A new series of superbly composed and colorful bird photos by John&Fish, the sobriquet for Sung Yi-chang (宋宜璋) and Hsiao Tsun-hsien (蕭尊賢), is currently on view at Artyart (亞帝畫廊). Titled Ephemeral vs Eternal (驚鴻vs永恆), the show reveals the duo’s ongoing fascination with Taiwan’s avifauna in all its remarkable diversity.
■ Artyart (亞帝畫廊), 99-8 Nanmen Road, Greater Tainan (台南市南門路99-8號), tel: (06) 214-7081. Open Tuesdays to Sundays from 3pm to 7pm. Closed on the second and fourth Tuesday of every month
■ Until July 30
Photo Courtesy of National Museum of History
Masterpieces from Musee National Picasso — Paris consists of 62 artworks by Pablo Picasso, a founder of cubism and one of the most influential European artists of the 20th century. The exhibit presents an overview of Picasso’s life and career through oil paintings, photographs, sculpture and prints.
■ 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. Hours for the Picasso exhibit are Mondays and Tuesdays from 9am to 6pm and Wednesdays to Sundays from 9am to 9pm. Regular hours are Tuesdays to Sundays from 10am to 6pm. Admission to the Picasso exhibit: NT$280. Regular admission: NT$30
■ Begins on Saturday. Until Sept. 18
Beyond Limits is a solo exhibit of wood sculptures by South Korean artist Cha Jong-rye. Cha’s sculptures examine the dialectical relationship between wood and land, material and nature, where each part of the sculpture’s surface is reminiscent of an elaborate puzzle or topographical contour map.
■ Ever Harvest Art Gallery (日升月鴻畫廊), 2F, 107, Renai Rd Sec 4, Taipei City (台北市仁愛路四段107號2樓), tel: (02) 2752-2353. Open Tuesdays to Sundays from 11am to 6:30pm
■ Opening reception on Saturday at 3pm. Until July 10
I Love Women (我愛女生) is a double exhibition of painting and sculpture by Ma Kuei-fang (馬桂芳) and Chen Huan-chen (陳煥禎) that explores the life of women in contemporary society.
■ Anderson Art (安德昇藝術), 151 Zhouzi St, Taipei City (台北市洲子街151號), tel: (02) 8751-6565. Open Mondays to Saturdays from 11am to 6pm
■ Until June 29
Lin & Lin Gallery (大未來林舍畫廊) is currently holding a solo exhibit of paintings by Chinese artist Su Xiaobai (蘇笑柏). Su’s large works adhere to a strict, formal structure and feature expressive brushstrokes in earthy colors. He applies layers of saturated, intense colored lacquers with a brush on canvas, hemp or wood, forming lines, patterns and a unique surface structure that lends them a tangible character.
■ Lin & Lin Gallery (大未來林舍畫廊), 16 Dongfeng St, Taipei City, (台北市東豐街16號). Open Tuesdays to Fridays from 10am to 7pm and Saturdays and Sundays from 11am to 7pm. Tel: (02) 2721-8488.
■ Until July 10
An exhibition of photos by renowned photographer Chang Tsai (張才) is currently on display at the recently renovated URS 44 on Dihua Street (迪化街). The 40 photos depict folk festivals during the 1940s and 1950s as well as the lives of Taiwanese opera singers.
■ URS 44, 44, Dihua St Sec 1, Taipei City (台北市迪化街一段44號), tel: (02) 2707-0422. Open daily from 11am to 7pm
■ Until July 31
Lewis Biggs, former director of the Tate Liverpool (from 1990 to 2000) and head of the Liverpool Biennial for more than 10 years, will give a lecture on the topic of urban regeneration and its coexistence with art.
■ Eslite Xinyi Bookstore (誠品信義店), 6F, 11 Songgao Rd, Taipei City (台北市松高路11號6樓)
■ Saturday from 1pm to 4:30pm. For more information call: (02) 2578-5467
Last week Joseph Nye, the well-known China scholar, wrote on the Australian Strategic Policy Institute’s website about how war over Taiwan might be averted. He noted that years ago he was on a team that met with then-president Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁), “whose previous ‘unofficial’ visit to the US had caused a crisis in which China fired missiles into the sea and the US deployed carriers off the coast of Taiwan.” Yes, that’s right, mighty Chen caused that crisis all by himself. Neither the US nor the People’s Republic of China (PRC) exercised any agency. Nye then nostalgically invoked the comical specter
April 15 to April 21 Yang Kui (楊逵) was horrified as he drove past trucks, oxcarts and trolleys loaded with coffins on his way to Tuntzechiao (屯子腳), which he heard had been completely destroyed. The friend he came to check on was safe, but most residents were suffering in the town hit the hardest by the 7.1-magnitude Hsinchu-Taichung Earthquake on April 21, 1935. It remains the deadliest in Taiwan’s recorded history, claiming around 3,300 lives and injuring nearly 12,000. The disaster completely flattened roughly 18,000 houses and damaged countless more. The social activist and
Over the course of former President Ma Ying-jeou’s (馬英九) 11-day trip to China that included a meeting with Chinese Communist Party (CCP) leader Xi Jinping (習近平) a surprising number of people commented that the former president was now “irrelevant.” Upon reflection, it became apparent that these comments were coming from pro-Taiwan, pan-green supporters and they were expressing what they hoped was the case, rather than the reality. Ma’s ideology is so pro-China (read: deep blue) and controversial that many in his own Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) hope he retires quickly, or at least refrains from speaking on some subjects. Regardless
Approaching her mid-30s, Xiong Yidan reckons that most of her friends are on to their second or even third babies. But Xiong has more than a dozen. There is Lucky, the street dog from Bangkok who jumped into a taxi with her and never left. There is Sophie and Ben, sibling geese, who honk from morning to night. Boop and Pan, both goats, are romantically involved. Dumpling the hedgehog enjoys a belly rub from time to time. The list goes on. Xiong nurtures her brood from her 8,000 square meter farm in Chiang Dao, a mountainous district in northern Thailand’s