Ubiquitous Blessings of Fenghuang — Porcelain and the Phoenix in Culture and Creativity (鳳鳴八方—瓷工藝的文化創意演繹) brings together porcelain, ceramics, jade, textiles and other artifacts from throughout Chinese history to illustrate the mythological and symbolic importance of the phoenix in art. The exhibit is on the National Museum of History’s second floor. On the fourth floor, The Seal Collection of Shinde-yinhui (欣得印彙藏印展) displays more than 500 seals dating back to antiquity. Biographies of famous seal engravers — as well as calligraphy and painting done by these artists — from the Ming and Qing dynasties reveal the general development of the medium and place it in its historical context.
■ National Museum of History (國立歷史博物館), 49 Nanhai Rd, Taipei City (台北市南海路49號). Open Tuesdays to Sundays from 10am to 6pm. Tel: (02) 2361-0270. Admission is NT$30
■ Ubiquitous Blessings of Fenghuang ends July 4, the Seal Collection ends June 13
Contemporary painter and curator Lai Hsin-lung (賴新龍) splashes fragments from his unconscious on the canvas in his solo exhibit of oil paintings at La Chambre Art Gallery. Lai’s expressionist works of soaring birds and vague landscapes suggest an artist in touch with nature.
■ La Chambre Art Gallery (小室藝廊), 31, Ln 52, Siwei Rd, Taipei City (台北市四維路52巷31號). Open Tuesdays to Sundays from noon to 9pm. Tel: (02) 2700-3689
■ Until June 5
Animated Images (動畫藝術展) presents the recent work of seven artists from Belgium, Switzerland, China, Germany and the US working in photography, animation, film, video installation and the graphic novel. The exhibit explores contemporary uses of various mediums that both comment on and employ animation as a means of examining various aspects of society — often with an activist’s bent — such as environmental degradation, excessive consumption and the increased homogenization of culture under the influences of global capitalism.
■ Digital Arts Center (台北數位藝術中心), 180 Fuhua Rd, Taipei City
(台北市福華路180號). Open Tuesdays to Sundays from 10am to 6pm.
Tel: (02) 7736-0708
■ Until Sunday
Lost in the City (城市失格) offers a mystical and nostalgic look at cities across the world through the paintings of three contemporary award-winning artists: Shiau Bei-chen (蕭北辰) Hsu Pei-cheng (�?�) and Liao Zen-ping (廖震平).
■ Galerie Grand Siecle (新苑藝術), 17, Alley 51, Ln 12, Bade Rd Sec 3, Taipei City (台北市八德路三段12巷51弄17號). Open Tuesdays to Sundays from 1pm to 6pm. Tel: (02) 2578-5630
■ Until June 1
Yang Po-lin (楊柏林), an emerging sculptor whose work is on public display at the Presidential Office, Hsinchu Science Park and Kaohsiung Museum of Fine Arts, continues his creation of monumental sculptures with Here I Am (我在這裏). Yang’s sculptures project a warm sense of earthiness and show a profound concern for the environment and humanity. The sculpture on which the title of this exhibition is based employs an inflatable device in the shape of Taiwan — symbolizing the country’s need to stand up and face external pressures.
■ Museum of Contemporary Art, Taipei (MOCA, Taipei), 39 Changan W Rd, Taipei City (台北市長安西路39號). Open Tuesdays to Sundays from 10am to 6pm. Tel: (02) 2552-3720. Admission is NT$50
■ Until June 6
Contemporary Chinese painter (or “art worker” as he prefers) Ying Yefu (嬰野賦) makes his Taiwan debut with Appetizer (頭盤). Employing gongbi (工筆), a meticulous and highly detailed brush technique found in traditional Chinese painting, Ying’s work explores the pain of others through disturbing images of children in various acts of love and violence.
■ Digital Arts Center (台北數位藝術中心), 180 Fuhua Rd, Taipei City (台北市福華路180號). Open Tuesdays to Sundays from 10am to 6pm. Tel: (02) 7736-0708
■ Until June 16
The US war on Iran has illuminated the deep interdependence of Asia on flows of oil and related items as raw materials that become the basis of modern human civilization. Australians and New Zealanders had a wake up call. The crisis also emphasizes how the Philippines is a swatch of islands linked by jet fuel. These revelations have deep implications for an invasion of Taiwan. Much of the commentary on the Taiwan scenario has looked at the disruptions to world trade, which will be in the trillions. However, the Iran war offers additional specific lessons for a Taiwan scenario. An insightful
The problem with Marx’s famous remark that history repeats itself, first as tragedy, the second time as farce, is that the first time is usually farce as well. This week Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chair Cheng Li-wun (鄭麗文) made a pilgrimage to the People’s Republic of China (PRC) “to confer, converse and otherwise hob-nob” with Chinese Communist Party (CCP) officials. The visit was an instant international media hit, with major media reporting almost entirely shorn of context. “Taiwan’s main opposition leader landed in China Tuesday for a rare visit aimed at cross-strait ‘peace’”, crowed Agence-France Presse (AFP) from Shanghai. Rare!
Sunflower movement superstar Lin Fei-fan (林飛帆) once quipped that the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) could nominate a watermelon to run for Tainan mayor and win. Conversely, the DPP could run a living saint for mayor in Taipei and still lose. In 2022, the DPP ran with the closest thing to a living saint they could find: former Minister of Health and Welfare Chen Shih-chung (陳時中). During the pandemic, his polling was astronomically high, with the approval of his performance reaching as high as 91 percent in one TVBS poll. He was such a phenomenon that people printed out pop-up cartoon
What is the importance within the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) of the meeting between Xi Jinping (習近平), the leader Chinese Communist Party (CCP), and Cheng Li-wun (鄭麗文), the leader of the KMT? Local media is an excellent guide to determine how important — or unimportant — a news event is to the public. Taiwan has a vast online media ecosystem, and if a news item is gaining traction among readers, editors shift resources in near real time to boost coverage to meet the demand and drive up traffic. Cheng’s China trip is among the top headlines, but by no means
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