Taichung City Government

Taichung’s new cultural landmark, the Taichung Green Museumbrary, officially opened today (the 13th). Taichung Mayor Shiow-Yen Lu led the Taichung City Government team, joined by Deputy Minister Ching-hwi Lee of the Ministry of Culture, architects Kazuyo Sejima and Ryue Nishizawa of SANAA, and distinguished guests from the arts, culture, architecture, and other fields at home and abroad, to usher in a new chapter for Taichung’s cultural development. With the theme “Two Institutions Opening Together, Blossoming in All Directions,” the ceremony symbolized the joint unveiling of the municipal art museum and the municipal library, and the outward radiating energy of the two institutions, guiding Taichung onto the international stage with a spirit of openness and integration. Mayor Lu noted that the Taichung Green Museumbrary is like a new calling card for the city and will lead Taichung’s cultural city toward its next milestone.
Mayor Shiow-Yen Lu said that, although Taichung has long enjoyed a reputation as a cultural city, in the past, among Taiwan’s six special municipalities, only two cities did not have a municipal art museum, and Taichung was one of them. She added that while Taichung has libraries of various sizes across its 29 districts, it had not had a municipal main library, which had long been a regret for residents and a shortcoming in the city’s development. She therefore expressed special thanks to the city councilors for their foresight in recognizing residents’ needs and for providing strong support and budget assistance to the city government.
Mayor Shiow-Yen Lu noted that today’s opening of the Taichung Green Museumbrary is not only the completion of a major construction project. Taichung will use this new “calling card” of the city to move toward the next milestone in its development as a cultural city. It will nurture more artistic talent and provide Taiwanese artists with broader and more abundant space to create. It will expand international arts exchanges so that Taiwan can take to the world stage. It will also promote a culture of reading, enabling residents to immerse themselves in books, enrich their knowledge, and strengthen the city’s international competitiveness.
The Cultural Affairs Bureau explained that the Taichung Green Museumbrary was created by SANAA, led by architects Kazuyo Sejima and Ryue Nishizawa. By breaking down the traditional boundaries between an art museum and a library, it has become a cultural hub where knowledge and aesthetics converge. The Taichung Museum of Art is committed to serving as an inclusive, cross-disciplinary platform for art, connecting urban life with public issues, supporting local creation, and promoting diverse curatorial practices and art experiences with cross-disciplinary and international scope, while advancing cultural equity through a friendly and open environment. The Green Museumbrary also pioneers an age-based, building-by-building design, with civic participation, collection utilization, and international collaboration at its core, introducing a range of smart services to enhance efficiency and service quality and creating a new reading experience shared by audiences of all ages.
The Cultural Affairs Bureau added that the Taichung Art Museum’s inaugural exhibition, A Call of All Beings: See you tomorrow, same time, same place, was co-curated by three curators from Taiwan and abroad together with the Taichung Art Museum. Starting from the landscape context of Shuinan Airport’s transformation into Taichung Central Park, the exhibition portrays the multiple relationships between the city and nature through five subthemes, exploring how humans can re-understand nature and coexist with all beings. It presents works by more than 70 artists and collectives from over 20 countries, in diverse formats including video, painting, sculpture, documents, and artists’ books. Meanwhile, the opening exhibition at the main library of Taichung Public Library, Index of the World, echoes the library’s role as an urban encyclopedia, bringing together rare editions of eighteenth-century encyclopedias from the Chengding Hall Collection and valuable artifacts from the Chimei Museum, the National Taiwan University College of Medicine, and the National Science and Technology Museum. Paired with the encyclopedias’ finely crafted plates, it offers a glimpse into the efforts of those who sought to understand all things.
The Cultural Affairs Bureau noted that the Taichung Green Museumbrary will open to the public at 1:00 p.m. today, with a continuous lineup of opening-week programs. To thank the enthusiastic visitors attending on opening day, U-Theatre will add an afternoon performance, inviting audiences to experience the beauty of the architectural space through the art of movement. In addition, the Taichung Art Museum is presenting a range of programs in conjunction with its opening exhibition, including guided tours, talks, and public events, while Taichung Public Library will also host a relay of talks by international speakers. The in-house multi-purpose arts and culture space Pon Ding and Pharos Coffee will open on the same day, offering a curated selection of art books, cultural and creative items, and hand-brewed coffee. For detailed program and opening information, please visit the Taichung Art Museum website at www.tcam.museum and the Taichung Public Library website at www.library.taichung.gov.tw
Today, the Taichung Green Museumbrary officially opened, with Mayor Shiow-yen Lu, Deputy Mayor Guo-rong Huang, architects Kazuyo Sejima and Ryue Nishizawa of SANAA, and architect Pei-sen Liu; Johnny C. Chiang, Deputy Speaker of the Legislative Yuan; Legislators Chiung-ying Yang, Wei-hsiang Liao, and Chien-hao Huang; Ching-hui Lee, Deputy Minister of Culture; Taichung City Councilors Shih-chou Liu, Chi-feng Lin, Cheng-tien Chen, Chia-an Chang, Chao-kuo Chiang, and Hsin-hui Huang; representatives from foreign missions in Taiwan; the Taichung City Government team, including Director Chia-jun Chen of the Cultural Affairs Bureau, Director Da-tian Chen of the Construction Bureau, and other department heads; Director Hui-chun Tseng of the Taichung Public Library; Director Yi-hsin Lai of the Taichung Museum of Art; international library directors, international museum directors, artists from Taiwan and abroad, cultural affairs bureaus and education bureaus from cities and counties nationwide, representatives from the library community and reading partners, the Green Museumbrary project team, district chiefs across Taichung, borough chiefs, and school representatives; Legislators Kuan-heng Yen and Jen Huang; the service offices of Taichung City Councilors Shou-da Huang, Cheng-hsien Chen, Chiung-hua Wu, Pei-han Lin, and Shu-hua Chen; the Taichung City Culture and Education Foundation; and guests from all sectors, all joining the celebration.