ArtDen presents Garden of the Gods (諸神的花園), a joint exhibition of work by Min-tse Chen (陳敏澤) and May Chao (趙梅). Both artists incorporate natural scenery into their oil paintings. Chen’s large format canvases are inspired by the lush colors of Turkish landscapes.
■ ArtDen (藝研齋), 3F, 309, Xinyi Rd Sec 4, Taipei City (台北市信義路四段309號3樓), tel: (02) 2325-8188. Open Mondays to Fridays from 11am to 5pm, Saturdays from 10am to 6pm.
■ Opening reception on Saturday at 3pm. Until Sept. 29
photo courtesy of Artden
Digiark’s exhibition A Dialogue with the Space and Time attempts to create a discussion about the storage and re-presentation of images. Artists from Taiwan and abroad were invited to have a “dialogue” with the gallery space, which focuses on digital and multimedia art. Through their work, Digiark’s collaborators explore how “on the one hand, images help demonstrate the endless continuity of time; on the other hand, it reverses the linear narrative of space and time.”
■ National Taiwan Museum of Fine Arts in Taichung (國立台灣美術館), 2, Wucyuan W Rd Sec 1, Greater Taichung (台中市五權西路一段2號), tel: (04) 2372-3552 ext. 708. Open Tuesdays to Sundays from 9am to 5pm
■ Until Nov. 11
photo courtesy of NMH
In cover , artist Nat Niu Chun-chiang (牛俊強 ) turns the exhibition venue into one work that explores the meaning of “disappearance” in a man’s existence. Inspired by changes in his love life, family and physical conditions, Niu invited 18 participants to talk about a profound experience in their lives, which are presented through objects, photographs and films. By confronting the temporary “disappearance” and exploring an outcome that has various possibilities, Niu searches for new perspectives and new approaches.
■ Taipei Fine Arts Museum (TFAM, 台北市立美術館), 181, Zhongshan N Rd Sec 3, Taipei City (台北市中山北路三段181號), tel: (02) 2595-7656. Open Tuesdays to Sundays from 9:30am to 5:30pm and until 8:30pm on Saturdays. Admission: NT$30
■ Until Sept. 30
Made in Taipei, which opened Thursday and closes tonight, is the result of a collaborative process between Spanish artists Arantxa Echarte and Bibiana Crespo. During their stay in Taipei, they engaged with places and people by immersing themselves in situations specific to life in the city. Some of the subjects covered by the installation piece include Taipei’s identity, tradition, food culture, textiles and codes (such as street codes).
■ Studio 401, Taipei Artist Village (台北國際藝術村百里廳), 7 Beiping E Rd, Taipei City (台北市北平東路7號), tel: (02) 3393-7377. Exhibition open from 1pm to 6pm.
■ Until tonight
The National Museum of History is hosting an exhibition of prints by artist Lin Chih-sin (林智信). Featuring strong, lively lines and vivid colors, Lin’s woodcuts are inspired by Taiwanese rural life, with depictions of farmers at work and children riding water buffalos.
■ 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. General admission is NT$30
■ Until Oct. 11
In Aging, artist Yu Ling (俞綾) explores mortality and the inflexibility of time with black and white photos of flowers and plants in different stages of decay.
■ Fotoaura Institute of Photography (海馬迴光畫館), 2F, 83 Chenggong Rd, Greater Tainan (台南市成功路83號2樓), tel: (06) 200-8856. Open Wednesdays to Sundays from 1pm to 8pm
■ Until Sept. 13
Sept.16 to Sept. 22 The “anti-communist train” with then-president Chiang Kai-shek’s (蔣介石) face plastered on the engine puffed along the “sugar railway” (糖業鐵路) in May 1955, drawing enthusiastic crowds at 103 stops covering nearly 1,200km. An estimated 1.58 million spectators were treated to propaganda films, plays and received free sugar products. By this time, the state-run Taiwan Sugar Corporation (台糖, Taisugar) had managed to connect the previously separate east-west lines established by Japanese-era sugar factories, allowing the anti-communist train to travel easily from Taichung to Pingtung’s Donggang Township (東港). Last Sunday’s feature (Taiwan in Time: The sugar express) covered the inauguration of the
The corruption cases surrounding former Taipei Mayor and Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) head Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) are just one item in the endless cycle of noise and fuss obscuring Taiwan’s deep and urgent structural and social problems. Even the case itself, as James Baron observed in an excellent piece at the Diplomat last week, is only one manifestation of the greater problem of deep-rooted corruption in land development. Last week the government announced a program to permit 25,000 foreign university students, primarily from the Philippines, Indonesia and Malaysia, to work in Taiwan after graduation for 2-4 years. That number is a
This year’s Michelin Gourmand Bib sported 16 new entries in the 126-strong Taiwan directory. The fight for the best braised pork rice and the crispiest scallion pancake painstakingly continued, but what stood out in the lineup this year? Pang Taqueria (胖塔可利亞); Taiwan’s first Michelin-recommended Mexican restaurant. Chef Charles Chen (陳治宇) is a self-confessed Americophile, earning his chef whites at a fine-dining Latin-American fusion restaurant. But what makes this Xinyi (信義) spot stand head and shoulders above Taipei’s existing Mexican offerings? The authenticity. The produce. The care. AUTHENTIC EATS In my time on the island, I have caved too many times to
In a stark demonstration of how award-winning breakthroughs can come from the most unlikely directions, researchers have won an Ig Nobel prize for discovering that mammals can breathe through their anuses. After a series of tests on mice, rats and pigs, Japanese scientists found the animals absorb oxygen delivered through the rectum, work that underpins a clinical trial to see whether the procedure can treat respiratory failure. The team is among 10 recognized in this year’s Ig Nobel awards (see below for more), the irreverent accolades given for achievements that “first make people laugh, and then make them think.” They are not