Revitalization of Chiayi Sound Project (聲土不二 — 嘉義聲音再生計劃), a group show, is part of TheCube Project Space’s Re-envisioning Society (重見/建社會) series, which reflects on the characteristics of and changes in contemporary life. The project began in 2008, when French artist Yannick Dauby, Tsai Wan-shuen (蔡宛璇) and Hsu Yen-ting (許雁婷) were hired by the Chiayi County government to collect sound samples from its 18 townships for a sound archive. The exhibition presents some of these sounds and is divided into six themes: oral history, folk art, natural ecology, industries, religion and festivities. Zhong Yong-Feng (鍾永豐) will hold a discussion with the three artists at the opening reception on August 25. Apart from looking back at the Chiayi Sound Project, they will also talk about the present state of Taiwanese sound culture.
■ TheCube Project Space (立方計畫空間), 2F, 13, Alley 1, Ln 136, Roosevelt Rd Sec 4, Taipei City (台北市羅斯福路四段136巷1弄13號2樓), tel: (02) 2368-9418. Open Tuesdays through Sundays from 12pm to 7pm
■ Opening reception on Saturday at 3pm. Until Oct. 5
Tina Keng Gallery’s Neihu location will hold a week-long memorial exhibition in remembrance of Tony Wong (黃榮禧), presenting various works from different periods of his artistic career, and revisiting his studio through video. Wong’s prolific use of materials and mediums included pastel, oil on canvas and stone — often working in all three simultaneously, with themes of solitude, existence, change, love, pain and loss. To keep things light, a “gossip room” has been prepared for the exhibition, in tribute to one of Wong’s favorite pastimes.
■ Tina Keng Gallery (耿畫廊), 15, Ln 548, Ruiguang Rd, Taipei City (台北市瑞光路548巷15號), tel: (02) 2659-0798. Open Tuesdays to Sundays from 10am to 7pm
■ Until Aug. 26
Mystic Planes (秘密平面) brings together five works of photography and six videos by Pu Shuai-cheng (蒲帥成). Pu’s work attempts to blur the line between reality and illusion with a touch of the macabre.
■ VT Art Salon (非常廟藝文空間), B1, 47 Yitong St, Taipei City (台北市伊通街47號B1), tel: (02) 2516-1060. Open Tuesdays through Thursdays from 1:30pm to 9pm, and Fridays and Saturdays from 1:30pm to 10pm
■ Until Sept. 8
Lifting the Spirit and Body (通嚏輕揚) is an exhibition that examines the art and culture of snuff bottles and related paraphernalia. Divided into four sections, the exhibition takes a historical look at how the Qing Dynasty court responded to the European fashion for snuff to create a unique culture of its own, while revealing an appreciation for the beauty of snuff vessels that brings together the best of Chinese and Western craftsmanship.
■ 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 8:30am to 6:30pm. Closes at 8:30pm on Saturdays. Regular admission: NT$160
■ Until June 20, 2013
Once in a lifetime (大日子) presents the “video journals” of Huang Ning (黃甯). Huang uses both nonfiction and fictional images to portray the opaqueness of time through the different phases in his own life.
■ Museum of Contemporary Art, Taipei (台北當代藝術館, MOCA, Taipei), 39 Changan W Rd, Taipei City (台北市長安西路39號), tel: (02) 2552-3720. Open Tuesdays to Sundays from 10am to 6pm. Admission to Arctic Diary is free. General admission: NT$50
■ Until Sept. 23
A few weeks ago I found myself at a Family Mart talking with the morning shift worker there, who has become my coffee guy. Both of us were in a funk over the “unseasonable” warm weather, a state of mind known as “solastalgia” — distress produced by environmental change. In fact, the weather was not that out of the ordinary in boiling Central Taiwan, and likely cooler than the temperatures we will experience in the near-future. According to the Taiwan Adaptation Platform, between 1957 and 2006, summer lengthened by 27.8 days, while winter shrunk by 29.7 days. Winter is not
Taiwan’s post-World War II architecture, “practical, cheap and temporary,” not to mention “rather forgettable.” This was a characterization recently given by Taiwan-based historian John Ross on his Formosa Files podcast. Yet the 1960s and 1970s were, in fact, the period of Taiwan’s foundational building boom, which, to a great extent, defined the look of Taiwan’s cities, determining the way denizens live today. During this period, functionalist concrete blocks and Chinese nostalgia gave way to new interpretations of modernism, large planned communities and high-rise skyscrapers. It is currently the subject of a new exhibition at the Taipei Fine Arts Museum, Modern
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In recent years, Slovakia has been seen as a highly democratic and Western-oriented Central European country. This image was reinforced by the election of the country’s first female president in 2019, efforts to provide extensive assistance to Ukraine and the strengthening of relations with Taiwan, all of which strengthened Slovakia’s position within the European Union. However, the latest developments in the country suggest that the situation is changing rapidly. As such, the presidential elections to be held on March 23 will be an indicator of whether Slovakia remains in the Western sphere of influence or moves eastward, notably towards Russia and