The Glenfiddich Distillery, famed for its single malt scotch, is also home to one of the more innovative international artist residency programs, which began in 2002. It all started when the company wanted to establish a corporate art collection at the distillery.
The artist residency, which is located in the several empty houses on the distillery premises, provides funding, accommodation and studio space for eight artists every summer and stipulates that residents have to create an artwork for the collection. Artists are asked to draw inspiration from Glenfiddich's brew and the local environment.
Taiwanese artist Yao Jui-chung (姚瑞中) spent his three-month residency creating mainly ink drawings combined with gold leaf on handmade paper. The framed results are on display at the IT Park until Dec. 8
PHOTOS:COURTESY OF YAO JUI-CHUNG
The exhibition opening last week at the IT Park was attended by the residency's director, clad in a kilt and sporting dreadlocks.
The residency - located in Dufftown, Scotland, with a population of 2,000 - was a contrast to the hectic pace of Taipei life, which Yao is used to. The artist, who is well-known in the capital's art circle, helps run the nearby VT Art Salon, has published several books, makes videos, photos and drawings and teaches at a university. The Scottish town's slow pace and the country's pre-Christian roots sparked Yao's frenetic burst of creativity.
The drawings include depictions of Yao's hobbies - bathing in hot springs, mountain climbing, appreciating nature, playing chess - while referring to classical Chinese painting from the late Ming Dynasty.
PHOTOS:COURTESY OF YAO JUI-CHUNG
Yao's previous work took a critical view of Taiwan's turbulent political and social situation. In his new works, he has continued painting his dog-faced characters, which represent cynics and devils. Yet, these drawings seem to be the weakest of the series, perhaps because they illustrate the contentious dichotomy of local politics and lose any poetic feeling.
Yao's strongest drawings are those that reference Scottish mythology, ancient Pictish stone circles, the dramatic Scottish highlands and Chinese landscape painting.
Wonderful: The Holy Ridge under the Milk-way, a figuratively-shaped mountain that is formed by intensely worked black ink scribbles, shows the artist's erratic, quick-handed movements. Gold leaf rivulets stream forth from mysterious inner mountain sources. This huge mountain range dwarfs a red-cloaked figure who appears to be at one with nature, enjoying the heavenliness of the scene.
PHOTOS:COURTESY OF YAO JUI-CHUNG
Graphically, Wonderful: Crossing the Taiwan Strait by a Leaf is a perfect work of art. White crested waves grasping the air like greedy hands are finely delineated in black lines and carry a delicate Buddha-like figure on a small gold leaf.
The mystical Wonderful: Looking the Waterfall in Tain-Da-Na is a good example of Yao's merging of Scottish and Chinese landscapes. It feels like a real place, but also a dreamlike, imaginary landscape.
Yao, who abandoned the classical for the avant-garde, was pleasantly surprised to rediscover the richness of traditional art. It was his studied knowledge of the past that helped him create something new. And that is probably one of the best reasons to have an artist residency program. I'll drink to that.
June 9 to June 15 A photo of two men riding trendy high-wheel Penny-Farthing bicycles past a Qing Dynasty gate aptly captures the essence of Taipei in 1897 — a newly colonized city on the cusp of great change. The Japanese began making significant modifications to the cityscape in 1899, tearing down Qing-era structures, widening boulevards and installing Western-style infrastructure and buildings. The photographer, Minosuke Imamura, only spent a year in Taiwan as a cartographer for the governor-general’s office, but he left behind a treasure trove of 130 images showing life at the onset of Japanese rule, spanning July 1897 to
In an interview posted online by United Daily News (UDN) on May 26, current Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫) was asked about Taichung Mayor Lu Shiow-yen (盧秀燕) replacing him as party chair. Though not yet officially running, by the customs of Taiwan politics, Lu has been signalling she is both running for party chair and to be the party’s 2028 presidential candidate. She told an international media outlet that she was considering a run. She also gave a speech in Keelung on national priorities and foreign affairs. For details, see the May 23 edition of this column,
The Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) on May 18 held a rally in Taichung to mark the anniversary of President William Lai’s (賴清德) inauguration on May 20. The title of the rally could be loosely translated to “May 18 recall fraudulent goods” (518退貨ㄌㄨㄚˋ!). Unlike in English, where the terms are the same, “recall” (退貨) in this context refers to product recalls due to damaged, defective or fraudulent merchandise, not the political recalls (罷免) currently dominating the headlines. I attended the rally to determine if the impression was correct that the TPP under party Chairman Huang Kuo-Chang (黃國昌) had little of a
At Computex 2025, Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang (黃仁勳) urged the government to subsidize AI. “All schools in Taiwan must integrate AI into their curricula,” he declared. A few months earlier, he said, “If I were a student today, I’d immediately start using tools like ChatGPT, Gemini Pro and Grok to learn, write and accelerate my thinking.” Huang sees the AI-bullet train leaving the station. And as one of its drivers, he’s worried about youth not getting on board — bad for their careers, and bad for his workforce. As a semiconductor supply-chain powerhouse and AI hub wannabe, Taiwan is seeing