Wenzhou Street cafes bursting with art

Now that the weather is starting to clear up, staying indoors feels too confining. The Wenzhou Street Arts Festival II is located in various venues on or near Wenzhou Street and is a perfect springtime event to get you out of the house without costing a cent.

The festival allows you to explore local contemporary art while taking a stroll through the small lanes across from the National Taiwan University campus between the various cafes and bookstores where works are on display until March 12.

The first Wenzhou Street art festival was held in 2001 and was much smaller. This time, the organizers gathered 25 young artists -- mainly art students -- to exhibit in spaces that are alternatives to museums and galleries.

Unfortunately, the brochure and map (available in the participating locales) are only in Chinese, making the exhibition a bit of a daunting Easter-egg hunt for non-Chinese readers. The following will help guide you through this labyrinth of chic coffeeshops and dense bookstores.

The Rumiya Cafe (魯米爺) has the best conceptual integration of art with its environment. One of the organizers, Huang Meng-chin (黃盟欽), displays a movie-like poster that the audience can write on and add their comments.

One of the best works in the festival is James Lin's (林俊賢) Wenzhou Street. A big old wooden Chinese door allows only one viewer at a time to peer into the peephole to see the image of China's famous Wenzhou Street. This simple and elegant work connects the local street festival to another part of the world, a work that is micro and macro-cosmic.

Cafe B & C (浣花里) shows more technical work. Kuo I-chen (郭奕臣), fresh from his impressive Taipei Biennial 2004 debut that captured planes flying over the museum, has a 4-screen TV set up like a map. Chen Chih-chien (陳志建) also has a TV monitor with juxtaposing images while in the tiny back courtyard, Yang Jing-yao (楊景堯) has created a walk-through Chinese calligraphic scroll installation.

In many of the cafes, the art seems like quiet decorative backdrops to the food being served. Giuliano (朱利安諾) has a sound installation by Lin Lunc (林昆穎).

At Cafe Chat Chat (聊聊咖啡), Chen Kuan-yu (陳冠宇) shows a video of people in slow motion. Chang Aji (張博智) has a small blinking light sculpture on the floor and Sakami Hane Jiro (瀨上羽二郎) has a framed photo with eyes that move.

At Ren Xing Kong Jian (人性空間), Ma Chunfu's (馬君輔) animation wryly shows an elderly person grow younger. Yu Ana (宇中怡) shows floating images and Cliff Wong (翁明崖) has pencil drawings on display.

There are two installations at the Norwegian Wood Cafe (挪威森林): a string art piece by Wang Hsiao-hua (王曉華) and a lightbox by Lin Sen (林格聖).Nonsensical installations can be found at No Where (所在) by Chang Zhi-an (張志安) and Vincent Cai (蔡文棋).

Textile art can be found at the Cuckoo Cafe (杜鵑施彥君) by Shih Yen-chun (施彥君) and at the Leaf Cafe (葉子) by Kuo Zhao-yin (郭昭吟). At the Lines of Flight (秋水堂) bookstore, one can see a coat made of Chinese characters by Feng Ming-shang (馮明上).

More literary-minded work is at Fem Books (女書店) where Zhuang Jonnay (莊馨怡) has a set of beautifully-bound transparent books on display.

Huang Wen-lin (黃文琳) goes by the name 20020202 and has installed small white boxes in several places where one is invited to write down a wish in exchange for another's wish.

A lot of the art on view is still in the incubation period of development. The festival is perfect for a date, letting you stroll hand-in-hand while stopping for coffee.