Taipei’s Chongqing S Rd (重慶南路) is still called Bookstore Street (書店街), but the fortunes of its stores have waned considerably in the age of online vendors and digital publishers. Think X Chongqing S Rd (思想，重慶南路) looks back at the years between 1950 and 1980, when the street was a powerhouse of Chinese-language publishing. Using archival footage, rare books, replicas of bookshops and other interactive installations, this exhibition tells the story of a unique business ecosystem in its heyday. For more information, visit thinkread.asdc.tw
■ Songshan Cultural and Creative Park (松山文創園區), 133, Guangfu S Rd, Taipei City (台北市光復南路133號), tel: (02) 8170-5125 ext. 6625, open daily from 9am to 5pm. Free admission
■ Until Oct. 26
Photo courtesy of VT Artsalon
As part of a new series titled Pop-up Bluerider, contemporary artist Nick Chou (周立) and fashion designer Isabelle Wen (溫慶珠) offer a crossover exhibition at Bluerider Art for one weekend only. Photography, installation, fashion and other media themed on the sea will be on view tomorrow and Sunday.
■ Bluerider Art, 9F, 25-1, Renai Rd Sec 4, Taipei City (北市仁愛路四段25-1號9樓), tel: (02) 2752-2238, open during this exhibition from 11am to 7pm
■ Until Sunday
Photo courtesy of National Museum of History
The National Museum of History (國立歷史博物館) today opens a large-scale retrospective on modernist Liu Kuo-sung (劉國松). It exhibits over 100 paintings, many borrowed from collections in Singapore, Malaysia and Indonesia, to map the career of an artist widely regarded as the father of modern Chinese ink painting. Born in China’s Anhui Province, Liu moved to Taiwan in 1949, studied fine art at National Taiwan Normal University and went on to found the Fifth Moon Painting Society (五月畫會). Now 82, Liu is internationally acclaimed for an oeuvre that fuses the monumentality of Chinese ink landscapes with western abstraction.
■ National Museum of History, 49 Nanhai Rd, Taipei City (台北市南海路49號), tel: (02) 2361-0270. Open Tuesdays to Sundays from 10am to 6pm. General admission: NT$30
■ Opens today. Until Nov. 23
Photo courtesy of Soka Art Taipei
Since 1983, Chinese artist Liang Quan (梁銓) has been developing works that embody chan (禪), a Buddhist school of thought that values the state of non-being or emptiness. His latest practice is dipping strips of paper in watered-down ink or tea and piecing them together, forming an expanse so pale it seems almost empty. Solo exhibition Joy of Tea (淡茶) displays 17 pieces, half of which were completed this year.
■ Soka Art Center (索卡藝術中心), 2F, 57, Dunhua S Rd Sec 1, Taipei (台北市敦化南路一段57號2樓), tel: (02) 2570-0390. Open Tuesdays to Sundays from 11am to 9pm
■ Until Oct. 26
At solo show Balcony City Civilization Quotation (陽台文明城市語錄), Lin Shu-Kai (林書楷) makes maps of imaginary places that are based on Greater Tainan. He draws aerial views of cities teeming with temples, networked alleys and flowering fields — surreal scenes inspired by memories of home.
■ VT Artsalon (非常廟藝文空間), B1, 17, Ln 56, Xinsheng Rd Sec 3, Taipei City (台北市新生北路三段56巷17號B1), tel: (02) 2597-2525, open Tuesdays through Fridays from 11:30am to 7pm, Saturdays from 1:30pm to 9pm, closed Sundays and Mondays
■ Until Nov. 1
Responspace (空間回應) is a mini-exhibit of interactive art in Taipei Main Station’s K Underground Mall, presented by the Museum of Contemporary Art, Taipei. Pieces include Mirrorwall (渦影), a misbehaving mirror, and Inflatable Cloud (氣墊雲), a sensor-fitted installation of plastic bags that inflate in response to movement. Produced by a team of architects, digital engineers and designers, the projects invite passersby to connect with their surroundings and to become performers.
■ Eslite Taipei Main Station store at K12 West Arts Plaza, B1, 47, Zhongxiao W Rd, Taipei City (台北市忠孝西路一段47號B1), tel: (02) 2552- 3721. Free admission
■ Until Nov. 9
Jason Han says that the e-arrival card spat between South Korea and Taiwan shows that Seoul is signaling adherence to its “one-China” policy, while Taiwan’s response reflects a reciprocal approach. “Attempts to alter the diplomatic status quo often lead to tit-for-tat responses,” the analyst on international affairs tells the Taipei Times, adding that Taiwan may become more cautious in its dealings with South Korea going forward. Taipei has called on Seoul to correct its electronic entry system, which currently lists Taiwan as “China (Taiwan),” warning that reciprocal measures may follow if the wording is not changed before March 31. As of yesterday,
The Portuguese never established a presence on Taiwan, but they must have traded with the indigenous people because later traders reported that the locals referred to parts of deer using Portuguese words. What goods might the Portuguese have offered their indigenous trade partners? Among them must have been slaves, for the Portuguese dealt slaves across Asia. Though we often speak of “Portuguese” ships, imagining them as picturesque vessels manned by pointy-bearded Iberians, in Asia Portuguese shipping between local destinations was crewed by Asian seamen, with a handful of white or Eurasian officers. “Even the great carracks of 1,000-2,000 tons which plied
Nuclear power is getting a second look in Southeast Asia as countries prepare to meet surging energy demand as they vie for artificial intelligence-focused data centers. Several Southeast Asian nations are reviving mothballed nuclear plans and setting ambitious targets and nearly half of the region could, if they pursue those goals, have nuclear energy in the 2030s. Even countries without current plans have signaled their interest. Southeast Asia has never produced a single watt of nuclear energy, despite long-held atomic ambitions. But that may soon change as pressure mounts to reduce emissions that contribute to climate change, while meeting growing power needs. The
It’s only half the size of its more famous counterpart in Taipei, but the Botanical Garden of the National Museum of Nature Science (NMNS, 國立自然科學博物館植物園) is surely one of urban Taiwan’s most inviting green spaces. Covering 4.5 hectares immediately northeast of the government-run museum in Taichung’s North District (北區), the garden features more than 700 plant species, many of which are labeled in Chinese but not in English. Since its establishment in 1999, the site’s managers have done their best to replicate a number of native ecosystems, dividing the site into eight areas. The name of the Coral Atoll Zone might
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