A Deep River Runs Far (神河遠流) presents over 60 Buddhist statues, folk deities, scriptures and artifacts from Southeast Asia dating from the 12th to the 20th centuries, the title a metaphor for the deep influence faith has had on the region. The show aims to introduce the diverse narratives of Buddhist culture, asking how Buddhism became rooted in the region and how it became integrated into every aspect of daily life? The region is marked by a network of waterways that were once important transportation routes, enabling exchange between different peoples, societies, religions and economies. They were also crucial to the spread of Buddhism within the region, which spread from India as early as the 3rd century BC. Despite the continual changes of regimes and national boundaries, the powerful presence of the Buddhist faith remains a constant through Southeast Asian history. Show highlights include a 13th century Burmese Buddhist statue made of teak and covered with gold leaf. The slender figure, rendered with elegant and minimal contours, places one hand in front of his chest as if in a moment of prayer.
■ Museum of World Religions (世界宗教博物館), 7F, 236, Zhongshan Rd, New Taipei City (新北市中山路一段236號7樓), tel: (02) 8231-6118. Open daily from 10am to 5pm
■ Until April 21
Photo Courtesy of Museum of World Religions
The National Human Rights Museum presents a group art exhibition that seeks to engage with historical trauma. “For places where human rights were violated during the White Terror era, some have been totally changed because of urban development and rebuilding. Some are still in our daily life, but they are not paid attention to,” writes curator Lai Yi-hsin (賴依欣). The show, Indicate Justice (標誌不義 — 不義遺址視覺標誌與紀念物示範設計展), serves to draw attention to these sites and to open a discussion of and understanding about the past. For this project, 19 young Taiwanese artists attended a program of workshops and research trips before developing specific projects that focus on concepts of landscape, space, body, language, sound and commemoration. Chan Chiao-chun’s (詹喬鈞) Archway is an inflatable, black-and-white soft sculpture with a painted facade of rugged rocks and smooth stone frames. The sculpture will periodically moved to different sites throughout the exhibition period as an instigator for public discussion. Huang Chien-da’s (黃建達) Circle is a proposal that invites the public to construct a monument with fabric strips.
■ National Human Rights Museum (國家人權博物館), 131 Fuxing Rd, New Taipei City (新北市復興路131號), tel: (02) 2218-2438. Open Tuesdays to Sundays from 9am to 5pm
■ Until March 31
Photo Courtesy of Donna Art & Consulting
The late Chu Ko (楚歌) was a modern Taiwanese artist, poet, painter, art critic and historian born in Hunan, China. He moved to Taiwan in 1949 and spent 30 years working as a researcher of bronze ware in the National Palace Museum. Chu was particularly known for his achievements in abstract ink painting. In his work, he integrated influences of Chinese calligraphy and the traditional art of knotting to create a distinct painting style that emphasizes on contour and forms. His interest in Western ideas of abstraction and perspective also contributed to his openness and search for new potential in the field of Chinese ink painting. Chu’s solo exhibition, My Way in One Continuous Strand (吾道), is a retrospective of his work, featuring a selection of 33 paintings that reveal his interest in Chinese knotting. The works reveal “the artist’s belief that infinity originates with one and ends in one,” writes the gallery. In these paintings, bold strokes and shapes are accompanied by finely written prose, which adds a literary context to the abstract compositions. With his great artistic and literary achievement, Chu is “recognized as one of the most significant ink painters of the second half of the 20th century,” writes the gallery.
■ Liang Gallery (尊彩藝術中心), 366, Ruiguang Rd, Taipei City (台北市瑞光路366號), tel: (02) 2797-1100. Open Tuesdays to Sundays from 11am to 6pm
■ Until Jan. 27
Photo courtesy of Hide and Seek Audiovisual Art
Ah Tao (台灣男子簡阿淘) is a collection of memorabilia from the archives of award-winning writer Yeh Shi-tao (葉石濤). Yeh is known for his accomplishments in fiction and literary criticism. In 1987, he compiled the first outline of the history of Taiwanese literature. Yeh grew up in Tainan during the Japanese colonial era and was imprisoned during the White Terror era. Yeh’s literary works reflect on his personal experiences with historical upheavals and the difficulties most people face in life. In his stories, a protagonist by the name of Ah-Tao often appears as an avatar of Yeh. The exhibition features publications, hand-written letters and drafts, awards and personal items of the celebrated writer.
