The Taoyuan Museum of Fine Arts (TMoFA) has officially unveiled its 2026 exhibition plan. As the construction of the Main Museum reaches a pivotal milestone, the Hengshan Calligraphy Art Center (HCAC) and the Taoyuan Children’s Art Center (TCAC) present a year-long calendar of exhibitions and public programs. With increasingly defined curatorial positions, these initiatives serve as both a prelude and a source of momentum leading up to the Main Museum’s grand opening.

Construction of the Main Museum is proceeding in alignment with the municipal master plan and is scheduled for completion in the second half of 2026. This will be followed by phases of interior refinement and operational preparation, with the opening anticipated in the first quarter of 2028. From 2026 through 2027, TMoFA will orchestrate a series of prelude programs—including exhibitions, symposia, and international exchanges—such as the initiation of collaboration with international institutions including the Centre Pompidou, an international symposium on children’s education, and the launch of the International Forum 2027: Museum Directors in Dialogue. Against this backdrop, TMoFA articulates a development strategy centered on the Main Museum, supported by its museum cluster comprising the HCAC and the TCAC.

Within this framework, the Hengshan Calligraphy Art Center and the Taoyuan Children’s Art Center each advance a distinct curatorial narrative for the year. Anchored respectively by the themes “How Calligraphy Embraces Society” and “How Children Embrace the World,” the two programs form a complementary dialogue between movement and stillness, practice and imagination.

Hengshan Calligraphy Art Center: Opening with Writing as Social Movement, from the 2025 Hengshan Calligraphy Biennial to the Inaugural Seal Engraving Exhibition

In 2026, the Hengshan Calligraphy Art Center departs from the social and lived dimensions of calligraphy to reconsider how writing may continue to operate in contemporary life. Structured around the Hengshan Calligraphy Biennial, the year’s exhibitions focus on the many faces and essential roles of writing as it unfolds in everyday contexts. Through a curatorial approach that juxtaposes professional and non-professional forms of script, the program foregrounds the productive tension and transformation between “Calligraphy as Creation” and “Calligraphy as Life.”

Calligraphy is thus positioned not merely as an object of display, but as a quotidian act and a perceptual practice. Following the Biennial, emerging calligraphy artist WANG Yi-Chun—recipient of the 2nd Hengshan Calligraphy Award—will present her first major solo exhibition, further extending the relationship between writing and spatial experience. Her work invites audiences into an immersive environment woven through script and perception.

Echoing the 2026 Taiwan Design Expo in Taoyuan, HCAC will also present a cross-disciplinary exhibition exploring the intersections of calligraphy and design, highlighting the translation and application of characters across diverse design contexts. At the end of the year, HCAC will inaugurate its first-ever exhibition devoted to seal engraving, strengthening its academic profile through historical research and contemporary practice. Through sustained engagement with calligraphic discourse and interdisciplinary exchange, HCAC continues to articulate its institutional identity in dialogue with its architectural character. Its recent recognition as one of the “Taiwan Tourism 100 Highlights” further affirms TMoFA’s curatorial and operational achievements.

Taoyuan Children’s Art Center: Children’s Art Practices Connected with the World through Symposium and Exhibition

In 2026, the Taoyuan Children’s Art Center will continue to deepen the role and position of children in museums by means of exhibitions, symposia, and international exchanges. A cornerstone of the year is the International Symposium on Children’s Education, which will continue the curatorial context of how to transform children from the audience in design into agents in participation and co-creation. Guest-curated by Professor WU Dai-Rong at the Taipei National University of the Arts, the symposium will bring together eminent museums and education practitioners in the United States and Europe. The international experiences of co-creating with children will be shared, along with in-depth dialogues on the museum as a cultural space that supports the development of children’s perception, expression, and creativity. 

Regarding the exhibitions, “Tiny Traveler, Big Adventure” will be on view around Children’s Day. With “travel” as children’s portal to the world, the exhibition employs sensory missions and narrative-driven scenarios to guide children to chart their respective paths in exploration. In the second half of the year, the TCAC will present “Same but Different” echoing the 2026 Taiwan Design Expo in Taoyuan. With inclusive design at the core, it examines how exhibitions respond to diverse proportions of body and modes of action from the angles of art and design. French artist Cyril Lancelin is specifically invited to present A Thousand Tilting Shapes. Utilizing large-scale inflatable modules, the installation invites children to assemble, stack, and move elements at will and per their respective strength and imagination, enabling children to perceive spatial and structural changes, as the exhibition becomes a spatial experience for one to walk in, manipulate, and imagine.

The Taoyuan Museum of Fine Arts notes that the exhibitions and initiatives in 2026 are not isolated events throughout the year, but a constellation curated as a whole. This prelude phase also serves as a critical period for TMoFA to comb through its position, collaboration with its museum cluster, and its public role. As the Main Museum’s construction nears its completion, TMoFA will continue to respond to cultural dialogues between the city and the world through exhibitions, forums, and inter-institutional collaborations, mapping out a robust and visionary curatorial locus for its official inauguration in 2028. For information on exhibitions and activities, please refer to the TMoFA official website (https://tmofa.tycg.gov.tw/en).

