The Photographic Journey of a Maverick (臺灣攝影獨行俠) is an exhibit of Huang Tse-hsiu’s (黃則修) photography spanning the past 70 years. The show is intended to provide a comprehensive overview of his career and visually document Taiwanese society and its changing aesthetics. Pictures from early in Huang’s career — including his iconic Longshan Temple (龍山寺) and Yehliu — Forsaken Paradise (被遺忘的樂園 — 野柳) — are juxtaposed with more recent color photos.
■ Taipei Fine Arts Museum (TFAM, 台北市立美術館), 181, Zhongshan N Rd Sec 3, Taipei City (台北市中山北路三段181號), tel: (02) 2595-7656. Open Tuesdays to Sundays from 9:30am to 5:30pm. Open until 8:30pm on Saturdays. Admission: NT$30
■ Begins Saturday. Until Jan. 29
Photo Courtesy of Chung Shun-lung
The Marker (里程碑) is a series of photos by Chung Shun-lung (鍾順龍) that examine Taiwan’s changing landscapes, particularly those affected by the construction of roads and railways.
■ Fotoaura Institute of Photography (海馬迴光畫館), 2F, 83, Chenggong Rd, Greater Tainan (台南市成功路83號2樓), tel: (06) 200-8856. Open Wednesdays to Sundays from 1pm to 8pm
■ Until Oct. 30
Reminiscent of the Past (懷舊古早味展) is a special exhibit on the work of ceramist Li Minn-hui (李明揮). Li seeks to instill a sense of nostalgia in viewers of his sentimental and realistic ceramic sculptures of everyday objects — old bicycles, tricycles, dumplings.
■ Yingge Ceramics Museum (鶯歌陶瓷博物館), 200 Wenhua Rd, Yingge Dist, New Taipei City (新北市鶯歌區文化路200號), tel: (02) 8677-2727. Open daily from 9:30am to 5pm. Closes at 6pm on Saturdays and Sundays
■ Until Oct. 16
Emperor Kangxi and the Sun King Louis XIV: Sino-Franco Encounters in Arts and Culture (康熙大帝與太陽王路易十四 — 中法藝術文化的交會特展) examines in four parts the relationship between France and China 300 years ago, when both countries were at the zenith of their power: The first section documents the lives of the Emperor Kangxi (康熙) and King Louis XIV, including their achievements; the second considers the effects that French Jesuit missionaries had on relations between the two nations; the third addresses the influences each country had on the other’s arts and culture; and the fourth illustrates the innovations that were made because of ties between China and France. The exhibit includes more than 200 objects from museums in France, China and Taiwan.
■ 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), tel: (02) 8692-5588 X2312 (10:30am to 6:30pm). Open daily from 8:30am to 6:30pm. Closes at 8:30pm on Saturdays. Admission: NT$160
■ Until Jan. 3
Dolce Stil Novo — Domestic Landscape in Contemporary Italy: Art, Fashion and Design (新式幸福風 — 當代義大利式生活展) presents the “creativity and sophistication” of contemporary Italian design, from the country’s fashion industry and furniture design to art and cuisine. The exhibition’s organizers aim to strike a balance between avant-garde creativity and classic art.
■ 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: Free
■ Until Oct. 30
The breakwater stretches out to sea from the sprawling Kaohsiung port in southern Taiwan. Normally, it’s crowded with massive tankers ferrying liquefied natural gas from Qatar to be stored in the bulbous white tanks that dot the shoreline. These are not normal times, though, and not a single shipment from Qatar has docked at the Yongan terminal since early March after the Strait of Hormuz was shuttered. The suspension has provided a realistic preview of a potential Chinese blockade, a move that would throttle an economy anchored by the world’s most advanced and power-hungry semiconductor industry. It is a stark reminder of
May 11 to May 17 Traversing the southern slopes of the Yushan Range in 1931, Japanese naturalist Tadao Kano knew he was approaching the last swath of Taiwan still beyond colonial control. The “vast, unknown territory,” protected by the “fierce” Bunun headman Dahu Ali, was “filled with an utterly endless jungle that choked the mountains and valleys,” Kano wrote. He noted how the group had “refused to submit to the measures of our authorities and entrenched themselves deep in these mountains … living a free existence spent chasing deer in the morning and seeking serow in the evening,” even describing them as
The last couple of weeks spectators in Taiwan and abroad have been treated to a remarkable display of infighting in the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) over the supplementary defense budget. The party has split into two camps, one supporting an NT$800 billion special defense budget and one supporting an NT$380 billion budget with additional funding contingent on receiving letters of acceptance (LOA) from the US. Recent media reports have said that the Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) is leaning toward the latter position. President William Lai (賴清德) has proposed NT$1.25 trillion for purchases of US arms and for development of domestic weapons
As a different column was being written, the big news dropped that Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) caucus whip Fu Kun-chi (傅?萁) announced that negotiations within his caucus, with legislative speaker Han Kuo-yu (韓國瑜) of the KMT, party Chair Cheng Li-wun (鄭麗文), Taichung Mayor Lu Shiow-yen (盧秀燕) and Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) Chair Huang Kuo-chang (黃國昌) had produced a compromise special military budget proposal. On Thursday morning, prior to meeting with Cheng over a lunch of beef noodles, Lu reiterated her support for a budget of NT$800 or NT$900 billion — but refused to comment after the meeting. Right after Fu’s
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