Art enthusiasts flock to Asia for the region's many major art fairs and new museums, but travellers should not overlook these lesser-known art destinations
Art enthusiasts and travellers both domestic and foreign flock to the major art events in Asia throughout the year, with art fairs such as Art Basel Hong Kong, ART SG and ART Taipei becoming an important part of the cultural calendar. Year round, of course, the region remains rich ground for exhibits and art shows where viewers can engage with some of the most interesting art works from Asia and around the world. But there are also venues that may fall off the radar for most travellers—lesser-known museums that may nevertheless house important collections, albeit for niche interests, or galleries that focus on traditionally overlooked art and artists. These art venues reward visitors with unique experiences and the opportunity to expand one's horizons, which is always the goal of art.
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Chimei Museum, Taiwan
The world’s largest collection of string instruments is housed in Chimei Museum (奇美博物館), found in Tainan, Taiwan. And that is possibly the least surprising thing about the privately owned museum that first opened to the public in 1992.
The museum is the passion project of Wen Long Shi, who is also the billionaire founder of both the Chi Mei Corporation and the Chi Mei Culture Foundation. Shi is himself a self-taught violinist who has become an important collector of rare specimens of the instrument, beginning with a 1707 Stradivarius that he acquired for one million US dollars. The museum currently houses over 1,750 instruments, and—because Shi does not want to see such beautiful instruments languishing behind glass cases—has loaned out instruments to thousands of musicians in Taiwan and around the world.
The rare instruments on view at the museum are beside other exhibition areas for the museum’s broad collection of fine arts, natural history artefacts, and arms and armour. There are over ten thousand collections housed here, where visitors can see everything from fossils and taxidermied animals to medieval armour and modern paintings and sculptures.
The Chimei Museum building itself is done in the Neoclassical style, designed to look like a palace and is adorned with replicas of ancient Greek and Roman statues. The predominantly European collections reflect not only Shi’s own interests, but also his wish to bring art and history to people who may not otherwise have access to works found abroad. “This museum is not built purely for my own enjoyment. It’s a pity if I were the only viewer,” Shi says in a video introduction to the Chimei Museum. “I open the doors and welcome everyone, so that my personal wealth can be shared with the public.”
No. 66, Section 2, Wenhua Rd, Rende District, Tainan City, Taiwan. +886 (0)6 2660808