Minister of Culture Lung Ying-tai met with a group of visual artists on Jan. 31 to exchange views on visual art development in the country as part of an effort to further streamline the government's cultural policies.
Nearly 200 artists were invited by the Ministry of Culture to a cultural affairs forum which aims to deepen people's aesthetics accomplishment, broaden international culture exchange and further raise Taiwan's profile in the international community.
During the two-hour meeting, many artists urged the Ministry to make art information or news available to the public. For instance, they said Taiwan can follow the example of Japan's NHK to have a daily 10-minute art news broadcast, or ask the country's airlines to regularly publish in their flight magazines about art works created by local artists.
Lung said the Ministry has made every effort to get more funds to promote visual arts, adding that many suggestions, such as establishing a national photography center and an appraisal and valuation system for artworks, are currently under evaluation by the Ministry.
Lung stressed that her Ministry fully supports such "high-priority” issues as establishing an art center and an artistic TV channel, conducting an appraisal and valuation system for artwork and tax deduction, and establishing an alliance among artistic institutions.
Meanwhile, despite the unstable economy, the Ministry of Culture has decided to launch an "art bank” this year to invest in and promote Taiwan's emerging artists.
Under the plan, the Ministry will purchase artworks from Taiwanese artists, especially young artists, and sell or loan the art work to companies, government agencies and the public, in order to give these artists more exposure.