Art Museums as Administrative Corporations
In 2002, the Executive Yuan established the Organization Reform Promotion Committee, Executive Yuan to realize the ideal of governmental reform, and reviewed the departmental affairs and capabilities based on the principles of “deregulation,” “decentralization,” “outsourcing,” and “administrative corporatization.” In 2011, the Legislative Yuan passed the “Non-Departmental Public Bodies Act,” and began accepting applications from local governments in 2016. In the same year, the “Kaohsiung Self-government Ordinances for Establishing Professional Cultural Institutions” was reviewed and passed by the Ministry of Culture, which granted the Kaohsiung Museum of History, the Kaohsiung Film Archive, and the Kaohsiung Museum of Fine Arts (KMFA) the status of administrative corporation. However, the initial implementation of the policy still raised many concerns. After the petition and plead by local arts and cultural groups, the KMFA was listed for the second stage of reform among the three museums. In the online petition, titled “Is Turning Kaohsiung’s Museums into Administrative Corporations a Remedy or a Poison for Sustainable Management?”, launched by the Sin Pin Pier Art Society of Kaohsiung City, it was stated that there were no precedents of turning art museums into administrative corporations in Taiwan at the time. Furthermore, the formation of the board of directors and the hiring of personnel were unclear. So, there should have been more communication and discussion about the matter.
In “Is Administrative Corporation the Best Option for the Sustainable Operation of Art Museums? Starting from Kaohsiung’s Three Museums and One Administrative Corporation,” HOU Shur Tzy stated that “after removing the status of being ‘a governmental agency,’ a museum as an administrative corporation will possess an independent, autonomous legal status. Its affairs and managerial system will follow the law, and its status will be equal to a second-level agency. It will no longer be supervised and controlled by its responsible agency in administration, and will enjoy great autonomy in terms of personnel and financial affairs. If this system can really be realized, it will indeed enhance a museum’s professional performance.” However, HOU also mentioned that the KMFA used to adopt a double-track system of hiring civil servants and education personnel at the same time. After turning into an administrative corporation, the KMFA will be regulated by the “Labor Standards Act.” Judging from the staff turnover of the Museum of Contemporary Art, Taipei, which used to be a privately managed public art museum, and is now operated by the Taipei Culture Foundation, lacking a structural guarantee for staffing also increases the risk of high staff turnover for the art museum. In YAN Xiao Xiao’s article, “Looking Back on the Past Three Years of the Administration Corporation: LEE Yulin Talks about the Transformation and Future of the Kaohsiung Museum of Fine Arts,” the KMFA director LEE Yulin points out that the museum as an administration corporation makes it possible to surpass the personnel limit in terms of staffing, and allows a re-integration of resources. Among these new possibilities, the museum’s spatial configuration has been a major reform put into place after the resources are integrated, especially the connection between the museum galleries and its outdoor space. The first exhibition to be staged in the new galleries – “Still Rivers Run Deep,” has embodied her vision of a new type of art museum in terms of viewing experience and the relationship between the KMFA and the city as a new type of art museum.
The Tainan Art Museum (TAM) is the first art museum turned into an administrative corporation in Taiwan. At the end of 2016, the Tainan City Council passed the “Tainan City Self-Government Ordinance for Tainan Museum of Fine Arts.” The board of directors of the TAM was then formed, and the preparation for opening the museum was set in motion. In January 2019, the TAM was officially inaugurated. Although the TAM is managed by its board of directors, and is not administratively supervised by the city government, it is still government-funded and shoulders public missions. At the initial period of its operation, the TAM was caught in the controversy for renting out its space for commercial and private events unrelated to art and education. In “HU Yi Hsun’s Viewpoint: An Analysis on the Controversy about Turning Art Museums into Administrative Corporations,” the author quoted the viewpoint of the Association of the Visual Arts in Taiwan (AVAT) regarding the controversy involving the TAM, and argued that implementing a double-track system of having a president and a director at the same time could avoid the pitfall of undisclosed unilateral decision making resulted from the president outranking the director. He also pointed out that “the ‘supervision from the private sector’ as an external force has failed to produce systematically restrictive guidelines to be followed,” which was the main cause of the controversy.
