Currently on display at printmaking shop MBMore is Emotions Outside Habitation (居所之外), which features Lee Hsuan-pei’s (李宣霈) linocuts of modest but whimsy homes. Lee drew his inspiration from wandering the streets and alleys of Taipei and noticing the demolition of old homes and construction of new ones. He uses pastel hues in some prints and black and white in others, though the effect in each is similar — mysterious and nostalgic.
■ MBMore (岩筆模), 275, Nanjing W Rd, Taipei City (台北市南京西路275號), tel: (02) 2558-3395. Open Tuesdays to Sundays from 11am to 7pm
■ Until Nov. 6
Photo courtesy of Mind Set Art Center
Sound artist Hsu Yen-ting (許雁婷) draws inspiration from the ocean. Waterland (水上樂園), developed during Hsu’s artist residency in the port city of Freemantle in Western Australia, is now on exhibit at the Barry Room at Taipei Artist Village. The project explores various sounds from ripples in water to crashing waves as well as the different effects the ocean renders on us, including calm and fear. Hsu says she was constantly reminded of the beaches in Taiwan during her stay in Freemantle.
■ Barry Room, Taipei Artist Village (台北國際藝術村百里廳), 7 Beiping E Rd, Taipei City (台北市北平東路7號), tel: (02) 3393-7377. Open Tuesdays to Sundays from 11am to 9pm
■ Until Nov. 6
Photo courtesy of Mind Set Art Center
On view at Galerie Pierre in Taichung is A Space Between Us (我們), a joint exhibition organized by IT Park Gallery in Taipei featuring the works of various artists including Wang Te-yu (王德瑜), Tu Wei (杜偉) and Hsieh Ta-liang (謝大良). Wang is known for her giant inflatable airbags, “balloon art inspired by aliens,” she calls them, which fill up entire rooms and are meant to be interactive as visitors are welcome to dive into them. She labels her work numerically, and the one at Galerie Pierre is No. 87. Tu’s ideas are equally kooky. The conceptual artist, who once recreated IKEA living rooms as part of an art installation, works with lasers in his current installation. His laser lights are displayed alongside Hsieh’s work, which consists of sprawling pipes laid on the ground.
■ Galerie Pierre (臻品藝術中心), 35 Jhongcheng St, Taichung City (台中市忠誠街35號), tel: (04) 2323-3215. Open Mondays to Saturdays from 9:30am to 6:30pm
■ Until Nov. 26
Photo courtesy of MBMore
Opening tomorrow at Bluerider Art is City Symphony, a solo exhibition by American artist Bryan Ida. Ida, who initially trained as a musician, discovered his love for painting in the late ‘80s. His paintings, which make use of bright colors and overlapping geometric shapes, convey a feeling of warmth reminiscent of his native southern California. Ida’s latest series focuses on the word “littoral,” which refers to water that is close to the shore. He uses this idea as an allegory to demonstrate other types of collisions such as humans and nature, urban and rural.
■ Bluerider Art (藍騎士藝術空間), 9F, 25-1, Renai Rd Sec 4, Taipei City (台北市仁愛路四段25-1號9樓), tel: (02) 2752-2238. Open Tuesdays to Saturdays from 9am to 6pm
■ Opens tomorrow. Until Nov. 26
Photo courtesy of IT Park Gallery
Every Island from Sea to Sea: Recent Philippine Art (諸海各島：菲律賓藝術聯展), which opens at Mind Set Art Center tomorrow, features the works of various Filipino artists. The country was successively colonized by Spain, the US and Japan, and themes such as national identity and the idea of home and belonging have long piqued the interest of Filipino artists. Buen Calubayan’s paintings explores the Philippines’ fraught history through interweaving personal and cultural histories. The themes in Marc Gaba’s artwork are equally exhaustive but interconnected, covering democracy, migration and his own Christian faith. His painting, Antiterrorism (Empire) takes a critical look at American “imperialism.” Also in the show is Marina Cruz, who is known for her super-realistic depictions of old, tattered dresses worn by her mother and aunt. She explores her own identity by recording and reviving these vintage garments. The exhibit is curated by Patrick Flores, art studies professor at the University of the Philippines, who will be speaking at the gallery tomorrow afternoon.
■ Mind Set Art Center (安卓藝術), 7F, 180, Heping E Rd Sec 1, Taipei City (台北市和平東路一段180號7樓), tel: (02) 2365-6008. Open Tuesdays to Saturdays from 11am to 6pm
■ The curator talk is tomorrow at 2pm, opening reception is at 4pm. Until Nov. 26
Photo courtesy of Bluerider Art
Last week saw the appearance of another odious screed full of lies from the People’s Republic of China (PRC) Ambassador to Australia, Xiao Qian (肖千), in the Financial Review, a major Australian paper. Xiao’s piece was presented without challenge or caveat. His “Seven truths on why Taiwan always will be China’s” presented a “greatest hits” of the litany of PRC falsehoods. This includes: Taiwan’s indigenous peoples were descended from the people of China 30,000 years ago; a “Chinese” imperial government administrated Taiwan in the 14th century; Koxinga, also known as Cheng Cheng-kung (鄭成功), “recovered” Taiwan for China; the Qing owned
In Taiwan’s politics the party chair is an extremely influential position. Typically this person is the presumed presidential candidate or serving president. In the last presidential election, two of the three candidates were also leaders of their party. Only one party chair race had been planned for this year, but with the Jan. 1 resignation by the currently indicted Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) of the Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) two parties are now in play. If a challenger to acting Chairman Huang Kuo-chang (黃國昌) appears we will examine that race in more depth. Currently their election is set for Feb. 15. EXTREMELY
Jan. 20 to Jan. 26 Taipei was in a jubilant, patriotic mood on the morning of Jan. 25, 1954. Flags hung outside shops and residences, people chanted anti-communist slogans and rousing music blared from loudspeakers. The occasion was the arrival of about 14,000 Chinese prisoners from the Korean War, who had elected to head to Taiwan instead of being repatriated to China. The majority landed in Keelung over three days and were paraded through the capital to great fanfare. Air Force planes dropped colorful flyers, one of which read, “You’re back, you’re finally back. You finally overcame the evil communist bandits and
They increasingly own everything from access to space to how we get news on Earth and now outgoing President Joe Biden warns America’s new breed of Donald Trump-allied oligarchs could gobble up US democracy itself. Biden used his farewell speech to the nation to deliver a shockingly dark message: that a nation which has always revered its entrepreneurs may now be at their mercy. “An oligarchy is taking shape in America of extreme wealth, power and influence that literally threatens our entire democracy, our basic rights and freedoms,” Biden said. He named no names, but his targets were clear: men like Elon Musk
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