of an art museum signals the cultural attainment of a city and also serves as an important force for the city’s development. Using a landmark art museum to spur local revitalisation and uplift a city’s image is one of the strategies for city marketing most commonly seen around the world.

This forum will explore the relationship between landmark art museums and city images, and how art museums advance cultural tourism and thus promote a city’s development and economy.

Organiser: Taipei Fine Arts Museum

Co-organiser: Chinese Association of Museums

Executive Organiser: National Taipei University of Education

Date: 4–6 October 2023

Venue: Auditorium, Taipei Fine Arts Museum, Taipei, Taiwan

Register for the conference

* Participation in the conference is free of charge. Please present your notification email or badge of the TFAM40 conference at the ticket gate to verify your admission to TFAM.

* Simultaneous interpretation in Mandarin, English and Japanese provided. Please present a valid ID (ID card, health insurance card, student card or passport) to register for using the interpreting system at the registration counter of the TFAM40 Conference.