Reference
In “Is Administrative Corporation the Best Option for the Sustainable Operation of Art Museums? Starting from Kaohsiung’s Three Museums and One Administrative Corporation,” HOU Shur Tzy stated that “after removing the status of being ‘a governmental agency,’ a museum as an administrative corporation will possess an independent, autonomous legal status. Its affairs and managerial system will follow the law, and its status will be equal to a second-level agency. It will no longer be supervised and controlled by its responsible agency in administration, and will enjoy great autonomy in terms of personnel and financial affairs. If this system can really be realized, it will indeed enhance a museum’s professional performance.” However, HOU also mentioned that the KMFA used to adopt a double-track system of hiring civil servants and education personnel at the same time. After turning into an administrative corporation, the KMFA will be regulated by the “Labor Standards Act.” Judging from the staff turnover of the Museum of Contemporary Art, Taipei, which used to be a privately managed public art museum, and is now operated by the Taipei Culture Foundation, lacking a structural guarantee for staffing also increases the risk of high staff turnover for the art museum. In YAN Xiao Xiao’s article, “Looking Back on the Past Three Years of the Administration Corporation: LEE Yulin Talks about the Transformation and Future of the Kaohsiung Museum of Fine Arts,” the KMFA director LEE Yulin points out that the museum as an administration corporation makes it possible to surpass the personnel limit in terms of staffing, and allows a re-integration of resources. Among these new possibilities, the museum’s spatial configuration has been a major reform put into place after the resources are integrated, especially the connection between the museum galleries and its outdoor space. The first exhibition to be staged in the new galleries – “Still Rivers Run Deep,” has embodied her vision of a new type of art museum in terms of viewing experience and the relationship between the KMFA and the city as a new type of art museum.
The Tainan Art Museum (TAM) is the first art museum turned into an administrative corporation in Taiwan. At the end of 2016, the Tainan City Council passed the “Tainan City Self-Government Ordinance for Tainan Museum of Fine Arts.” The board of directors of the TAM was then formed, and the preparation for opening the museum was set in motion. In January 2019, the TAM was officially inaugurated. Although the TAM is managed by its board of directors, and is not administratively supervised by the city government, it is still government-funded and shoulders public missions. At the initial period of its operation, the TAM was caught in the controversy for renting out its space for commercial and private events unrelated to art and education. In “HU Yi Hsun’s Viewpoint: An Analysis on the Controversy about Turning Art Museums into Administrative Corporations,” the author quoted the viewpoint of the Association of the Visual Arts in Taiwan (AVAT) regarding the controversy involving the TAM, and argued that implementing a double-track system of having a president and a director at the same time could avoid the pitfall of undisclosed unilateral decision making resulted from the president outranking the director. He also pointed out that “the ‘supervision from the private sector’ as an external force has failed to produce systematically restrictive guidelines to be followed,” which was the main cause of the controversy.
Reference
- HUANG, Hsin Jung. Arm’s Length Principle. Artco Books, 2021.
- HOU, Shur Tzy. “Is Administrative Corporation the Best Option for the Sustainable Operation of Art Museums? Starting from Kaohsiung’s Three Museums and One Administrative Corporation.” Artco Monthly, no. 287, August 2016, pp. 96-8.
- YAN, Xiao Xiao. “Looking Back on the Past Three Years of the Administration Corporation: LEE Yulin Talks about the Transformation and Future of the Kaohsiung Museum of Fine Arts.” ARTouch website.
- HU, Yi Hsun. “HU Yi Hsun’s Viewpoint: An Analysis on the Controversy about Turning Art Museums in Administrative Corporations.” The Storm Media.
- Organizations and Tasks. Website of the Kaohsiung Museum of Fine Arts.
