Kaohsiung 2014: Museum of Fine Arts

One of the 'must' visit places for me in Kaohsiung is the Kaohsiung Museum of Fine Arts (KMFA). I've allocated at least half a day for it.. and in the end I spent slightly more than 4 hours there.. :)

Had wanted to walk from the train station, but when I get off the station a bus was waiting at the bus station, so I've decided to take the bus instead. And I was glad that I took it as it was a fairly long walk (almost 3km) even though it seemed shorter on Google Map.

The compound around the museum was also very large, with the hot and sunny weather, I didn't spend much time outside as I was eager for the indoor air-condition.

There was a special exhibition on Man Ray that I had to purchase ticket for. It was money well-spent. My timing was excellent as I was just in time for a guided tour. The lady guide was very good and explained a lot of Man Ray's pieces on display. It was both fascinating and intriguing. Though I can't quite differentiate Dadaism and Surrealism, I like the humor in his works and how he saw the world. Those interested to know can visit Man Ray Trust Website.

The tour lasted for almost an hour. I was the only one who followed the lady guide from the beginning till the end. Maybe I was the only one with time to spare for stories about a dead artist.

Anyway, I really enjoyed my time in KMFA. There are many other exhibitions going on at the same time. With very few people in the museum, I felt as if I had the entire place to myself. I can stroll and appreciate the exhibits without kids running around or annoyingly loud people talking/chatting away..

All the other exhibitions are all by Taiwanese artists. And I enjoyed every single one of them, although I might not 'get' some of the things they were trying to convey, but aesthetically most of them were pleasing to the eyes. Having said that, I found a common issue with almost all museum exhibitions that I've been to: the lack of sufficient elaborations/descriptions of the pieces, either in Chinese or in English. It is not that difficult to have simple English descriptions, especially if they are trying to showcase/introduce these artists to the world. Like music, art is a universal language, yet it will help greatly if simple information (in English) is provided to help foreigners appreciate these local exhibits more.

Before I end this entry on KMFA, a few more photos of some interesting features/exhibits both indoors and outdoors.

ps: the dog is not part of the piece.

Like I said, the place is practically empty.. which is how I like my museums to be.. :)