When Rembrandt Meets Audubon (當林布蘭遇見奧杜本) brings together the ornithological photographs of Flickr sensations John&Fish, the moniker for photographers Sung Yi-chang (宋宜璋) and Hsiao Tsun-hsien (蕭尊賢). Employing detailed compositions reminiscent of Rembrandt’s portraiture combined with an obvious fascination for all things avian, the brother and sister duo traveled to Taiwan’s remote areas to capture birds in their natural habitats and show them building nests, catching fish and feeding their young.
■ Taiwan International Visual Arts Center (台灣國際視覺藝術中心), 29, Ln 45 Liaoning St, Taipei City (台北市遼寧街45巷29號). Open Tuesdays to Sundays from noon to 6pm. Tel: (02) 2773-3347
■ Opening on Saturday at 3pm. Until Aug. 1
The German Institute in Taiwan will hold a photo and poster exhibit marking the 20th anniversary of the reunification of Germany. The 20 posters are from 1989 and 1990, when Germans celebrated the fall of the Berlin Wall and the end of the Cold War. The 12 photos on display show scenes from the two Germanys between the 1960s and 1990s.
■ Zhongshan MRT Station, Taipei City
■ Begins tomorrow. Until July 31
South Wind Blows (南風吹) is a solo exhibition of painting, sculpture and installation by Jun T. Lai (賴純純) at her recently opened gallery, Jun’ Space. The inaugural show, a kind of retrospective presented by and for the artist, illustrates Lai’s use of color in her art practice and presents work that she created during stints in Tokyo (1977) and Dulan (2007), as well as her ongoing Taipei-based output.
■ Jun’ Space (純’空間), 5, Ln 87, Yitong St, Taipei City (台北市伊通街87巷5號). Open Thursdays to Saturdays from 2pm to 9pm, or by appointment. Tel: (02) 2507-5128
■ Until Sept. 11
For those who can’t make it to the Kaohsiung Museum of Fine Arts (高雄市立美術館) for the retrospective of Taiwan-born, London-based artist Richard Lin (林壽宇), Jia Art Gallery currently offers an abbreviated look at his work and career in a solo show entitled Soliloquy (獨白). Like the Kaohsiung exhibition, the gallery displays work covering Lin’s entire oeuvre.
■ Jia Art Gallery (家畫廊), 1F-1, 30, Zhongshan N Rd Sec 3, Taipei City (台北市中山北路三段30號1樓之1). Open Tuesdays to Sundays from 10am to 6pm. Tel: (02) 2591-4302
■ Until July 25
Time (時光) presents oil, acrylic and mixed media works by three emerging Chinese artists. The exhibitors — Yang Shuangqing (楊雙慶), Liu Yujie (劉玉潔) and Yu Hongbo (余洪波) — employ realist and surrealist styles to illustrate what they perceive to be the conformity, desperation and loneliness afflicting their country’s youth.
■ Michael Ku Gallery (谷公館), 4F-2, 21, Dunhua S Rd Sec 1, Taipei City (台北市敦化南路一段21號4樓之2). Open Tuesdays to Sundays from 11am to 8pm. Tel: (02) 2577-5601
■ Until Aug. 8
Hyper-Perception is a group exhibition displaying digital images, sound art and interactive installations created by five multimedia artists that highlights the dearth of more subtle sensory experiences in contemporary life.
■ National Taiwan Museum of Fine Arts (國立台灣美術館), 2, Wucyuan W Rd Sec 1, Taichung City (台中市五權西路一段2號). Open Tuesdays to Sundays from 9am to 5pm. Tel: (04) 2372-3552
■ Until Sept. 26
An Assorted Tapestry of Lustrous Beauty: Export Porcelains From the Museum Collection (錦繡自玲瓏－院藏貿易瓷特展) offers a comprehensive look at how the export of Chinese porcelain influenced the crafts of its neighbors. Divided into two sections, The Diversity of Chinese Export Porcelains and Exchanges in the Art and Craft of Ceramics, the exhibition examines the changes that took place in the styles and designs of Chinese export porcelain, ranging from the 9th century to the 19th century, and the influence Chinese ceramics had on firing practices in other
Asian countries.
■ National Palace Museum (國立故宮博物院), 221, Zhishan Rd Sec 2, Taipei City (台北市至善路二段221號). Open daily from 9am to 5pm, and until 8:30pm on Saturdays. Tel: (02) 2881-2021. Admission: NT$160
■ Until Aug. 1
Taiwan, once relegated to the backwaters of international news media and viewed as a subset topic of “greater China,” is now a hot topic. Words associated with Taiwan include “invasion,” “contingency” and, on the more cheerful side, “semiconductors” and “tourism.” It is worth noting that while Taiwanese companies play important roles in the semiconductor industry, there is no such thing as a “Taiwan semiconductor” or a “Taiwan chip.” If crucial suppliers are included, the supply chain is in the thousands and spans the globe. Both of the variants of the so-called “silicon shield” are pure fantasy. There are four primary drivers
Japan is celebrated for its exceptional levels of customer service. But the behavior of a growing number of customers and clients leaves a lot to be desired. The rise of the abusive consumer has prompted authorities in Tokyo to introduce the country’s first ordinance — a locally approved regulation — to protect service industry staff from kasuhara — the Japanese abbreviated form of “customer harassment.” While the Tokyo ordinance, which will go into effect in April, does not carry penalties, experts hope the move will highlight a growing social problem and, perhaps, encourage people to think twice before taking out their frustrations
Two years ago my wife and I went to Orchid Island off Taitung for a few days vacation. We were shocked to realize that for what it cost us, we could have done a bike vacation in Borneo for a week or two, or taken another trip to the Philippines. Indeed, most of the places we could have gone for that vacation in neighboring countries offer a much better experience than Taiwan at a much lower price. Hence, the recent news showing that tourist visits to Pingtung County’s Kenting, long in decline, reached a 27 year low this summer came
From a Brooklyn studio that looks like a cross between a ransacked Toys R Us and a serial killer’s lair, the artist David Henry Nobody Jr is planning the first survey of his career. Held by a headless dummy strung by its heels from the ceiling are a set of photographs from the turn of the century of a then 30-year-old Nobody with the former president of the US. The snapshots are all signed by Donald Trump in gold pen (Nobody supplied the pen). They will be a central piece of the New York artist’s upcoming survey in New York. This
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