Work for the exhibition Formosa in Formation has been drawn from the museum's distinguished collection of colonial era art, and includes works of the estimable Japanese artists Ishikawa Kinichiro and Gobara Koto; Taiwan's preeminent sculptor Huang Tu-Shui; representative painters in the eastern-style (toyoga) Chen Chin, Lin Yu-Shan, Kuo Hsueh-Hu and Lu Tieh-Chou; and dynamic painters in the western-style Ni Chiang-Huai, Chen Cheng-Po, Liao Chi-Chun, Liu Chi-Hsiang, Hung Rui-Lin and Ho Te-Lai. The exhibition re-examines the multidimensional turn in Taiwanese art and culture prior to 1947.

1895 to 1947 was a period of sweeping change in Taiwan, which raises questions of how artists severed ties with tradition and sought new concepts, paradigms and values. How did these artists respond to a changing world and reconcile their identities with notions of native and national? What were their perceptions of the times? By presenting the results of thirty years of careful collecting, the museum will offer the public an opportunity to revisit and compare historical facts and interpretations.

The artists included in the exhibition all started out in Taiwan to create works that helped construct the distinctive character of the island. Through the triumphs of this previous generation, we can not only closely examine our cultural past, but also find the inspiration to shape our future.