Capsules of Art (藝菌膠囊) is a touring exhibition of mixed media installation, painting and video by graduates of the National Taiwan University of the Arts (國立臺灣藝術大學) two-year bachelor’s program for working professionals. The show features works by 31 artists at three locations across Taipei. On the Net: www.facebook.com/capsulesofart.
■ Mei Ling Art Gallery (美齡藝廊), National Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall (國立中正紀念堂), open daily from 9am to 6pm; ends Monday.
■ Tswei-xi Gallery (翠溪藝廊), Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hall (國立國父紀念館), 505 Renai Rd Sec 4, Taipei City (臺北市信義區仁愛路4段505號), Open daily from 9am to 6pm; until June 3
Photo courtesy of June Hsu
■ Campus Building, National Taiwan University of the Arts (國立臺灣藝術大學教研大樓), 59 Daguan Rd Sec 1, New Taipei city (新北市大觀路一段59號); June 10 to June 14.
From Collection to Connection (從收藏到連結) is a rare look at the history of the Tao Aboriginal tribe (達悟族), an endangered people native to Orchid Island (蘭嶼). In 1956 and 1966, a Swiss priest who worked in Taiwan brought local art to Switzerland for fundraising and preservation. His collection included Tao pottery, an artisan hand-carved boat and other unique items that were then stored in Switzerland under Elisabeth Gschwind, until she helped arrange their return to Taiwan. After a public exhibition from May 17 to December 31, the collection will continue to be housed in the National Museum of Prehistory (國立臺灣史前文化博物) in Taitung.
■ National Museum of Prehistory, 1 Museum Rd, Taitung City (台東市博物館路1號), tel: (08) 938-1166, open Tuesdays to Sundays from 9am to 5pm
Photo courtesy of KMFA
■ Until Dec. 31
In Artists at TAV (藝術家們在TAV), three residents of the Taipei Artist Village offer art and a lunch party. Today, it’s Chen Po-I (陳伯義) with art based on kitchen wares and a menu inspired by Greater Tainan: salty rice pudding, crab cakes, traditional sausage, casserole duck, fish ball soup, crystal dumplings, mullet, sweet barley soup and other foods sourced from southern Taiwan, served with an artist’s talk on the visual detail and stories behind each dish. Upcoming lunches for Chiu Chao-Tsai (邱昭財) and Chin Cheng-Te (秦政德) are scheduled for 12pm on June 6 and June 20, respectively. Seating is limited and granted with written application on a first come, first served basis. For more information, visit www.facebook.com/artists.at.tav
■ Barry Room, 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. Open Tuesdays to Sundays from 11am to 9pm
Photo courtesy of TAV
■ Opening reception today from 6pm to 8pm. Until July 6
Su Hui-yu (蘇匯宇), an acclaimed video artist and new father, presents his latest film about the uptick in whale deaths at a solo video exhibition in IT Park Gallery (伊通公園). Today, observers remark that whales are stranding themselves on beaches with increasing frequency. Su argues that the only thing changing is human perspective: Humans believe there are more such whale deaths because there are more humans living near coastlines to detect them. In Whale Mass Suicide (鯨魚集體自殺), Su revisits whale death through the inexpert, untaught and perhaps clearest human perspective — that of a toddler, his daughter, who watches him as he stages the movements of a beached whale.
■ IT Park Gallery (伊通公園), 2F-3F, 41 Yitong St, Taipei City (台北市伊通街41號2-3樓). tel: (02) 2507-7243. Open Tuesdays to Saturdays from 1pm to 10pm
■ Opening reception today at 7pm. Until June 21
Next Kite, Next Weather (未來風箏,未來氣象) presents Mark Geil and Chung-fan Chang (張宗帆), two art professors from Jackson, Mississippi. Geil presents photography that illuminates the similar logic behind two seemingly different phenomenon: the weather and displays in a museum. Chung’s Kite series is a look at color — both natural colors and disturbing human-made colors like neon — and how they work to shape human response.
■ Kuandu Museum of Fine Arts (關渡美術館), 1 Xueyuan Rd, Taipei City (台北市學園路1號), tel: (02) 2896-1000 ext 2432. Open Tuesdays to Sundays from 10am to 5pm
■ Until July 6
Winners of the 2014 Kaohsiung Awards (高雄獎) are on view now at the Kaohsiung Museum of Fine Arts (高雄市立美術館). The Kaohsiung Award is an annual prize that goes to Taiwanese artists in the fields of photography, painting, new media, mixed media and sketches. This year the competition drew about 600 participants and top prizes of NT$400,000 each went to five artists including Fan Si-chi (范思琪), who sketches with ballpoint pen, and oil painter Peng Tai-jen (彭泰仁) with his chaotic contemporary scenes of people interacting with vegetation.
■ Kaohsiung Museum of Fine Arts, 80 Meishuguan Rd, Greater Kaohsiung (高雄市美術館路80號), tel: (07) 555-0331. Open Tuesdays to Sundays from 9:30am to 5:30pm. Admission: Free
■ Until June 14
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
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
This Qing Dynasty trail takes hikers from renowned hot springs in the East Rift Valley, up to the top of the Coastal Mountain Range, and down to the Pacific Short vacations to eastern Taiwan often require choosing between the Rift Valley with its pineapple fields, rice paddies and broader range of amenities, or the less populated coastal route for its ocean scenery. For those who can’t decide, why not try both? The Antong Traversing Trail (安通越嶺道) provides just such an opportunity. Built 149 years ago, the trail linked up these two formerly isolated parts of the island by crossing over the Coastal Mountain Range. After decades of serving as a convenient path for local Amis, Han settlers, missionaries and smugglers, the trail fell into disuse once modern roadways were built