Few names in Taiwan’s art scene are as recognizable as Chen Chieh-jen’s (陳界仁). On the Empire’s Borders (在帝國的邊界上) is a comprehensive exhibition of Chen’s work, particularly his video installation, since 1996.
From his early guerilla performances and underground exhibitions before the lifting of Martial Law in 1987 to his exploration of Taiwan’s modern history — particularly its transformation from a colonial to a consumerist society — Chen’s easily accessible work covers the gamut of post-modern critical discourse.
“Taiwanese society has lost the ability to think about the future from the context of the past,” Chen said. This exhibit could serve as an antidote to the facile public discourse that distracts much of the country’s popular media.
■ Taipei Fine Arts Museum (TFAM), 181, Zhongshan N Rd Sec 3, Taipei City (台北市中山北路三段181號). Open Tuesdays to Sundays from 9:30am to 5:30pm, closes at 8:30pm on Saturdays. Tel: (02) 2595-7656
■ Begins Saturday. Until Nov. 14
Employing philosopher Susanne Langer’s notion that art is composed of abstracted and simplified symbols of human feeling, Feeling and Form (情感與形式) is an exhibition of painters working in figuration, abstraction and expressionism. The four exhibitors are Jiun Hsieh (謝鴻均), Huang Zhi-zang (黃致陽), Chen Chien-jung (陳建榮) and Tang Jo-hung
(黨若洪).
■ Sakshi Gallery (夏可喜當代藝術), 33 Yitong St, Taipei City (台北市伊通街33號). Open Tuesdays to Saturdays from 1:30pm to 9:30pm, closes at 7:30pm on Sundays. Tel: (02) 2516-5386
■ Until Oct. 3
Living With Art (生活的藝術) brings together eight Japanese and five Taiwanese artists spanning a range of ages and genres — though mainly painting and sculpture. Like the Sakshi show, Living With Art presents a broad range of genres — figurative, abstract and expressionist — as a response to new media art forms.
■ Yi&C Contemporary Art (易雅居當代空間), 22, Ln 252, Dunhua S Rd Sec 1, Taipei City (台北市敦化南路一段252巷22號). Open Mondays to Fridays from 10am to 7pm and Saturdays and Sundays from 2pm to 6pm. Tel: (02) 2781-3131
■ Until Sept. 10
Co(op)llaboration (分化�合作) is a two-man exhibit by German artist Lars Koepsel and Australian artist Vernon Ah Kee. The installation, comprising video and photography, examines the proliferation of neo-Nazi symbols and codes across Germany and the world since the fall of the Berlin Wall. The artists are interested in how racism “codifies itself and how culture, nationalist and ethnic, informs racism and racist expression.”
■ IT Park Gallery (伊通公園), 2F-3F, 41 Yitong St, Taipei City (台北市伊通街41號2-3樓). Open Tuesdays to Saturdays from 1pm to 10pm.
Tel: (02) 2507-7243
■ Until Sept. 18
Most shows on traditional Chinese ink painting feature numerous scrolls with brief explanations. The Sound of Many Birds, the Moving Nature of Each (百禽百聲音一動一情性) goes in the opposite direction by focusing on a single work, Three Friends and a Hundred Birds (三友百禽) by early Ming Dynasty artist Bian Wenjin (邊文進), and then using it to discuss landscape and bird painting in general. It’s a novel approach to a notoriously esoteric art form. Viewers learn about the work’s motifs, what they symbolize and how they fit into the framework of Chinese painting.
■ 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.
Tel: (02) 2881-2021. Admission: NT$160
■ Until Sept. 25
Call for submissions
Singapore-based Oakwood Asia Pacific is holding a photography competition called Trust Is … to celebrate the company’s 50th anniversary. Amateur photographers from across Asia are invited to capture their idea of trust in pictures. The 12 finalists will get the opportunity to showcase their entries, which will be produced as a set of postcards, in a traveling exhibition. The winner, who will be selected by a panel of experts and a public voting process, will walk away with a grand prize worth more than NT$353,000, including a Canon EOS 5D Mark II.
■ This competition is only open to amateur photographers who live in Asia. For complete details, go to www.oakwoodasiapacific.com/50anniversary/competition.php.
■ Competition runs from Sept. 1 to Nov. 15
There is no politician today more colorful than Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) legislator Hsu Chiao-hsin (徐巧芯). The recall vote against her on July 26 will test the limits of her unique style, making it one of the most fascinating to watch. Taiwan has a long history of larger-than-life, controversial and theatrical politicians. As far back as 1988, lawmaker Chu Kao-cheng (朱高正) was the first to brawl and — legend has it — was the first to use the most foul Taiwanese Hokkien curse on the floor of the legislature. Current Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) lawmaker Wang Shih-chien (王世堅) has become famous
July 14 to July 20 When Lin Tzu-tzeng (林資曾) arrived in Sansia (三峽) in 1830, he found the local conditions ideal for indigo dyeing. Settlers had already planted indigo across the nearby hills, the area’s water was clean and low in minerals and the river offered direct transport to the bustling port of Bangka (艋舺, modern-day Wanhua District in Taipei). Lin hailed from Anxi (安溪) in Fujian Province, which was known for its dyeing traditions. He was well-versed in the craft, and became wealthy after opening the first dyeing workshop in town. Today, the sign for the Lin Mao Hsing (林茂興) Dye
Xu Pengcheng looks over his shoulder and, after confirming the coast is clear, helps his crew of urban adventurers climb through the broken window of an abandoned building. Long popular in the West, urban exploration, or “urbex” for short, sees city-dwelling thrill-seekers explore dilapidated, closed-off buildings and areas — often skirting the law in the process. And it is growing in popularity in China, where a years-long property sector crisis has left many cities dotted with empty buildings. Xu, a 29-year-old tech worker from the eastern city of Qingdao, has amassed hundreds of thousands of followers for his photos of rundown schools and
At times, it almost seems that former president Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) is out to sabotage the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT). As if on cue, with the recall campaigns against KMT lawmakers in full swing, Ma thought it would be a good time to lead a delegation of students to China and attend the 17th Straits Forum (海峽論壇) and meet with Wang Huning (王滬寧), the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) Politburo member entrusted by Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) to be his second in command on Taiwan policy and to run the United Front Work Department (UFWD) in charge of subverting enemies,
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