Taiwan is not a utopia, or a dystopia. It's not a place. Diplomatically it has no space. Politically it does not exist. We can't even agree on its name.
Even so, its presence will be felt at the 52nd Venice Biennale in Italy next month, when six artists from the "nation without nationality" will be exhibiting their works.
The theme of the entry is Atopia and refers not only to the political position that Taiwan finds itself in, but also a 21st-century condition that applies to us all.
PHOTO: COURTESY OF ARTISTS
"Atopia refers to the situation of post-colonialism we are in. There has not been much time to become a country. Many other places are like this, nations without nationality," curator Hongjohn Lin (林宏璋) said yesterday at a press conference introducing Taiwan's Venice Biennale entry.
"Atopia" features work from the auteur Tsai Ming-liang (蔡明亮), photographer Lee Kuo-min (李國民), video director Tang Huang-chen (湯皇珍), bricoleur Huang Shih-chieh (黃世傑) and comic-book artist VIVA.
The range of artists chosen makes it a colorful as well as a challenging show that peers into the abyss to explore the concept of Taiwanese-ness.
PHOTO: COURTESY OF ARTISTS
Lin has borrowed the term atopia from the German sociologist Helmut Willke, who defines it as a non-place, or society without borders.
Globalization, multinational companies and the Internet are creating a world in which international markets, non-governmental organizations and multi-culturalism erase the relevance of nationhood.
Lin has adapted the term for his own purpose and localized it. The artist, academic and drummer said that Taiwan was an "atopian state par excellence."
PHOTO: COURTESY OF ARTISTS
It is not recognized as a state by most countries because of pressure from China, which claims it as its own. Even so, it has its own government and is a powerful economy.
Taiwan's identity is so amorphous it's name keeps changing, Lin said. When it competes in the Olympics it is called Chinese-Taipei. Officially it is the Republic of China, but this technically refers to the state formed in 1912 by Sun Yat-sen (孫逸仙), the "father of modern China."
Putting politics, sociology and names aside, Atopia captures the flavor of Taiwanese contemporary art in all its diversity.
Tsai Ming-liang's film installation Is It a Dream? is said to be "like a sculpture in time" and is set in a fading cinema in Malaysia, which refers to the golden age of flim and its current malaise. There is also a theme of displacement, which ties in with atopia.
Lee Kuo-min is a photographer who has documented disappearing lives, such as Treasure Hill and the Losheng Leprosarium, by taking pictures of people's living accommodation. They are intensely personal but also represent a contemporary reality.
Tang Huang-chen has explored the theme of personal memory in her video; while Huang Shih-chieh's bright technological inventions propose a vision of the future that is both humorous and slightly unsettling.
The comic artist VIVA explores the idea of copying other countries' culture and making it one's own. A series of cartoons (with translations by former Taipei Times reporter David Frazier) are memorable for their glocalized messages.
The Venice Biennale was first held in 1895 and is one of the world's major contemporary art exhibitions.
"Atopia" opens in the Taiwan Pavilion, at the Palazzo delle Prigioni in San Marco, Venice, Italy, from June 10 to Nov. 21. See www.labiennale.org.
For many people, Bilingual Nation 2030 begins and ends in the classroom. Since the policy was launched in 2018, the debate has centered on students, teachers and the pressure placed on schools. Yet the policy was never solely about English education. The government’s official plan also calls for bilingualization in Taiwan’s government services, laws and regulations, and living environment. The goal is to make Taiwan more inclusive and accessible to international enterprises and talent and better prepared for global economic and trade conditions. After eight years, that grand vision is due for a pulse check. RULES THAT CAN BE READ For Harper Chen (陳虹宇), an adviser
Traditionally, indigenous people in Taiwan’s mountains practice swidden cultivation, or “slash and burn” agriculture, a practice common in human history. According to a 2016 research article in the International Journal of Environmental Sustainability, among the Atayal people, this began with a search for suitable forested slopeland. The trees are burnt for fertilizer and the land cleared of stones. The stones and wood are then piled up to make fences, while both dead and standing trees are retained on the plot. The fences are used to grow climbing crops like squash and beans. The plot itself supports farming for three years.
May 4 to May 10 It was once said that if you hadn’t performed at the Sapphire Grand Cabaret (藍寶石大歌廳), you couldn’t truly be considered a star. Taking the stage at the legendary Kaohsiung club was more than just a concert. Performers were expected to entertain in every sense, wearing outlandish or revealing costumes and staying quick on their feet as sharp-tongued, over-the-top hosts asked questions and delivered jokes that would be seen as vulgar, even offensive, by today’s standards. Opening in May 1967 during a period of strict political and social control, Sapphire offered a rare outlet for audiences in
The breakwater stretches out to sea from the sprawling Kaohsiung port in southern Taiwan. Normally, it’s crowded with massive tankers ferrying liquefied natural gas from Qatar to be stored in the bulbous white tanks that dot the shoreline. These are not normal times, though, and not a single shipment from Qatar has docked at the Yongan terminal since early March after the Strait of Hormuz was shuttered. The suspension has provided a realistic preview of a potential Chinese blockade, a move that would throttle an economy anchored by the world’s most advanced and power-hungry semiconductor industry. It is a stark reminder of
RSS