An exhibit bringing attention to homeless people’s struggles with insomnia opened on June 23 and is to run until July 22 at Taipei’s Bopiliao Historical Block.
Homeless people, many of whom gather around Taipei Railway Station, are often unable to sleep due to the sounds of people walking around them and pulling luggage, exhibit organizers said.
One person participating in the exhibit said they were able to take 15 naps only after taking sleeping pills, the organizers said, adding that another person said they often take four short naps in a day.
Photo: Kuo An-chia, Taipei Times
In the daytime, many of the city’s homeless people seek solace from the heat by going into the station, but they are often kicked by staff if they lie down, the organizers said.
The exhibit features paintings by homeless people of the things that plague their sleep, with many painting mosquitoes, cars and rainy nights.
Speaking with the Liberty Times (sister newspaper of the Taipei Times), exhibit participants — a man surnamed Tsai (蔡), a man surnamed Wu (吳), a married couple surnamed Chang (張), a man nicknamed A-Tsai (阿財) and a woman nicknamed A-Chun (阿春) — said nights outside the station are loud, even in the early morning.
As the station connects various rail networks, including the airport line, people can be heard pulling luggage at all hours of the day and night, they said, adding that scooters, cars and intercity buses also never stop.
Construction workers begin their work day at about 3am, they said, adding that if they manage to sleep through the noise, they wake up between 4am and 6am at the latest.
A-Tsai said that since quality sleep is impossible during the night, in the daytime he tries to get some rest inside the air-conditioned station.
However, while they are allowed to sit on benches inside the station, if they lie down, they are disturbed by station staff.
“The minute I lie on a bench, a staff member will tap me on the shoulder and ask me: ‘Is Taipei your house?’” he said, adding that he was once kicked by a staff member when he fell asleep on a bench.
Wu, whose father passed away a year ago, used the exhibit to paint his father’s pet turtle and an apple symbolizing good fortune.
The exhibit is open to the public every Friday, Saturday and Sunday from 1pm to 6pm at 161 Guangzhou St in Wanhua District (萬華).
The event was organized by Cool Loud (台灣當代漂泊協會), Dream City Building (台灣夢想城鄉營造協會) and White House Art (白舍藝術).
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