Purgatory (淨界) is a solo exhibition of oil paintings by Chinese artist Cen Long (岑龍). Cen’s stark representational paintings depict the harsh lives of peasants and minority peoples in China’s desolate regions.
■ Rong Ren Foundation for Arts and Culture (榮仁文化藝術基金會), 4F, 351, Ximen Rd, Sec 2, Tainan City (台南市西門路二段351號4樓). Open Tuesdays to Sundays from 9am to 6pm. Tel: (06) 228-9516
■ Opening reception on Saturday at 3pm. Until Jan. 9
Photo courtesy of Aki Gallery
Elsewhere‧Atmosphere (異境‧意境) is a group exhibit of six contemporary photographers from China.
■ Aki Gallery (也趣藝廊), 141 Minzu W Rd, Taipei City (台北市民族西路141號). Open Tuesdays to Sundays from noon to 6:30pm. Tel: (02) 2599-1171
■ Opening reception on Saturday at 3pm. Until Jan. 2
Photo courtesy of Han Art Space
Brushing aside realism as an artistic trope, Hung Yi-chen (洪藝真) draws on the ideas of theorists such as Roland Barthes to focus the viewer’s attention on the process of creating a painting rather than the painting itself. Transpose (錯‧置) features a number of these “painting is dead” works, with the plasticity of the medium taking center stage.
■ VT Art Salon (非常廟藝文空間), B1, 47 Yitong St, Taipei City (台北市伊通街47號地下一樓). Open Tuesdays through Thursdays from 2pm to 11pm, and Fridays and Saturdays from 2pm to 1am. Tel: (02) 2516-1060
■ Until Jan. 1
Art Supply (氣象萬千) forms part of an urban renewal project in Taipei’s Wanhua (萬華) District. Executed by the Museum of Contemporary Art, Taipei, the outdoor project includes six Taiwanese artists who apply their artistic visions to the area. Works on display range from the murals of Hung Tung-esque (洪通) creatures, installations using found objects such as driftwood and sculptures
of light.
■ 406 Plaza (萬華區406廣場) is located near Exit 1 of the Ximen MRT Station (西門捷運站) at the corner of Zhonghua Road Section 1 (中華路一段) and Changsha Street (長沙街), Taipei City.
■ Until March 28
Everlasting Efforts (努力不懈) presents 100 pieces of pottery and sculpture by Tseng Ming-nan (曾明男). Tseng’s work explores rural sentiments, friendships, family relationships and traditional culture. His creative style begins with ceramics, which he merges with other mediums such as glass, bronze, calligraphy and ink painting.
■ National Museum of History (國立歷史博物館), 49 Nanhai Rd, Taipei City (台北市南海路49號). Open Tuesdays to Sundays from 10am to 6pm. Tel: (02) 2361-0270. Admission: NT$30
■ Until Jan. 23
May 6 to May 12 Those who follow the Chinese-language news may have noticed the usage of the term zhuge (豬哥, literally ‘pig brother,’ a male pig raised for breeding purposes) in reports concerning the ongoing #Metoo scandal in the entertainment industry. The term’s modern connotations can range from womanizer or lecher to sexual predator, but it once referred to an important rural trade. Until the 1970s, it was a common sight to see a breeder herding a single “zhuge” down a rustic path with a bamboo whip, often traveling large distances over rugged terrain to service local families. Not only
Ahead of incoming president William Lai’s (賴清德) inauguration on May 20 there appear to be signs that he is signaling to the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and that the Chinese side is also signaling to the Taiwan side. This raises a lot of questions, including what is the CCP up to, who are they signaling to, what are they signaling, how with the various actors in Taiwan respond and where this could ultimately go. In the last column, published on May 2, we examined the curious case of Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) heavyweight Tseng Wen-tsan (鄭文燦) — currently vice premier
The last time Mrs Hsieh came to Cihu Park in Taoyuan was almost 50 years ago, on a school trip to the grave of Taiwan’s recently deceased dictator. Busloads of children were brought in to pay their respects to Chiang Kai-shek (蔣中正), known as Generalissimo, who had died at 87, after decades ruling Taiwan under brutal martial law. “There were a lot of buses, and there was a long queue,” Hsieh recalled. “It was a school rule. We had to bow, and then we went home.” Chiang’s body is still there, under guard in a mausoleum at the end of a path
Last week the Directorate-General of Budget, Accounting and Statistics (DGBAS) released a set of very strange numbers on Taiwan’s wealth distribution. Duly quoted in the Taipei Times, the report said that “The Gini coefficient for Taiwanese households… was 0.606 at the end of 2021, lower than Australia’s 0.611, the UK’s 0.620, Japan’s 0.678, France’s 0.676 and Germany’s 0.727, the agency said in a report.” The Gini coefficient is a measure of relative inequality, usually of wealth or income, though it can be used to evaluate other forms of inequality. However, for most nations it is a number from .25 to .50