Taipei City Government

During his address at the opening ceremony of Art Expo Taiwan 2016—the debut of an exhibition dedicated to works all by Taiwan based artists, Mayor Ko Wen-je pledged to invest 1 percent of the city’s public infrastructure budget into public art projects in the future.
Expressing his gratitude to the expo’s sponsors Owl Acts Arts Society and Kuei Jung Exhibition Co., the mayor remarked that art not only serves the purpose of enhancing public aesthetics; what’s more important is its role in driving the momentum of local art that seeks to distinguish itself with Taiwanese traits.
Ko reiterated that the capital must be transformed via cultural approaches and the prerequisite lies in people’s quest for beauty. For example, the design of the planned 20,000 public housing units slated for completion in four years’ time will be implemented beyond practicality.
Recalling a recent trip to Kaohsiung, the mayor reckoned that he was impressed with two MRT stations in the port city which rank among the top in the world in terms of aesthetics. He reckoned that Taipei’s MRT network has a lot of room for improvement when it comes to aesthetic appeal and individual characteristics of each station.
Ko toured the expo in the company of local artists following the press event, taking time to learn about the ideas behind their artworks. He purchased one of the paintings in a charity sale.