The National Taiwan Museum of Fine Arts' “Children's Picture Book Area” has operated for nearly 20 years as the first picture book museum established by the public sector in Taiwan, and over the years it has planned various themed spaces that have been loved by friends of all sizes.
The National Taiwan Museum of Fine Arts （NTMOFA） Children's Art Zone originated from the Paper Windmill Gallery, which opened at the end of 2005, and has gone through a number of planning and reconstruction phases, resulting in the emergence of the Children's Art Zone. NTMOFA hopes to use the graphic language of picture books to guide children to understand and enjoy art, to cultivate the ability to appreciate art, and to emphasize parent-child interactions and shared reading, and with this in mind, it has constructed a special area that specializes in art-themed picture books.
To provide a more comfortable and convenient space for parents and children, Gomez has divided the original educational exhibition space of the Taiwan Children's Art Center into two, and half of the area has been planned as a children's picture book area, forming two separate spaces for reading and educational promotion. The children's picture book area has opened the external windows, linking the indoor and outdoor areas into a bright and airy space, so that young readers can also go outdoors to play and relax in addition to reading.
Enriching the collection to provide children with diversified aesthetic experiences
The children's picture book section, which will be reopened in January 2024, uses mysterious purple and lively yellow to present a creative picture book world, with colorful imagery to inspire children's visual senses, and uses “books, impossible shapes, and boxes” as the logo design concept. Yue Jhen Lai, head of Library Information Section of the NTMOFA, explained that picture books are the core of children's aesthetic education, and that the stories in them appear differently in the minds of each child, so adults do not need to be in a hurry to rationalize children's imaginations. “We hope that children will find their own treasures in the 'box' full of surprises and imagination.”
The Children's Picture Book Area has a wide range of books, including Chinese and foreign languages, cultural affirmative action, multiculturalism, young children's area, big books, and good books, etc. Most of the collection is in the field of art and fine arts. In addition to artist-themed picture books, which are mainly domestic and foreign award-winning picture books, the area also cooperates with artists to promote or publish comics for the categories that are popular with children and teenagers. In addition, the Children's Picture Book Area also invites volunteers or picture book creators to tell or interpret the theme stories of the picture books in a fun way, and organizes workshops, crafts, and other activities in the hope of bringing children a different aesthetic experience,” Yue Jhen Lai said.
Incorporating art elements into picture books
NTMOFA as a cultural venue that promotes art education, organizes exhibitions of its collections or artwork from time to time. Therefore, the children's picture book area is planned to match the museum's current exhibitions in terms of publications and activity design. Yue Jhen Lai shared that the series of picture books “My Pocket Museum of Art” planned and published by the education and promotion section of the NTMOFA fully demonstrates the concept of the NTMOFA in applying and utilizing the energy of its collection of art across multiple domains, so as to bring more people into contact with Taiwan's art treasures, and to highlight the value and spirit of Taiwan's art while fostering the public's art literacy.
In 2023, “My Pocket Museum‧Points” will be launched. Through visits to the museum, guided tours of the original paintings, guided readings of the paintings, and workshops, participants will be able to reacquaint themselves with the museum, understand the relationship between the artist and the viewer, and learn about the appreciation of artworks and the etiquette of attending exhibitions, etc. Newly launched in 2024, “My Pocket Museum‧Lines” will be based on the creation of “Danshui,” by the Taiwanese painter Cheng Po Chen. In the end, the work returns to its own land. Poetry is used as the text, woodblock prints as the medium of image creation, and many wooden strips are assembled on wooden boards to emphasize the connection and extension of “lines”, to tell the world constructed by “lines”, and to strengthen the vision of “lines” on the canvas.
Through “My Pocket Art Museum”, Yue Jhen Lai hopes to let children feel the key role of “line” in contouring from the process of reading and establish a link between art and reading. She also organizes parent-child workshops to create collages and prints through the concept of dots, lines, and surfaces, and incorporates artistic elements, leading children to memorize art-related vocabulary and enhance their observation and sensitivity in the process of DIY handicrafts. The program aims to cultivate children's ability to “appreciate art and create with their hands”, and further stimulate their interest in art.
Creating a new state of picture book reading
The Children's Picture Book Area of the NTMOFA also cooperates with corporations and colleges and universities, for example, it cooperates with the Department of Fine Arts and the Department of Language and Literacy Education of National Taichung University of Education, inviting students from the department to tell stories and organize art design-related activities at the NTMOFA, as well as with the Yushan Foundation, which is committed to education in remote areas, and brings children from remote areas to visit and experience the Museum of Fine Arts.
Yue Jhen Lai believes that the themes of picture books are very diversified and can be interpreted in different forms, including patterns, language, sign language, or combined with games, so that picture books are not only for static reading. For example, “Where's the Bear?” is in the form of a “flip book” that allows children to learn sign language through games; “Come and Watch the Taiwanese Opera” combines works from the museum's collection to bring readers a taste of the rich festive colors of traditional Taiwanese operas; and “Taiwanese Deer Service: Luminous ê Jewel” combines picture books with board games to strengthen language learning memory points, so that children can learn Taiwanese happily while having fun.
From November to December, 2024, the Children's Picture Book Area will coordinate with the NTMOFA's “History of Art for Future Generations” exhibition, festivals, and the promotion of affirmative action, and plan a series of activities such as guided tours of picture book stories, DIY crafts, and so on, so that those who like picture books and art can check the official website of the NTMOFA at any time. Yue Jhen Lai hopes that through the diversified activities, the public will be led to know more about the museum, so that art can be brought into their lives and they can experience the beauty of life by combining reading with art. “Reading picture books is not only a way to cultivate ability and personality formation, but also a channel to open up the senses and vision; through picture books to cultivate a sense of beauty, to explore the self and to grow, we hope that the Children's Picture Book Area will bring readers another kind of learning experience and cultivation, to learn from life, and to know oneself from different perspectives.”
