Art biennials (mega-exhibitions that happen every two years) are like the Olympics, bringing international prestige and recognition to host cities and outside attention to local artists, while showing the world what a civilized and cultured place the host city really is.
And biennials have proven track records for the benefits they bring in as witnessed around the world in Venice, Berlin, Havana, Istanbul, and Shanghai.
PHOTOS COURTESY OF TFAM
Taipei will host its fourth biennial, which opens Oct. 23 and runs until Jan. 23. And this definitely looks like a must-see event.
Under the auspices of the Taipei Fine Arts Museum, the Taipei Biennial commissions curators approximately six months prior to the opening date and provides a budget of about NT$20 million. Due to the short time constraints and budget, it makes research impractical, so typically the curators choose artists whose work they know.
Unlike the Shanghai Biennial that opens Sept. 28 and is organized by a team of men, this year's Taipei Biennial is curated by two women.
Barbara Vanderlinden is well known in Europe. She is the founding director of Roomade in Brussels, and was one of the co-curators for Manifesta 2.
Amy Huei-hua Cheng lives and works both in Vancouver and Taipei, and her intelligent exhibition Ruins and Civilization was recently shown at the Eslite Art Space.
After the curators are chosen for a biennial, then a theme must be decided upon. This year's theme is "Do You Believe in Reality?"
The curators write that the title "may seem to pose a paradoxical question," since reality is usually thought to refer to everything that exists in the world, and to be inseparable from truth. But the concept has long provoked philosophical debates about how we come to know this reality and how it can be authenticated as "truth." For instance, what we deem to be real in contemporary Western society is hugely influenced by the overwhelming abundance of images produced by the media each day.
The exhibition proposes to take us into each artists' reality, to see how they negotiate with the world and hopefully this experience will enrich us and give us some guidance for our own lives.
And besides, the artist list sounds very exciting.
Taiwan's artists include: Chen Chieh-jen, who is known for documenting torture scenes and the tortuous lives of factory workers; Hongjohn Lin will show his work about his uncle, founder of the UFO cult stationed in Garland, Texas; Kuo I-chen; Tsui Kuang-yu; and the photographic team of Yeh Wei-li and Liu Ho-jang who are artists in residence at Treasure Hill.
And artists that probably need no introduction: Yoko Ono and architect Rem Koolhaas.
Also included are artists with high visibility in the art world, exhibiting often in major exhibitions: Steve McQueen (UK/The Netherlands), Martha Rosler (US), The Atlas Group (Lebanon/New York), David Claerbout (Belgium), Jeremy Deller (Great Britain), Gabriel Orozco (Mexico/US), Anri Sala (Albania/France), Agnes Varda (Belgium/France), Yang Fu-dong (China), Chang Yung-ho (China), Heri Dono (Indonesia), and Raqs Media Collective (India).
And artists who haven't had as much international attention: Apotik Komik (Indonesia), Naoya Hatakeyama (Japan), Jeanne van Heeswijk with Rolf Engelen, Siebe Thissen, Frans Vermeer and Innbetween (The Netherlands), Samuel Indratma (Indonesia), The Kingpins (Australia), Franciska Lambrechts, Leong Sze-tsung (US/UK), Long March (China), Otobong Nkanga (Nigeria/The Netherlands), Pratchaya Phinthong (Thailand) and Apichatpong Weerasethakul (Thailand).
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