Lee then turned the quest for a mystic figure into a documentary, which was interwoven with images like traditional puppet shows and the festival rituals at Longshan Temple.
Lower never found Lee Ming. But the search led him to explore a bit more about the country that produced directors like Hou Hsiao-hsien (侯孝賢) and Ang Lee (李安).
“It is interesting to see how the art community could happen in such a traditional place,” he said. “And see how the works get balanced — thinking about moving forward, thinking about the past, and thinking about how to differentiate these two aspects.”
Like most foreigners, Lower said he also experienced some cultural shock.
“I met a guy on a motorcycle who screamed waiguoren [foreigner] at me,” he said. “It was a bit unnerving to be constantly reminded that you are an outsider.”
But he felt pretty much at home overall, and the life he had here was no different from what he had in San Francisco.
Ho Ming-kuei (何明桂), the program coordinator, said the artist-in-residence program started two years ago, when the museum officially appropriated budget to subsidize the artists.
“At the beginning, not too many artists knew about the program so that we had very few applications,” she said, adding that the information later spread through word-of-month and now they have about 20 applicants per year.
Artists who want to participate in the program must first pitch their ideas, which are reviewed by a committee of specialists who select two to three artists. Each artist can stay between two weeks and two months, depending on the time needed to finish their project.
Besides working on the projects, the museum arranges for the resident artists to teach university students in workshops, talk to visitors in a question-and-answer session and explore the art community in Taiwan, Ho said.
Ho said the subsidy only pays for boarding at the university's dormitory and the expenses needed to complete the projects. Artists must pay for their flights to Taiwan and their own living expenses.
“The money may not be much, but our staff try their best to help the artists put their creativity to life,” she said.
Since 2007, the program has subsidized five artists, mainly from Japan and the US. For details, visit http://kdmofa.tnua.edu.tw.
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