The head of retail at the Victoria and Albert (V&A) Museum in London — the world's largest museum of decorative arts and design — will visit Taiwan soon to share the museum's experience in developing and marketing exhibition merchandise, Taiwan's Culture Minister Lung Ying-tai said on Wednesday.
In two weeks' time, Jo Prosser will arrive in Taiwan to meet with museum curators from around the country, said Lung. The Minister, who is currently on a 10-day cultural visit to the United Kingdom and France, added that she is confident that Taiwan has accumulated enough cultural wealth to earn the respect and recognition of European society as a cultural entity.
Speaking of another opportunity for Taiwan-U.K. cultural partnership that her visit created, Lung said U.K. Trade and Investment (UKTI), a government department working with U.K. businesses to ensure their success in international markets, broached with her the idea of jointly setting up a fund to finance artists and micro-entrepreneurs in the creative industry.
Lung said it is the Ministry of Culture's core responsibility to bring Taiwanese artists into contact with the world and foster ties with other countries using cultural exchanges at a time when Taiwan is working hard to expand its international presence.
Lung, who has also visited the United States and Canada since becoming the country's first minister of culture last year, said she is mulling visiting other places, including Germany, Austria and Japan.
During the U.K. leg of her trip, Lung visited the V&A museum, the UKTI and the British Council, as well as the Department for Culture, Media and Sport.