"Art in Our Time: NTMoFA Collection Highlights" is specially curated for the NTMoFA's 35th anniversary, featuring iconic works from different periods of the museum's collection and art history research topics. The exhibition series hopes to guide visitors on a tour of the development and iconic works across the century-long history of Taiwanese art while encouraging a deeper understanding of the NTMoFA’s mission and role in art.
The exhibition is sectioned into four themes, each displaying classic works from the museum's collection from different periods: "The Roots and Transformation of Taiwanese Art," "The Exploration and Experimentation in Taiwanese Modern Art," "The Statements and Themes of Contemporary Art," and "From Murmuring to Probing into History."
The first theme "The Roots and Transformation of Taiwanese Art" focuses on constructing the subjectivity of Taiwanese art, as well as the various transformations of artistic styles throughout different periods of history. The second theme "The Exploration and Experimentation in Taiwanese Modern Art" showcases experimentations and innovations in the medium, form, concept, and technology in visual art during the 60s and 70s through the museum's series of modern prints collection, research, as well as the NTMoFA's opening exhibition "Installation Art Exhibition: Media, Environment, Installation."
The third theme "The Statements and Themes of Contemporary Art in Taiwan" is based on the museum's large-scale performance art project "Bombing the Taiwan Province Museum of Art" in 1999, which was the period of time when the museum started to include Taiwanese contemporary art in its collection. Works under the fourth theme "From Murmuring to Probing into History" were created after the year 2000. Although the works showcase varying focuses and expressions, what they have in common is a sense of anxiety toward the world and their helpless, fatigued resistance.