Reality Impalpable (不確定的真相) is a solo exhibition of works by Chinese artist Li Hui (李暉). Li’s light installations — including one composed of 13,000 LEDs — are meant to serve as a symbol of China’s hectic and rapidly changing society, particularly his hometown of Beijing, which is contrasted with the philosophies of Buddhism and Confucianism.
■ Museum of Contemporary Art, Taipei (MOCA, Taipei), 39 Changan W Rd, Taipei City (台北市長安西路39號), tel: (02) 2552-3720. Open Tuesdays to Sundays from 10am to 6pm. Admission: NT$50
■ Opening reception on Friday at 6pm. Until June 26
Photo courtesy of MOCA, Taipei
Return to the Essence (返本歸真) surveys Taiwan’s abstract painting scene through the work of five artists: Chu Teh-i (曲德益), Lee Shi-chi (李錫奇), Tsong Pu (莊普), Yang Chi-hung (楊識宏) and Hsueh Pao-shia (薛保瑕).
■ Red Gold Fine Art (赤粒藝術), 15, Ln 116, Da-an Rd Sec 1, Taipei City (台北市大安路一段116巷15號), tel: (02) 8772-5887. Open Tuesdays to Sundays from 11am to 7pm
■ Opening reception on Sunday at 3pm. Until May 29
Modigliani and his Circle showcases works by and documents about Italian figurative painter Amedeo Modigliani and some of his friends and contemporaries, including Moise Kisling and Max Jacob. This is the first exhibition dedicated to Modigliani in Asia.
■ Kaohsiung Museum of Fine Arts, 80 Meishuguan Rd, Greater Kaohsiung (高雄市美術館路80號), tel: (07) 555-0331. Open Tuesdays to Sundays from 9am to 5pm. Admission: NT$260
■ Until July 31
Shanghai’s influx of foreign influences toward the end of the 19th century set traditional Chinese ink painting on a new trajectory, as an exhibit of 20 works by 16 artists at 99 Degrees Art Center attempts to show. The pluralistic tradition that evolved from the merging of disparate cultures and artistic styles continues to the present day. The works on exhibit span the past 100 years and include examples by Ren Bonian (任伯年), Wu Changshuo (吳昌碩), Huang Binhong (黃賓虹) and Chang Dai-chien (張大千).
■ 99 Degrees Art Center (99度藝術中心), 5F, 259, Dunhua S Rd Sec 1, Taipei City (台北市敦化南路一段259號5樓), tel: (02) 2700-3099. Open Tuesdays to Sundays from 11am to 6pm
■ Until May 29
The Animal’s Soliloquy (動物的獨白) presents a new series of surrealist and psychedelic paintings of animals by Johnny Leo (廖文彬). Leo’s dreamy paintings address environmental degradation.
■ Butchart Contemporary Art Space (布查當代藝術空間), 155, Linong St Sec 2, Taipei City (台北市立農街二段155號), tel: (02) 2820-9920. Open daily from 11am to 9:30pm
■ Until May 16
Sound Creature (聲音生物) is an exhibition of sound installations featuring environmental sound artist (wind, waves, water) Wang Fu-jui (王福瑞), cassette tape experimenter (classical music) Chang Yung-ta (張永達) and interactive sound installation guru Hiroko Mugibayashi from Japan, among others.
■ 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), tel: (02) 2578-5630. Open Tuesdays to Sundays from 1pm to 6pm.
■ Until May 8
In 2020, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) announced plans to establish a semiconductor foundry (aka “chip fab”) in Phoenix, Arizona. This has expanded into a whole cluster of fabs and TSMC has plans to expand further, with an eye on Texas. Technically, this is not TSMC’s first foray into the US. In 1996, TSMC Washington was established in Camas, Washington. When the Arizona expansion was announced, then-retired TSMC founder Morris Chang (張忠謀) panned the plans as “futile,” citing high costs and labor problems encountered in that first investment. He has been proven wrong, as the Arizona investments today produce high
A February 2023 paper by Andrew Chubb for the Asia Society Policy Institute explores the possibilities and consequences of an attempt by the armed forces of the People’s Republic of China (PRC) to seize an island currently held by the Republic of China (ROC). After discussing the Fujian coastal islands and the ROC-held islands in the South China Sea, Chubb moves to Penghu. “The most consequential target for a PRC island seizure would be the Penghu archipelago,” Chubb writes. The Penghu archipelago, with its major port in Makung City (馬公), has long been a stepping stone to Taiwan. The pirate Lin
Nov. 2 to Nov. 8 After 41 years in exile and the enemy closing in, the Ming Dynasty’s Prince of Ningjing (寧靖王) decided to meet his end in Taiwan. So did the five women who accompanied him. The Qing had captured Penghu in July 1683, and the Tainan-based Kingdom of Tungning appeared doomed. According to the Taiwan Prefecture Annals (台灣府志), compiled in 1696, the prince announced his intention to his five concubines, telling them they were free to remarry or become nuns. Lady Yuan (袁氏), Lady Wang (王氏), Xiugu (秀姑), Sister Mei (梅姐) and Sister He (荷姐)
Life has become unexpectedly easier and more lucrative for some shepherds on the world’s highest plateau, after China began carpeting the area with solar panels in a drive to diversify its energy mix. “It has made grazing much easier for us,” said Li Yonglin, 25, one of those allowed to freely graze their sheep in a fenced solar park in Gonghe, a county in the northwestern province of Qinghai. “In the morning, we simply open the gate to the sheep pen and don’t really need to look after them. They come back on their own in the evening, and we just pen
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