Dr. Yulin Lee appointed Director

The Kaohsiung Museum of Fine Arts (KMFA) is delighted to announce the appointment of Dr. Yulin Lee as its new director. Regarded as one of the most forward-thinking figures in Taiwan’s art scene today, Lee is a curator, critic, art historian, and artistic director whose work in public institutions, universities, and the private sector over the past two decades has helped to bring contemporary Taiwanese art to the global stage. She assumed her new role on July 28, 2016.

Lee joins the KMFA from the Taishin Bank Foundation for Arts and Culture, where she was the Artistic Director from 2009. She was the curator at the Taipei Fine Arts Museum (TFAM) since 1993, and later became Head of Exhibitions. During her tenure, she built the bridge between Taiwan and the international art scene, putting contemporary art from Taiwan on the world map since the '90s, which include promulgating Taiwan’s participation at the Venice Biennale since 1995 and founded the International Program at TFAM. As a curator, she was involved in Taiwan’s participation at the Venice Biennale in 1997 and 1999, the 3rd Asia Pacific Triennial of Contemporary Art in Queensland, Australia in 1999, as well as the 2nd International Triennale of Kogei in the 21st Century Museum of Contemporary Art Kanazawa, Japan in 2013. She has also curated Japan’s participation at the 2nd Fukuoka Asian Art Triennale in Fukuoka, Japan in 2002.

She holds a Master of Arts and PhD from the Institute of Fine Arts, New York University. Her creative and internationalist approach is rooted in her education, which includes an MA in Comparative Culture from Sophia University in Tokyo and a BA in Foreign Languages and Literatures from National Taiwan University.

As the KMFA’s new director, Lee plans to inaugurate an initiative that will give the Museum a new role in Kaohsiung’s urban development. Her holistic perspective on art and culture, which links research, exhibitions, and public outreach to the surrounding community and landscape, aims to reinvent the museum experience for the 21st century. Following her belief that culture and creativity are the driving forces behind the growth and sustenance of urban economies, Lee will further the Museum’s mission of serving as an innovative regional center for art and research—a local hub with an international outlook—as it celebrates its 22nd anniversary this year.

About the Kaohsiung Museum of Fine Arts
Founded in 1994, the Kaohsiung Museum of Fine Arts is a leading art institution and cultural center in Taiwan’s second most populous city. The museum features a sculpture park and an ecology park over 4000 acres, presenting contemporary art to the general public while taking advantage of the city’s scenic location along the southwestern coast.