The first-ever Kaohsiung Today: Kaohsiung Harbor International Art Fair (港都國際藝術博覽會) launches today at, you guessed it, the Kaohsiung Harbor. Organized by the Taiwan Art Gallery Association, who also organize the highly successful Art Taipei each year, the Kaohsiung fair looks quite promising. One of the many themes will be the history of southern Taiwan, in particular Kaohsiung’s maritime history. The artist group Fish Snipers will be showcasing a selection of paintings, photography and installations revolving around the ocean. As part of the Austronesian art section, Paiwan artist Etan Pavavalung will feature his woodblock paintings inspired by Dashe Village, Pingtung, from where he hails. Notable Taipei galleries to make an appearance at tomorrow’s fair include Aki Gallery and Aura Gallery.
■ 39, Chenggong 2nd Rd, Cianjhen Dist, Kaohsiung (高雄市前鎮區成功二路39號), tel: (02) 2742-3968. Open today and tomorrow from 12pm to 8pm, Sunday from 12pm to 7pm
■ Until Sunday. Tickets are NT$150 to NT$200 (art-taipei.com/kt16/tw/ticket.html)
Photo courtesy of Aki Gallery
It’s not much of a stretch to say that the Taipei-born artist Yeh Wei-li (葉偉立) finds solace in garbage. But of course, there is a purpose — to present these discarded items as art (others might say its hoarding). Yeh does this to force his viewers to rethink the fine separating trash from antiques, ultimately bringing to light the subjective value of art. His latest solo exhibition, Sofa Prototype (沙發原型), held at Taipei’s IT Park Gallery, includes items collected and repurposed from all over Taiwan. The title alludes to a sofa that Yeh found chucked away in a park in Miaoli.
■ 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
■ Until July 16
Photo courtesy of MOCA
Pianist-singer-artist Yeh Fang (葉方) has her first solo exhibition at MOCA, Taipei. Vision of the Void (行空程式) includes an exhaustive range of Yeh’s paintings and video installations which are accompanied by her musical compositions (because sound art is all the rage these days). Both her paintings and video art are as lyrical as her music, or, perhaps orchids and bamboos have that kind of effect. Nevertheless, Fang’s work is lulling and meditative and introspective.
■ 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
■ Until July 17
Photo courtesy of Aura Gallery
Taichung-born artist Wu Chien-yi (吳芊頤) has a solo exhibition in the Taipei branch of Powen Gallery. Lost in Dreamland: The Poem of Grilles on Sec 4, Bade Road (遺落幻境‧八德路四段的窗景詩) is a stunning display of Wu’s colorful collages depicting an imaginary alleyway inspired by Bade Road, but seen from the perspective of behind wrought-iron window grilles. For Wu, wrought-iron bars conjure up childhood memories, and specifically how a child would imagine the world beyond their home. It’s interesting to note that while iron bars usually symbolize being trapped or a lack of freedom, Wu’s take on the subject is mostly positive. The bars seem to represent hope and the possibility of freedom.
■ Powen Gallery (紅野畫廊), 11, Ln 164, Songjiang Rd, Taipei City (台北市松江路164巷11號), tel: (02) 2523-6009. Open Tuesdays to Sundays 10am to 7pm
■ Until July 17
Photo courtesy of Powen Gallery
Tina Keng Gallery and TKG+ Projects are currently exhibiting a collection of artworks by Wu Tien-chang (吳天章), whose paintings and photography are known for their socio-political commentary. The exhibition at Tina Keng Gallery is Wu Tien-chang: Divergent Paths to Reality, 1980-2011 (吳天章:陌路歸真1980-2011). Wu began his career in the ‘80s, when he painted in neo-expressionist style. Among his early subjects were a pessimistic look at the history of Keelung, where he grew up. He called for the abolition of martial law, though political violence continued to be one of his most prominent themes post-1987. It was during this time that he painted cannons and forts and took a few jabs at cross-strait relations. In the 2000s, Wu turned his focus to themes such as collective memory and migration, using digital media and cinematic techniques.
■ 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 July 31
Photo courtesy of IT Park Gallery
The exhibition at TKG+ Projects, Wu Tien-chang: Never Say Goodbye, 2001-2015 (吳天章:別說再見2001-2015), focuses mainly on Wu’s artworks that were featured at last year’s Venice Biennale. In this particular series, he depicts the so-called “low-life” of Taiwanese society, though re-imagined in western uniforms including those of soldiers, sailors and walking band musicians. Even at first glance, the images are certain to unsettle the viewer. It’s not just that limbs are missing from some of his subjects, but there’s also something eerie and circus-like about the arrangements. Even though the people are smiling, their faces are also hidden behind layers of makeup, concealing their true emotions. Needless to say, Wu is commenting on the negative effects of modernization and westernization in Taiwan.
■ TKG+ Projects, B1, 15, Ln 548, Ruiguang Rd, Taipei City (台北市瑞光路548巷15號B1), tel: (02) 2659-0798. Open Tuesdays to Sundays from 11am to 7pm
■ Until July 31
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