MoNTUE Taipei (Museum of National Taipei University of Education)
The MoNTUE (Museum of National Taipei University of Education) is affiliated with National Taipei University of Education and serves as a museum dedicated to art education, exhibition research, and contemporary cultural exchange. The museum was established through the efforts of Lin Man-li, a professor in the Department of Art and Design, officially founded in 2011 and opened to the public in 2012. The building consists of four levels, including one underground floor and three above-ground floors. In addition to exhibiting modern and contemporary artworks, the museum also houses valuable Renaissance plaster casts donated by the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York.
The establishment of MoNTUE is closely tied to an internationally significant art collection. During the period when Lin Man-li was serving as Director of the National Palace Museum, scholar Lee Yu-ling learned that the Metropolitan Museum of Art planned to donate a collection of medieval and Renaissance plaster casts reproduced in the 1870s to institutions capable of research and preservation. Because the museum required recipient institutions to possess an official art museum, National Taipei University of Education began planning its own museum. Ultimately, the university successfully acquired the collection, becoming the only institution in Asia to receive these plaster cast works. Among them are replicas of classic sculptures such as The Annunciation, which have since become one of the museum’s defining collections.
Architecturally, MoNTUE emphasizes the concepts of “transparency” and “parallel perspectives,” aiming to break away from the traditional image of museums as closed and solemn spaces. The large floor-to-ceiling windows on the first floor visually connect the street, exhibition spaces, and campus scenery, allowing the city and art to naturally interact. Meanwhile, the height of the third floor aligns with the tracks of Taipei Metro’s Wenhu Line, creating an interesting visual relationship that symbolizes how art and everyday life are not isolated from one another, but can exist in equal dialogue.
The overall spatial design is based on the ideas of openness, fluidity, and sharing. More than just an exhibition venue, the museum functions as a cultural platform that encourages audience participation and reflection. Today, through contemporary art exhibitions, educational programs, and interdisciplinary collaborations, MoNTUE continues to serve as one of Taipei’s important new-generation art spaces.
