Image Museum of Hsinchu City

The museum building was initially built in 1933 as the Hsinchu Municipal Theater or Yule Theater.[2][1] It was the first luxury theater at that time with air conditioner in Taiwan with a capacity of 500 audiences.[3] In 1944, the second floor of the building was heavily damaged by aerial bombing during the Second Sino-Japanese War by the Allied Forces.[4]

In 1945 after the handover of Taiwan to China, the theater was rebuilt and opened as the Kuomin Theater in 1946. It subsequently attracted huge crowds as a movie house. It was used as a venue for concert halls and even army recruitment drive. Due to its declining profits contributed from the increasing usage of rental videos, the theater had remained idle for several years since 1991.

The theater was reopened in 1996 to service the Hsinchu City venue for cultural events organized as part of the national arts festival. The reopening sparked renewed interest among local movie-related people. Subsequently, the Chinese Taipei Film Archive was commissioned to draft plan for the establishment of the Image Museum at the theater. In 1998, the Council for Cultural Affairs provided funding for the yearlong restoration project. On 21 May 2000 the Image Museum was finally opened and the building was renamed the same as the museum.[2]

The purpose of the museum is to preserve the cultural experience of the Kuomin Theater and to serve as a shared image space for the city residents. The museum was also built to promote and show the alternative and older movies, as well as to archive, display, do research on cinema-related items and promote cinema education.

The building was built with a combination of classical Roman style and Arabian architecture style.[3]

The museum often holds movie exhibitions to promote humanistic and artistic films and also films reminiscent of the past that were made independently by Taiwanese producers. It has been used to collect the movie cultural products, exhibitions, researchers and education.

The museum has held many activities such as the Animated Cartoon Camp, Movie Study Meeting and Cultivation of Documentary Capability Camp.

The museum is accessible within walking distance northwest from Hsinchu Station of the Taiwan Railways.

• List of museums in Taiwan