Faith brings together two artists who each examine religion. Chen Hui-chiao’s (陳慧嶠) geometrically abstract mixed-media (table tennis balls, cotton, steel and acrylic paint) installations show her fascination with dreams and astrology, and optimistically suggest a logical force directing the universe. The sculptures of Indonesian artist Titarubi question social values that dictate gender roles, particularly the clothing that Muslim women are expected to wear. Her glamorous dresses serve as “dissension against a male-oriented society where women are taught to be more mindful of their appearances than their minds.”
■ 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, Sundays from 1:30pm to 7:30pm. Tel: (02) 2516-5386
■ Opening reception on Saturday at 7pm. Until Jan. 9
Photo courtesy of A Gallery
Though its title, On the Road (迢迢路), may evoke road trips through North America, Chen Shun-chu’s (陳順築) series of photographs follows the ideas contained in Henri Cartier-Bresson’s “decisive moment,” though here Chen’s subject matter is the forms and textures of Penghu (澎湖) absent of the human subject that so preoccupied Cartier-Bresson.
■ IT Park Gallery (伊通公園), 41 Yitong St, Taipei City (台北市伊通街41號). Open Tuesdays to Saturdays from 1pm to 10pm. Tel: (02) 2507-7243
■ Opening reception on Saturday at 7pm. Until Jan. 1
A Sterile Room (無菌室) presents the latest oil paintings by Huang Yi-sheng (黃頤勝). Huang’s representational paintings of sparrows and sheep in pastoral settings imagine a bygone age of simplicity. Huang says his art forms an alternate reality founded on the world we are familiar with.
■ A Gallery (一畫廊), 22, Alley 36, Ln 147, Xinyi Rd Sec 3, Taipei City (台北市信義路三段147巷36弄22號). Open Mondays to Saturdays from 1pm to 9pm. Tel: (02) 2702-3327
■ Opening reception on Friday at 5pm. Until Jan. 8
Masters of Modern & Contemporary Chinese Ink Painting (中國近現代水墨畫名家特展) brings together a number of well-known living and deceased Chinese and Taiwanese artists to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the Republic of China’s founding, which serves as the exhibit’s time frame. The exhibition juxtaposes the various styles of these ink painters to delineate the development of the form, from the traditional to the modern to the contemporary. The work of early China-trained practitioners, including Lin Feng-mian (林風眠) and Chang Dai-chien (張大千) — who would later fall under the rubric of abstract expressionism — are shown alongside the work of later Taiwan-born, Japan-trained practitioners such as Lin Yu-shan (林玉山).
■ 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: NT$30
■ Until Jan. 2
A Contemplative Journey (苦行觀化－劉文隆山水畫展) showcases the ink paintings of Liu Wen-long (劉文隆) from 1999 to 2008. Liu’s vivid portrayal of towering mountains and rugged rocks follow the traditional approach to literati painting. However, his works are distinguishable by their unique composition and perspective, depicting close-range details of the landscape in some places and providing panoramic views in others.
■ Kaohsiung Museum of Fine Arts (高雄市立美術館), 80 Meishuguan Rd, Kaohsiung City (高雄市美術館路80號). Open Tuesdays to Sundays from 9am to 5pm. Tel: (07) 555 0331. Admission: Free
■ Until Dec. 28
From Heroic Expression to Resplendent Color (從狂狷豪邁到絢麗色彩) is a retrospective exhibit on Walasse Ting (丁雄泉) that offers a comprehensive overview of the artist’s career from the 1950s until his death earlier this year. Ting experimented with many styles —especially abstract expressionist and neo-figurative painting — over his long career before arriving at his more mature works, which focus on traditional subjects such as women, flowers, plants and birds.
■ Taipei Fine Arts Museum (TFAM), 181, Zhongshan N Rd Sec 3, Taipei City (台北市中山北路三段181號). Open Tuesdays to Sundays from 9am to 10pm; closes at 6pm on Mondays. Tel: (02) 2595-7656. Admission: NT$Free
■ Until Feb. 13
The Great Master of Fairy Tales: the Hans C. Andersen Bicentenary Exhibition is an ideal exhibit for anyone who enjoys a good yarn. The exhibition focuses on the life and works of Andersen through animation and walls of over-sized books.
■ 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 through Sundays from 9am to 5pm. Tel: (04) 2372-3552. Admission: Free
■ Until Feb. 20
March 24 to March 30 When Yang Bing-yi (楊秉彝) needed a name for his new cooking oil shop in 1958, he first thought of honoring his previous employer, Heng Tai Fung (恆泰豐). The owner, Wang Yi-fu (王伊夫), had taken care of him over the previous 10 years, shortly after the native of Shanxi Province arrived in Taiwan in 1948 as a penniless 21 year old. His oil supplier was called Din Mei (鼎美), so he simply combined the names. Over the next decade, Yang and his wife Lai Pen-mei (賴盆妹) built up a booming business delivering oil to shops and
Indigenous Truku doctor Yuci (Bokeh Kosang), who resents his father for forcing him to learn their traditional way of life, clashes head to head in this film with his younger brother Siring (Umin Boya), who just wants to live off the land like his ancestors did. Hunter Brothers (獵人兄弟) opens with Yuci as the man of the hour as the village celebrates him getting into medical school, but then his father (Nolay Piho) wakes the brothers up in the middle of the night to go hunting. Siring is eager, but Yuci isn’t. Their mother (Ibix Buyang) begs her husband to let
In late December 1959, Taiwan dispatched a technical mission to the Republic of Vietnam. Comprising agriculturalists and fisheries experts, the team represented Taiwan’s foray into official development assistance (ODA), marking its transition from recipient to donor nation. For more than a decade prior — and indeed, far longer during Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) rule on the “mainland” — the Republic of China (ROC) had received ODA from the US, through agencies such as the International Cooperation Administration, a predecessor to the United States Agency for International Development (USAID). More than a third of domestic investment came via such sources between 1951
For the past century, Changhua has existed in Taichung’s shadow. These days, Changhua City has a population of 223,000, compared to well over two million for the urban core of Taichung. For most of the 1684-1895 period, when Taiwan belonged to the Qing Empire, the position was reversed. Changhua County covered much of what’s now Taichung and even part of modern-day Miaoli County. This prominence is why the county seat has one of Taiwan’s most impressive Confucius temples (founded in 1726) and appeals strongly to history enthusiasts. This article looks at a trio of shrines in Changhua City that few sightseers visit.
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