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 late October of 1873 the government of Japan decided against sending a military expedition to Korea to force that nation to open trade relations. Across the government supporters of the expedition resigned immediately. The spectacle of revolt by disaffected samurai began to loom over Japanese politics. In January of 1874 disaffected samurai attacked a senior minister in Tokyo. A month later, a group of pro-Korea expedition and anti-foreign elements from Saga prefecture in Kyushu revolted, driven in part by high food prices stemming from poor harvests. Their leader, according to Edward Drea’s classic Japan’s Imperial Army, was a samurai
The following three paragraphs are just some of what the local Chinese-language press is reporting on breathlessly and following every twist and turn with the eagerness of a soap opera fan. For many English-language readers, it probably comes across as incomprehensibly opaque, so bear with me briefly dear reader: To the surprise of many, former pop singer and Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) ex-lawmaker Yu Tien (余天) of the Taiwan Normal Country Promotion Association (TNCPA) at the last minute dropped out of the running for committee chair of the DPP’s New Taipei City chapter, paving the way for DPP legislator Su
It’s hard to know where to begin with Mark Tovell’s Taiwan: Roads Above the Clouds. Having published a travelogue myself, as well as having contributed to several guidebooks, at first glance Tovell’s book appears to inhabit a middle ground — the kind of hard-to-sell nowheresville publishers detest. Leaf through the pages and you’ll find them suffuse with the purple prose best associated with travel literature: “When the sun is low on a warm, clear morning, and with the heat already rising, we stand at the riverside bike path leading south from Sanxia’s old cobble streets.” Hardly the stuff of your
April 22 to April 28 The true identity of the mastermind behind the Demon Gang (魔鬼黨) was undoubtedly on the minds of countless schoolchildren in late 1958. In the days leading up to the big reveal, more than 10,000 guesses were sent to Ta Hwa Publishing Co (大華文化社) for a chance to win prizes. The smash success of the comic series Great Battle Against the Demon Gang (大戰魔鬼黨) came as a surprise to author Yeh Hung-chia (葉宏甲), who had long given up on his dream after being jailed for 10 months in 1947 over political cartoons. Protagonist