Wang Jun-jieh (王俊傑) uses video, photography and mixed-media to reinterpret Marcel Duchamp’s Etant Donnes in Project Rrose: Love and Death (若絲計畫:愛與死). The “Rrose” of the exhibit’s title refers to a pseudonym used by Duchamp and appears in a series of photos of him dressed as a woman, shot by Man Ray. Wang’s focus revolves around “eros and civilization,” the idea put forth by Herbert Marcuse that humanity’s struggles can be found in the conscious suppression of our instincts.
■ Galerie Grand Siecle (新苑藝術), 17, Alley 51, Ln 12, Bade Rd Sec 3, Taipei City (台北市八德路三段12巷51弄17號), tel: (02) 2578-5630. Open Tuesdays to Sundays from 1pm to 6pm
■ Until June 19
Part calligraphy exhibition and part hagiography of one of Taiwan’s most visible religious leaders, Travel Like the Clouds and Water — Exhibition of the Venerable Master Hsing Yun’s One-Stroke Calligraphy (雲水天下:星雲大師一筆字書法展) offers a fascinating look at the merging of art and religion. Travel Like the Clouds and Water presents hundreds of “calligraphic works, including Buddhist epigrams, concise teachings and wise thoughts,” according to the museum’s introduction, by Buddhist Master Hsing Yun (星雲法師), founder of Fo Guang Shan Monastery (佛光山). The museum hopes that “these writings will bring viewers closer to the mind of a spiritual master and inspire them to attain spiritual wisdom and bliss.” Odd words for a museum exhibit, perhaps, but the show does demonstrate the continued importance of religion, and charismatic leaders like Hsing Yun, in Taiwan.
■ National Museum of History (國立歷史博物館), 49 Nanhai Rd, Taipei City (台北市南海路49號), tel: (02) 2361-0270. Open Tuesdays to Sundays from 10am to 6pm. Admission: NT$30
■ Until June 6
The Uncertain Gravity of Being (非關輕/重) brings together six well-known artists — Michael Lin (林明弘), Hong Shao-pei (洪紹裴), Huang Bow-wei (黃柏維), Yeh Hung-hsing (葉紅杏), Tsai Yu-shan (蔡玉珊) and Liu Shih-tung (劉時棟) — whose works touch on the tropes of gravity and lightness.
■ Gallery 100 (百藝畫廊), 6, Ln 30, Changan E Rd Sec 1, Taipei City (台北市長安東路一段30巷6號), tel: (02) 2536-2120. Open Tuesdays to Sundays from 11am to 7pm
■ Until Sunday
This is the final week to see Celebration by Marc Chagall (生日快樂 — 夏卡爾的愛與美) in Taipei before the exhibition travels to the National Taiwan Museum of Fine Arts (國立台灣美術館) in Taichung, where it opens on June 4. The show presents more than 100 works by the Russia-born French artist, a pioneer of European modernism who synthesized the modernist art movements of cubism, symbolism and fauvism. But as this exhibition reveals, Chagall remained an exponent of the glories of his native village, its colorful flowers and ancient hovels. The works on display are gathered from museums and private collections in Japan, and include pieces from collections in France and Switzerland. Chagall’s 1915 masterpiece L’Anniversaire forms the centerpiece of the exhibition, which showcases Chagall’s art and his passion for color.
■ National Palace Museum (國立故宮博物院), 221, Zhishan Rd Sec 2, Taipei City (台北市至善路二段221號), tel: (02) 8692-5588 X2312 (10:30am to 6:30pm). Open daily from 9am to 5pm. Admission: NT$250
■ Until Sunday
Call for submissions:
This is the final week to submit an application for Taipei Artist Village’s artist-in-residency program for Taipei Artist Village or Treasure Hill Artist Village. Taipei Artist Village is also accepting applications for exhibit proposals for next year. Details and submission guidelines can be downloaded from the Taipei Artist Village Web site at www.artistvillage.org (Chinese and English). Applications sent by e-mail are not being accepted.
■ Submission deadline is May 31
■ For inquiries about the artist-in-residence program and exhibition, send an e-mail to air@artistvillage.org or call (02) 3393-7377
In the mainstream view, the Philippines should be worried that a conflict over Taiwan between the superpowers will drag in Manila. President Ferdinand Marcos Jr observed in an interview in The Wall Street Journal last year, “I learned an African saying: When elephants fight, the only one that loses is the grass. We are the grass in this situation. We don’t want to get trampled.” Such sentiments are widespread. Few seem to have imagined the opposite: that a gray zone incursion of People’s Republic of China (PRC) ships into the Philippines’ waters could trigger a conflict that drags in Taiwan. Fewer
March 18 to March 24 Yasushi Noro knew that it was not the right time to scale Hehuan Mountain (合歡). It was March 1913 and the weather was still bitingly cold at high altitudes. But he knew he couldn’t afford to wait, either. Launched in 1910, the Japanese colonial government’s “five year plan to govern the savages” was going well. After numerous bloody battles, they had subdued almost all of the indigenous peoples in northeastern Taiwan, save for the Truku who held strong to their territory around the Liwu River (立霧溪) and Mugua River (木瓜溪) basins in today’s Hualien County (花蓮). The Japanese
Pei-Ru Ko (柯沛如) says her Taipei upbringing was a little different from her peers. “We lived near the National Palace Museum [north of Taipei] and our neighbors had rice paddies. They were growing food right next to us. There was a mountain and a river so people would say, ‘you live in the mountains,’ and my friends wouldn’t want to come and visit.” While her school friends remained a bus ride away, Ko’s semi-rural upbringing schooled her in other things, including where food comes from. “Most people living in Taipei wouldn’t have a neighbor that was growing food,” she says. “So
Whether you’re interested in the history of ceramics, the production process itself, creating your own pottery, shopping for ceramic vessels, or simply admiring beautiful handmade items, the Zhunan Snake Kiln (竹南蛇窯) in Jhunan Township (竹南), Miaoli County, is definitely worth a visit. For centuries, kiln products were an integral part of daily life in Taiwan: bricks for walls, tiles for roofs, pottery for the kitchen, jugs for fermenting alcoholic drinks, as well as decorative elements on temples, all came from kilns, and Miaoli was a major hub for the production of these items. The Zhunan Snake Kiln has a large area dedicated