2026 Exhibition and Public Programs Highlights at the Taoyuan Museum of Fine Arts

Hengshan Calligraphy Art Center

Calligraphy in Movement: From Literati’s Desk to People’s Streets
(Dec 20, 2025–Apr 13, 2026)

Curated by LIN Chun-Chen, Associate Professor in the Department of Chinese Language and Literature at National University of Tainan, and advised by GONG Jow-Jiun, Toshiki OHARA, and Masao TANIGAWA, the 2nd Hengshan Calligraphy Biennial debuts in December 2025. Titled “Calligraphy in Movement: From Literati’s Desk to People’s Streets,” the exhibition revisits the many manifestations of calligraphy in everyday life and reconsiders the essence of writing itself. By juxtaposing professional and non-professional works, it probes the dynamic relationship between “Calligraphy as Creation” and “Calligraphy as Life,” examining how writing engages the body, inhabits space, and responds to social conditions.

Wang Yi-Chun: Hide and Seek
(May 8, 2026–Aug 3, 2026)

Following the Biennial, the recipient of the 2nd Hengshan Calligraphy Award, WANG Yi-Chun, presents her first major solo exhibition. Departing from everyday experience, the artist conceives writing as a space of concealment and refuge. Through a diverse range of formats—including small-scale works, large-character calligraphy, and interdisciplinary collaborations—she translates personal perceptions into calligraphic form. Rather than being confined to visual appreciation, the exhibition invites visitors to enter and inhabit calligraphy as an experiential environment, guiding them toward moments of quiet and resonance.

Variation and Conversation in Writing: The Contemporary Contexts of Calligraphy and Design
(Aug 20, 2026–Nov 9, 2026)

Presented in conjunction with the 2026 Taiwan Design Expo in Taoyuan, “Variation and Conversation in Writing: The Contemporary Contexts of Calligraphy and Design” is curated by YU Ming-Long, a designer widely recognized by international and domestic awards. Bringing together calligraphers and designers from Taiwan, China, Japan, South Korea, Hong Kong, and Macau, the exhibition examines the transformation of written characters across artistic and design practices. Through works spanning ink on paper, oil painting, printmaking, enamel, and multimedia, it reveals the evolving visual and conceptual possibilities of writing.

Seals in Time: Seal Engraving Art
(Nov 28, 2026–Feb 22, 2027)

Closing the year, HCAC presents its first exhibition devoted to seal engraving. Curated by mid-career artist GU Yao-Hua and advised by CHEN Hong-Mian, President of the Taiwan Seal Society, “Seals in Time: Seal Engraving Art” explores the historical trajectories and contemporary vitality of seal carving. Featuring works by migrant predecessors from China to Taiwan, early practitioners in Taiwan, and contemporary seal engravers, the exhibition traces stylistic lineages, cultural inheritance, and shifting creative outlooks across generations. Through an accessible and engaging presentation, it offers visitors an informed entry point into the living landscape of seal engraving today.

Taoyuan Children’s Art Center

International Symposium on Children’s Education
(Oct 22–Oct 23, 2026)

Pursuant to the crucial dialogue of “designing exhibitions” initiated in the 2024 edition, the 2026 International Symposium on Children’s Education continues to focus on the role shift of children in museum—from spectators to participants, and from subjects in design to agents in co-creation. Guest-curated by Professor WU Dai-Rong at the Taipei National University of the Arts, the symposium leverages her research lens of long-term engagement in art education and museum practice to deepen the curatorial and educational thinking “with children / co-creating.” The event brings together eminent museums and educational practitioners from the United States, Europe, and beyond to share international experiences in co-creating with children. Through transnational exchange and youth participation, the symposium aims to foster professional dialogue, enabling the art education of museums as a vital cultural space that supports the development of children’s perception, expression, and creativity.

Tiny Traveler, Big Adventure
(Mar 21–Jun 14, 2026)

On display around Children’s Day, “Tiny Traveler, Big Adventure” employs “travel” as children’s portal to the world. The exhibition is structured as a “World Tour Headquarters” exclusively for children. Through a series of sensory missions, observation games, and narrative-driven scenarios, children are guided to chart their own unique through exploration and games for all “tiny travelers” to embark on an adventure of their own, fueled by curiosity, courage, and imagination!

Same but Different
(Jul 4–Nov 30, 2026)

Echoing the 2026 Taiwan Design Expo in Taoyuan, “Same but Different” takes manipulable space as the point of departure. A Thousand Tilting Shapes by French artist Cyril Lancelin consists of large inflatable modules. Visitors are welcome to push, stack, and rearrange the elements per their respective physical abilities, producing structures amidst changes. Children are invited to understand space and each other through physical movement in collective manipulation and games, engaging in an exhibition experience shaped by participation.

For more information, please visit TMoFA official website: https://tmofa.tycg.gov.tw/en