Taichung Bo-Ai Elementary School principal Ku Chin-yi (古金益) on Monday spoke about sharing Aboriginal culture through an exhibition of his ink-wash paintings at George Washington University in Washington.
The “Taiwan, a Beautiful Landscape” solo exhibition featuring 23 of Ku’s paintings was hosted from July 26 to Aug. 3 by the Global Taiwan Institute, a US non-profit policy incubator.
Also known by his Aboriginal name, Temi Minu, Ku has studied painting for more than 20 years and is one of the few ink-wash painters in Taiwan who focuses on Aboriginal subjects.
Photo courtesy of Ku Chin-yi
Among the paintings that were exhibited at the university’s Elliott School of International Affairs was Dajia Matsu Pilgrimage (大甲媽祖遶境), a painting inspired by the annual nine-day event.
In Bu Jian Shan Lin (不見山林), Ku portrays the struggles with identity and adaptation that Aborigines face when they attend schools outside their communities, while in Ode to Kinmen (金門頌), Ku highlights the county’s culture through its history as a former battleground.
Ku said he has always believed that a so-called “international perspective” is simply an extension of local culture.
Photo courtesy of Ku Chin-yi
He has always been proud of being a Taiwanese Aborigine and considers it a responsibility to bring his artwork, which represents local art and culture, to the US, he said.
He is pleased that through the exhibition, people from other nations were able to witness the beauty of Taiwan and learn about the nation’s “most beautiful minority group,” he said, adding that he hopes to focus on uniquely Aboriginal topics.
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