■ National Museum of Taiwan Literature (國立台灣文學館), 1, Jongjheng Rd, Tainan City (台南市中正路1號), tel: (06) 221-7201. Open Tuesdays to Sundays from 9am to 6pm
■ Until June 23
Photo courtesy of Liang Gallery
Hidden Tracks (藏山迹化:山石三人展) is a group show by three Taiwanese artists who share an interest in the motif of rock formations. Hsiao Chang-cheng (蕭長正) creates sculptures and installations that explore space, illumination and minimalism. He is also a celebrated landscape designer and architect who has completed a number of notable projects in Taiwan and abroad. In both fields, Hsiao maintains a passion for the essence of nature. As a sculptor, he works a variety of sculptural material, including wood and metal, to create sensual contours and a sense of order in space. Yuan Hui-li (袁慧莉) is a painter who creates landscapes that appear traditional in form and yet embody original ideas of material experimentation and deconstruction. She is known for her fiery ink technique, which involves drawing with ashes of burnt paper to create a distinct sensuality of fire and dust. Yuan also creates collages of mountains that feature playful arrangements of colorful shapes. Compared to Yuan and Hsiao, Bai Yu (白雨) approaches the motif of rock formations from a closer perspective. His work pays detailed attention to stone textures that serve as silent testaments of time.
■ Donna Art & Consulting (多納藝術), 7F, 112 Keelung Rd Sec 2, Taipei City (台北市基隆路二段112號7樓), tel: (02) 7746-7463. Open Mondays to Saturdays from 11am to 7pm
■ Until Feb. 2
Last week, Viola Zhou published a marvelous deep dive into the culture clash between Taiwanese boss mentality and American labor practices at the Taiwan Semiconductor (TSMC) plant in Arizona in Rest of World. “The American engineers complained of rigid, counterproductive hierarchies at the company,” while the Taiwanese said American workers aren’t dedicated. The article is a delight, but what it is depicting is the clash between a work culture that offers employee autonomy and at least nods at work-life balance, and one that runs on hierarchical discipline enforced by chickenshit. And it runs on chickenshit because chickenshit is a cultural
By far the most jarring of the new appointments for the incoming administration is that of Tseng Wen-tsan (鄭文燦) to head the Straits Exchange Foundation (SEF). That is a huge demotion for one of the most powerful figures in the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP). Tseng has one of the most impressive resumes in the party. He was very active during the Wild Lily Movement and his generation is now the one taking power. He has served in many of the requisite government, party and elected positions to build out a solid political profile. Elected as mayor of Taoyuan as part of the
Moritz Mieg, 22, lay face down in the rubble, the ground shaking violently beneath him. Boulders crashed down around him, some stones hitting his back. “I just hoped that it would be one big hit and over, because I did not want to be hit nearly to death and then have to slowly die,” the student from Germany tells Taipei Times. MORNING WALK Early on April 3, Mieg set out on a scenic hike through Taroko Gorge in Hualien County (花蓮). It was a fine day for it. Little did he know that the complex intersection of tectonic plates Taiwan sits
When picturing Tainan, what typically comes to mind is charming alleyways, Japanese architecture and world-class cuisine. But look beyond the fray, through stained glass windows and sliding bookcases, and there exists a thriving speakeasy subculture, where innovative mixologists ply their trade, serving exquisite concoctions and unique flavor profiles to rival any city in Taiwan. Speakeasies hail from the prohibition era of 1920s America. When alcohol was outlawed, people took their business to hidden establishments; requiring patrons to use hushed tones — speak easy — to conceal their illegal activities. Nowadays legal, speakeasy bars are simply hidden bars, often found behind bookcases