Breaking the Rules (顯影。破格而出:台北電影節20印記特展) is a retrospective that celebrates the 20th anniversary of the Taipei Film Festival. The show includes over a hundred manuscripts and memorabilia from Taiwanese filmmakers, as well as film excerpts from past participating works of the festival. It has been a tumultuous ride for the Taiwanese film industry in the last two decades. According to the commission, the industry experienced a deep decline that lasted until the late 1990’s; a great revival came with the hit film Cape No. 7, which was featured as the opening film of the 2008 Taipei Film Festival. Standing by its original mission, the festival continues to foster an appreciation for film from the angle of visual arts and cinematic language and promotes “independent, innovative and non-mainstream” projects.
■ Bopiliao Historical Block (剝皮寮歷史街區), Ln 173, Kangding Road, Taipei City (台北市康定路173巷), tel: (02) 2308-2966. Open Daily from 11am-6pm
■ Until Sept. 30
Photo Courtesy of the artist
Catch the last day of SITE OF CONSCIOUSNESS: COUNCIL ROOM, a week-long, site-specific exhibition at the Tainan City Council. For three decades the building served as the Tainan County Council, until it changed its name to Tainan City Council when the county was incorporated into the city in 2010. Three Tainan-based artists collectively adapt the method of “on-site,” which, according to the organizers, means the production of artistic projects that emphasize the local. Ting Chaong-wen’s (丁昶文) North seeks to recreate missing components of the roof, which were intentionally removed because of its impact on fengshui. Cia Hsinyuan’s (李欣芫) A Pool, a Group of Koi, Knocking is a series of actions, performances and installations that work with sound, water, reflections and a narration of local life and politics. Nigel Brown invited community Chinese chess players to continue their games inside the building. Democracy Xiangqi is a sound installation that involves relevant field recordings and archival recordings broadcasted with speakers, FM transmitters and portable radio.
■ 38, Minzhi Rd, Tainan City (台南市新營區民治路38號), Open from 9am to 3pm
■ Ends today
Photo Courtesy of Mangasick
Chihoi (智海) is a Hong Kong comic illustrator, cartoonist and writer who has a background in drawing and nutritional sciences. His work has been featured in various publications and anthologies, including Hijacking — Comic Hong Kong Literature (大騎劫—漫畫香港文學) and The Train (灰掐). Chihoi’s current solo exhibition, The Library and the Reading Room (圖書館/我和我聖人), features two new comic albums released by Taipei-based independent publishing house nos:books. The Library (圖書館) is an ongoing comic project that involves a dazzling library that entraps people in the a sea of memories. The narrative also features a burning book hell. I am with my Saint is a selection of short comics that Chihoi has created over the last 10 years. The show includes original drawings from these two books, as well as an unpublished episode of The Library that is only available for viewing at the gallery.
■ Mangasick, B1, 2, Alley 10, Ln 244, Roosevelt Rd Sec 3, Taipei City (台北市羅斯福路3段244巷10弄2號B1), tel: (02) 2369-9969. Opens Thursdays to Tuesdays from 2pm to 10pm
■ Until Oct. 1
Photo Courtesy of Taipei Film Festival
“It seems that you are familiar with this city but sometimes you may feel a little bit strange; sometimes the city is close but sometimes it seems far away,” writes Han Ching-ling (韓慶玲) in the curatorial preface for INTO—2018 TAV ART PROJECT (透明象限—2018 TAV 藝術採集計畫). Organized by Taipei Artist Village, the 13-artist show explores the idea of “art residence.” Featured works include artistic surveys of the village’s vicinity, many of which are based on daily discoveries during the artists’ participation in the village’s residence program. Yu Cheng-ta’s (余政達) Ventriloquists: Liang Mei-Lan and Emily Su is a film of two women from the Philippines who married into Taiwanese families. The work captures the conversations between the artist and the two women using a combination of languages. SUPER ADD’s Taisho Roman Dori is an examination of commercial signage in an old Japanese residential district in Taipei that is now known for restaurants, entertainment and nightlife. The exhibition opens next Saturday with a series of performances and interactive events. For more information, visit the Taipei Artist Village Web site: www.artistvillage.org.
■ 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
■ From Sept. 29 to Nov. 4
Photo Courtesy of Taipei Art Village
Acts Without Effort—The Societal Architecture of Hsieh Ying-Chun (為無為—謝英俊建築實踐展) is a survey of renowned Taiwanese architect Hsieh Ying-Chun (謝英俊). The term “act” in the title refers to Hsieh’s working method, which seeks to actualize the potential of collaboration between users, professionals and local construction collaborators. Hsieh is known for his projects that focus on post-disaster reconstruction, new rural and community-based development and his unique theories of tri-dimensional urban architecture. Nineteen years ago, the architect began his first post-disaster project with the Thao Tribe (邵族) of Sun Moon Lake (日月潭), where he adapted “a holistic construction technology — a value system — of lightweight steel structure and co-operative construction,” according to the museum Web site. “More than merely post-disaster reconstruction and humanitarian aid, Hsieh’s work is a response to the equally urgent issue of contemporary social housing.” The show includes documentaries, images, multimedia presentations and archival material of past projects. Be sure to also check out the accompanying program of talks and educational activities.
■ Kaohsiung Museum of Fine Arts (KMFA), 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.
■ Until Feb. 10
Photo Courtesy of Kaohsiung Museum of Fine Arts
The year was 1991. A Toyota Land Cruiser set out on a 67km journey up the Junda Forest Road (郡大林道) toward an old loggers’ camp, at which point the hikers inside would get out and begin their ascent of Jade Mountain (玉山). Little did they know, they would be the last group of hikers to ever enjoy this shortcut into the mountains. An approaching typhoon soon wiped out the road behind them, trapping the vehicle on the mountain and forever changing the approach to Jade Mountain. THE CONTEMPORARY ROUTE Nowadays, the approach to Jade Mountain from the north side takes an
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
Relations between Taiwan and the Czech Republic have flourished in recent years. However, not everyone is pleased about the growing friendship between the two countries. Last month, an incident involving a Chinese diplomat tailing the car of vice president-elect Hsiao Bi-khim (蕭美琴) in Prague, drew public attention to the People’s Republic of China’s (PRC) operations to undermine Taiwan overseas. The trip was not Hsiao’s first visit to the Central European country. It was meant to be low-key, a chance to meet with local academics and politicians, until her police escort noticed a car was tailing her through the Czech capital. The
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