The Taipei Biennale, held by the Taipei Fine Arts Museum in order to promote contemporary art, is the most important international event held by the museum. First established in 1998, this international biannual exhibition is being held by the museum for the fifth time. In conjunction with the event, international seminars on related artistic topics have also been arranged by the curators. With numerous well-known artists from around the globe invited to participate in these exchanges, they have become a vital part of the biennale, and a major focus and invaluable platform for curators, artists and art critics alike.

The International Forum, jointly planned by American curator Dan Cameron and Taiwanese curator Wang Jun-Jieh, invited artists Mr. Vivan Sundaram, Mr. Alex Arrechea, E Chen、Nari Ward、Regina Silveira. In addition, invited curators include Ms. Carolyn Christov-Bakargiev, Italian Chief Curator of the Castello di Rivoli Museum, Turin and Artistic Director, Biennale of Sydney 2008.Ms. Sunjung Kim, curator of the 2006 Gwangju Biennale; Mr. Tsong-zung Johnson Chang, an independent curator from Hong Kong; Ms. Yuko Hasegawa, curator of the 2002 Shanghai Biennial; Mr. Dennis Szakacs, Director of The Orange County Museum of Art; and Mr. Fumio Nanjo, Deputy Director of the Mori Art Museum in Japan and curator of both the the Singapore Biennale 2006 and the 1998 Taipei Biennale. In addition, Ms. Barbara VanderLinden, the curator of the Taipei Biennale for many years; Mr. Manray Hsu; and Mr. Jeff Hsu, Chairman of the Art Galleries Association, ROC, have been invited to conduct three seminars titled Artists, Curators, and Commissioning and Collecting Forum to discuss the globalization of biennales. The Taipei Biennale and the International Forum could be considered indicators of the development of contemporary art in Taiwan, as well as being an important venue for Taiwan to dialogue with the international art community.

Diverse development depends on the current trends of the times. As every field within art is quickly evolving, ‘biennales’ and ‘triennials’ have become popular throughout the world, with features unique to their times and locales. This seminar attempts to explore the various aspects of international exhibitions through the discussion of three major topics. The actual experience and various viewpoints of curators, artists, collectors, art managers and art administrators come together to provide comprehensive discussions and develop multi-perspective views on modern art, in order to better encourage further development of biennales and contribute to such forums in the future.