The Ministry of Culture on Sunday opened the headquarters of an "art bank" project, which aims to give Taiwanese artists more exposure.
At its headquarters in the central Taiwan city of Taichung, the bank will exhibit works of art that the ministry has bought from local artists. It will then help government agencies, companies and institutions rent and display those works.
The ministry launched the first phase of the "art bank" project last year, when it purchased 346 works. Those works include paintings, photographs, sculptures, installation art and mixed media. It then put them up for loan to increase their circulation and help local artists gain more visibility.
At the opening, Culture Minister Lung Ying-tai said the "art bank" hopes to expose Taiwanese children to the work of local artists, instead of just replicas by Picasso or Monet.
The project has an annual budget of NT$70 million (US$2.33 million); it will also introduce Taiwanese artists to foreign audiences, as some of the works will be shown in overseas government offices and corporate headquarters. The works can be leased for between three months and a year for about 0.4 % of the price the ministry paid for the piece.