Rethinking the City Museum: Collections, Public Engagement, and Sustainability

The 2026 Taichung Art Museum International Forum, “Rethinking the City Museum: Collections, Public Engagement, and Sustainability”, takes the principle of openness as its central theme, examining how city museums can expand their roles in relation to collections, publics, and the wider urban environment.

The Forum features two distinguished international speakers. Andrew Perchuk, Interim Director of the Getty Research Institute, will share insights from Pacific Standard Time, a collaborative initiative involving institutions across Los Angeles, and explore how it has contributed to the construction of local and global art histories. Gus Casely-Hayford, Director of V&A East, will examine how the V&A East Museum and V&A East Storehouse are rethinking the relationship between collections and visitors through more equitable, open, and participatory approaches.

The Forum is structured around three themes: “Layered Dialogues: Multiple Perspectives on Local Art Histories,” “Opening Storage: Reciprocal Engagement between Collections and the Public,” and “Pathways: Sustainable Actions at Art Museums.” Together, these themes address the formation of local art histories, the professional and public dimensions of visible collection storage, and the evolving role of museums in responding to technological transformation and environmental challenges.

Bringing together scholars and museum professionals from Taiwan and abroad, the Forum provides a platform for the exchange of perspectives and practices. It considers how city museums can build on their collections to foster meaningful connections between collections and the public, while responding to the broader conditions of technological and environmental change. Through these discussions, the Forum explores the potential of the city museum as both a site of knowledge production and a vital cultural institution within the urban landscape.

Forum Agenda

 

2025/10/24 (Sat.) 13:00-17:30

13:00 – 13:30 Registration

13:30 – 13:50 Opening Remarks

13:50 – 14:55 Keynote Speech I—Local Art History in the Making: Pacific Standard Time and the Global Future of Museums

14:55 – 15:10 Q&A

15:10 – 15:30 Break Time

15:30 – 17:05 Session I—Layered Dialogues: Multiple Perspectives on Local Art Histories

17:05 – 17:30 Panel Discussion

 

2026/10/25 (Sun.) 10:00-17:00

10:00 – 10:30 Registration

10:30 – 11:35 Keynote Speech II—Making a New Museum

11:35 – 11:50 Q&A

11:50 – 13:30 Lunch Break

13:30 – 14:35 Session II—Opening Storage: Reciprocal Engagement between Collections and the Public

14:35 – 15:00 Panel Discussion

15:00 – 15:30 Break Time

15:30 – 16:35 Session III—Pathways: Sustainable Actions at Art Museums

16:35 – 17:00 Panel Discussion

Keynote Speech I
Local Art History in the Making: Pacific Standard Time and the Global Future of Museums

Taking the Getty Research Institute’s Pacific Standard Time (PST) initiative as a case study, this presentation examines how museums can bring local and regional art histories into broader conversations on global art history through exhibition-making, archival research, oral histories, and inter-institutional collaboration. Focusing on the development of the arts in Los Angeles, it considers how regional narratives can move beyond established centers of art-historical discourse and offer new perspectives on modern and contemporary art. Through sustained research and the incorporation of diverse voices, the presentation further considers the evolving role of museums in an increasingly interconnected global context.

Moderator│
Lai Yu-Chih
Associate Research Fellow, Institute of Modern History, Academia Sinica

Speakers│
Andrew Perchuk
Interim Director, Getty Research Institute

 

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Session I
Layered Dialogues: Multiple Perspectives on Local Art Histories

Past approaches to mainstream art history have often centered on the development of artistic movements or the biographies of individual artists, with particular emphasis placed on a limited number of creators regarded as “central” to the canon. Yet the collections of city museums often include works transferred from local cultural bureaus and cultural centers, featuring artists who have been deeply engaged with their local communities over the long term but have received comparatively little attention in mainstream art-historical narratives. Working within the city as a site of artistic practice, these artists have developed approaches distinct from dominant art-historical frameworks, while their works are closely intertwined with urban life and local contexts.

This session explores how city museums can draw on artworks and archival research to trace the networks of relationships connecting individuals, communities, and places, thereby shaping more diverse narratives of local art history. It further considers how these locally grounded narratives can be brought into broader conversations on global art history, expanding the ways in which artistic practices and histories are understood beyond established centers of the canon.

Moderator│
Hsieh Chia-Chuan
Professor, Interdisciplinary Program of Liberal Arts & Graduate Institute of Art Studies, National Central University

Speakers│
Nora Annesley Taylor
Alsdorf Professor of South and Southeast Asian Art, School of the Art Institute of Chicago

Lin Yi-Lo
Associate Researcher, Taichung Art Museum

Jakub Gawkowski
Chief Curator, Muzeum Sztuki in Łódź

 

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Keynote Speech II
Making a New Museum

Drawing on the experience of the establishment of V&A East, this session explores how museums can rethink their roles and public value in response to rapidly changing social, technological, and economic contexts. From transforming collections storage to creating new museum buildings and public spaces, V&A East seeks to connect collections with diverse communities through more open, equitable, and participatory approaches, while creating new opportunities for artists, creative practitioners, and younger generations of audiences to engage, exchange, and experiment. The session further considers how, as museums move toward a more open future, we might reimagine what a “new museum” can be.

Moderator│
Lai Yi-Hsin
Director, Taichung Art Museum

Speakers│
Gus Casely-Hayford
Director, V&A East

 

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Session II
Opening Storage: Reciprocal Engagement between Collections and the Public

Moderator│
Patricia Huang
Professor, Department of Arts and Design, National Taipei University of Education

Speakers│
Sandra Kisters
Acting Director, Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen

Lisa Bruno & Walter Andersons
Carol Lee Shen Chief Conservator & Senior Manager of Collections,  Brooklyn Museum

 

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Session III
Pathways: Sustainable Actions at Art Museums

In the past, museums were often regarded as users of technological advancements and institutions whose operations were constrained by environmental conditions. In recent years, however, an increasing number of international examples have demonstrated that museums are no longer simply responding to technological development and environmental change. Instead, they are becoming active agents in shaping how technologies are used and in rethinking their environmental responsibilities. The integration of digital technologies has emerged as a major trend in the development of museums worldwide. From the digitization of collections to the application of emerging technologies, technological change is not only transforming artistic practices and modes of display, but also reshaping curatorial approaches and forms of audience engagement.

This session explores how museums can develop concrete frameworks for evaluating values and taking action at the intersection of technological development and environmental constraints. It further considers how museums can connect technology, the environment, and public culture in contemporary society, taking an active role in shaping and mediating these relationships, and exploring diverse pathways toward sustainable museum practices.

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Moderator│
Wang Jun-Jieh
Professor, Department of New Media Art, Taipei National University of the Arts

Speakers│
Jane Alexander
Chief Digital Information Officer, The Cleveland Museum of Art

Sung Young-Hee
Curator, National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art, Korea

Event Info

Forum Dates｜2026/10/24 (Sat.) 13:00-17:30 ； 2026/10/25 (Sun.) 10:00-17:00
Venue｜Taichung Green Museumbrary B1 Auditorium
Registration Link｜https://www.accupass.com/go/2026forum

Supervisors｜Taichung City Government, Cultural Affairs Bureau of Taichung City Government
Organizer｜Taichung Art Museum