美術館法人化（Art Museums as Administrative Corporations）
2002年行政院成立「行政院組織改造推動委員會」，落實政府改造理念，朝「去任務化」、「地方化」、「法人化」及「委外化」進行業務職能檢討。2011年立法院通過《行政法人法》，於2016年開放地方政府申請。同年，《高雄市專業文化機構設置自治條例》經文化部審查後通過，高雄市歷史博物館、高雄市電影館與高雄市立美術館（以下簡稱高美館）取得行政法人化的資格，但由於政策推行之初尚有諸多待商議之處，經在地藝文團體聯署及陳情後，將高美館列為三所館所中的第二階段實施對象。在高雄市新浜碼頭藝術協會所發起的「高市三館法人化是永續經營的良方還是毒藥？」網路連署當中，認為當時臺灣對於美術館改制行政法人尚無前例可循，且董監事會產生方式與人員聘用方法模糊，希望能夠有更充分的溝通與討論。
在侯淑姿的〈行政法人是美術館永續營運的最佳選項？從高雄三館一法人事件談起〉一文中，認為「去『機關化』後的行政法人博物館在法律上因具有獨立自主的法律地位，業務與管理制度皆依據法律執行，地位更提昇為二級機關，不再受行政主管機關的指揮與約制，在人事、財政上享有極大的自主權，此一制度果能落實推動，確實可提升其專業表現。」但也提及過去在公務員與教育人員雙軌制的聘用人員在高美館法人化後將被《勞基法》的規範所取代，並以台北當代藝術館自公辦民營改由台北市文化基金會營運後的人員流動狀態作為例子，認為缺乏編制員額保障也為美術館帶來了人員流動頻繁的風險。在嚴瀟瀟的文章〈行政法人化三年回顧：李玉玲談高雄市立美術館的蛻變與未來〉中，高美館館長李玉玲指出行政法人化得以突破人事聘僱上的員額限制，並且重新整合資源，當中空間改造便是整合資源後得以實踐的重大變革，尤其是展間與戶外園區的連結，為新空間的第一場展覽「靜河流深」呈現了其對於新型態美術館在觀展體驗以及與城市關係的設想。
臺南市立美術館（以下簡稱南美館）是全臺第一座行政法人美術館，經2016年年底臺南市議會通過「臺南市美術館設置自治條例」，成立南美館董事會並籌備開館事宜，在2019年1月正式開館營運。南美館雖由董事會管理，行政上不隸屬於市政府，但仍然接受政府資金的挹注，並且具有公共使命。營運初期即因為出租場地給廠商舉辦商業活動與非藝術、教育目的相關之私人活動而引起爭議，在〈胡懿勳觀點：行政法人美術館爭議事件評析〉一文中，引述了視覺藝術聯盟對於南美館爭議事件的觀點，認為採董事長、館長平行的雙軌制，可以避免董事長優於館長的封閉性決策陷阱，並且指出缺乏「『民間監督』的外在作用並沒有形成一種制度面的約束條文可資遵循」是引起諸多爭議的關鍵。
參考文獻
在侯淑姿的〈行政法人是美術館永續營運的最佳選項？從高雄三館一法人事件談起〉一文中，認為「去『機關化』後的行政法人博物館在法律上因具有獨立自主的法律地位，業務與管理制度皆依據法律執行，地位更提昇為二級機關，不再受行政主管機關的指揮與約制，在人事、財政上享有極大的自主權，此一制度果能落實推動，確實可提升其專業表現。」但也提及過去在公務員與教育人員雙軌制的聘用人員在高美館法人化後將被《勞基法》的規範所取代，並以台北當代藝術館自公辦民營改由台北市文化基金會營運後的人員流動狀態作為例子，認為缺乏編制員額保障也為美術館帶來了人員流動頻繁的風險。在嚴瀟瀟的文章〈行政法人化三年回顧：李玉玲談高雄市立美術館的蛻變與未來〉中，高美館館長李玉玲指出行政法人化得以突破人事聘僱上的員額限制，並且重新整合資源，當中空間改造便是整合資源後得以實踐的重大變革，尤其是展間與戶外園區的連結，為新空間的第一場展覽「靜河流深」呈現了其對於新型態美術館在觀展體驗以及與城市關係的設想。
臺南市立美術館（以下簡稱南美館）是全臺第一座行政法人美術館，經2016年年底臺南市議會通過「臺南市美術館設置自治條例」，成立南美館董事會並籌備開館事宜，在2019年1月正式開館營運。南美館雖由董事會管理，行政上不隸屬於市政府，但仍然接受政府資金的挹注，並且具有公共使命。營運初期即因為出租場地給廠商舉辦商業活動與非藝術、教育目的相關之私人活動而引起爭議，在〈胡懿勳觀點：行政法人美術館爭議事件評析〉一文中，引述了視覺藝術聯盟對於南美館爭議事件的觀點，認為採董事長、館長平行的雙軌制，可以避免董事長優於館長的封閉性決策陷阱，並且指出缺乏「『民間監督』的外在作用並沒有形成一種制度面的約束條文可資遵循」是引起諸多爭議的關鍵。
參考文獻
- 黃心蓉，《臂距之外：行政法人博物館的觀察》，典藏藝術家庭，2021。
- 侯淑姿，〈行政法人是美術館永續營運的最佳選項？從高雄三館一法人事件談起〉，《典藏今藝術》287期，頁96-99，2016.8。
- 嚴瀟瀟，〈行政法人化三年回顧：李玉玲談高雄市立美術館的蛻變與未來〉，ArT ouch網站
- 胡懿勳，〈胡懿勳觀點：行政法人美術館爭議事件評析〉，風傳媒
- 組織職掌，高雄市立美術館網站