NPM signs partnership agreement with US art museum

2017/07/05

Taipei City-headquartered National Palace Museum signed a memorandum of understanding with San Francisco-based Asian Art Museum July 3 to forge a partnership on educational programs, exhibitions and research projects.
 
 This is the first partnership accord that NPM has concluded with a foreign museum. The pact was inked in Taipei by NPM Director Lin Jeng-yi and AAM Director Jay Xu, with Jesse Curtis, cultural affairs officer at the American Institute in Taiwan, witnessing the signing.
 
 Under the agreement, the museums will share pieces from their collections and co-organize exhibitions. The first jointly arranged show will see AAM artworks go on display at NPM’s southern branch in 2018.
 
 In addition, the two sides have agreed to conduct research exchanges, swap expertise on developing educational programs and fostering public engagement, as well as make their publications available at each other’s institutions.
 
 Lin said that NPM is committed to boosting international cultural exchanges, as evidenced by its extensive collaboration with museums around the world, including in Republic of China (Taiwan) diplomatic ally the Holy See as well as the U.S., France and Germany. This partnership agreement is expected to be the first of many as NPM works to bolster its global connections and strengthen its role in promoting Taiwan’s soft power, he added.
 
 According to Xu, the two institutions have a long history of cooperation, with items from NPM’s collection going on display at the San Francisco museum in 1996 and 2016. The new agreement will enable both sides to deepen this close relationship while enhancing their respective educational and research programs, he said.
 
 AAM, founded in 1966, houses the most comprehensive Asian art collection in the U.S., with more than 18,000 pieces spanning 6,000 years of history.
 
 Established in 1965, NPM is the world’s largest treasure house of Chinese imperial art, boasting 650,000 antiquities covering 7,000 years from the prehistoric Neolithic period to the end of the Qing dynasty (1644-1911). In 2015, the institution opened a second branch in southern Taiwan’s Chiayi County to showcase artifacts from diverse Asian civilizations.

Source: Taiwan Today (http://taiwantoday.tw/news.php?unit=18&post=117839)