The Taipei Fine Arts Museum on Thursday last week announced plans to open a new wing and transform the park space on the grounds of the 2010 Taipei International Flora Exposition in Taipei’s Zhongshan District (中山) into a “Taipei modern art zone,” which it hopes to complete by 2023.
The museum was established 35 years ago and the Taipei City Government should develop a vision of how the museum and its surroundings should evolve and be developed over the next 30 years, Taipei Deputy Mayor Charles Lin (林欽榮) said.
The city plans to take down two of the pavilions that were built in the area during the Flora Expo and transform what is now the Flower Expo Art Park into a modern art park, Lin said.
To make the museum and planned park an art zone befitting the capital, the municipality has allotted NT$5.3 billion (US$182 million) for the expansion project, he said.
The more than 10 hectares on which the museum now sits are to be renamed “Taipei Modern Art Park,” Taipei Department of Cultural Affairs Commissioner Chung Yung-feng (鍾永豐) said, adding that the building takes up 2.4 hectares and the new wing would be nearly double that size, Chung said.
The municipal government is still budgeting for the project and would launch bidding for the project next year, he said.
There are plans to connect the MRT Yuanshan Station to the park area via a tunnel, Lin said, adding that the city government aims to complete all construction and open the park to the public by 2023.
Should the underground walkway be built, the bridge connecting Yuanshan Park and the Flower Expo Park would be taken down, the city government said.
Museum director Lin Ping (林平) said that when the park is completed, visitors to the area would get to experience three separate themes.
The first is the museum itself, which houses more than 5,000 pieces of modern art, Lin Ping said, adding that its collection of art and other documentation allows for permanent exhibitions and research into Taiwanese art history.
The new wing is to function as a dedicated platform for modern art and to help host international expositions, such as the Taipei Biennial, Lin Ping said.
The building would also provide space for new media art performances and interdisciplinary experimentation, Lin Ping said, adding that facilities for education and culture would also be included.
Third and lastly, visitors could take a relaxing stroll around the green belt and park surrounding the buildings, Lin Ping said.
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