'Make art', not war

Instead, he has an interactive tour in the restored ancient village of Shuito in which motion-activated speakers tell part of the residents' stories. In order to hear the rest of the stories, visitors are encouraged to ask the locals; an empowering work that allows them to take on the role of artist/author to reclaim their history.

Liu Xiaodong's (劉小東) portrait paintings of soldiers on both sides of the strait restored personal identity to the young men whose individual identities get obliterated by the military culture.

This exhibition has the potential to be a kind of art gentrification wherein famous artists came, installed and left. A heartening part of the exhibition was the inclusion of each of the 18 elementary schools to create their own works of art for a bunker. The results showed that there was a lot of in-depth discussion in the classroom about politics, war and peace, life and death and Taiwanese identity.

An ambitious show with lots of provocative ideas, in other words: dynamite!

Exhibition notes:

For detailed info, maps, hotels, travel, etc. go to http://bmoca.kinmen.gov.tw, or pick up a BMOCA passport at the National Museum of History, 49 Nanhai Road, Taipei (台北市南海路49號) for further information. Telephone (02) 2361 0270.