Musica Mobile, a Poetics of Sound and Movement (聲動) is a group exhibition of audiovisual works co-organized by the Taipei Fine Arts Museum (台北市立美術館) and National Center of Musical Creation in Lyon. Curator James Giroudon brings together 28 artists from Taiwan and abroad to explore the question: “How does movement transverse through space and time?” Over the centuries, there have been many artists who have explored ideas concerning movement — the developments of futurism, cubism and optical art of the 20th century, for example, continue to influence the arts. Pascal Frament’s Like a Point is an installation that projects words by French scholar Blaise Pascal onto the visitors palm. Lee Ming-wei’s (李明維) The Quartet Project (四重奏計畫) is another interactive work that plays 19th century Czech composer Antonin Dvorak’s quartet American. A collaborative project between French artists Stephane Borrel, Christophe Lebreton and RANDOM (lab), Smartland-Divertimento, consists of a cluster of cellphones listening, responding and glowing in the dark. A phone application is available for download, which allows the audience to engage with the devices on view.
■ Taipei Fine Arts Museum (台北市立美術館 TFAM), 181, Zhongshan N Rd Sec 3, Taipei (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 and until 8:30pm on Saturdays
■ Until July 14
Photo Courtesy of Tina Keng Gallery
The Kuandu Museum of Fine Arts (關渡美術館) presents Pacific Pirate (太平洋海盜), a collaborative project between Writing FACTory, a research-based project initiated by Taiwanese artist Chang Wen-hsuan (張紋瑄) and RRD, a Mexico City-based independent platform for the production and distribution of printed and audiovisual content. The two groups examine the shared histories of Taiwan and Mexico — both are colonial countries and have a complex history with a powerful neighbor. Re-DBT is a collection of over a hundred videos that were submitted by open call from Taiwan, Mexico, Vietnam, Thailand and Brazil. These videos vary in length, genre and degree of originality. #PiratePirateManifesto is an installation of documents and video that address the idea of freedom in the context of today’s copyright regulations.
■ Kuandu Museum of Fine Arts (關渡美術館), 1 Xueyuan Rd, Taipei City (台北市學園路1號), tel: (02) 2896-1000 X 2432. Open Tuesdays to Sundays from 10am to 5pm
■ Until June 30
Photo Courtesy of White Stone Gallery Taipei
GUTAI-JIN in Taipei (具體人在台北) at Whitestone Gallery is a group exhibition of the post-war Japanese art group Gutai Art Association. Founded in 1954, the radical collective aimed to go beyond abstraction, to abandon traditional art and to “present concrete proof that our spirit is free,” writes the exhibition press release. Led by artist Jiro Yoshihara, Gutai created installations, performances and theatrical events in search of a new art language. Jiro’s motto, “Do what has never been done before,” exerted a strong influence on the group and the spirit of Gutai continued to thrive in the individual artists despite the group’s dissolution in 1974. The title of the show, which literally translates to Gutai-person, encapsulates the long-lasting impact of the group on 12 of the artists in the exhibition. Tsuyoshi Maekawa, a protege of Jiro Yoshihara, is known for painting on and manipulating jute rice bag surfaces with enamel and other materials. The late Shozo Shimamoto was a co-founder of Gutai known for his contributions in mail art, a genre that involves sending artworks through the postal service.
■ White Stone Gallery (白石畫廊), 1 Jihu Rd, Taipei City (台北市基湖路1號), tel: (02) 8751-1185. Opens Tuesdays to Sundays from 11am to 9pm.
■ Until May 12
Photo Courtesy of Taipei Fine Art Museum
Wearing Asia — The Exchange and Creation of Textiles (穿上亞洲-織物的交流與想像) is currently on view at the southern branch of The National Palace Museum. The exhibition includes fabrics and wardrobes in the museum collection, including selections from China, Japan, Tibet, India and Indonesia. These artifacts demonstrate different styles of each cultural region, including various techniques of spinning, dyeing and ornamentation. For example, China was known for its mastery of smooth silk, while India produced premium quality dyed cotton fabrics that became popular worldwide. The exhibition not only highlights the originality of various textile cultures, it also offers insight into the cross-regional exchanges achieved through the flow of trade. Batik Lower Body Wrapper with Design of Cloud on a Red Ground is a 20th century Indonesian textile that features repeating patterns of Chinese-style clouds. The detailed work includes different shades of color and gradation techniques to achieve a three-dimensional illusion. The piece is from Cirebon, a northern port in Java, where motifs such as clouds, rocks, dragons and phoenixes are typically found on local batik cotton fabric.
■ Southern branch of the National Palace Museum(國立故宮博物院南部院區), 888 Gugong Blvd Taibao City, Chiayi County (嘉義縣太保市故宮大道888號), tel: (06) 362-0777. Open Tuesdays to Sundays from 9am to 5pm
■ Until July 28
Photo Courtesy of Kuandu Museum of Fine Arts
For Hong Kong artist Ying Hung (洪少瑛), art making is a continuous process of exploring ideas around culture and identity, addressing sociocultural issues of the past and present. Mind and Matter: Derivation — Ying Hung Solo Exhibition (神思物遊) is her latest solo exhibition organized by Tina Keng Gallery. The title refers to a 5th Century Chinese text, The Literary Mind and the Carving of Dragons (文心雕龍), by Liu Xie (劉勰), where he explores human emotions and their impact of art. Hung’s exhibition also responds to the creative process and its connection to spirituality. Drawing inspiration from the history of human civilization, natural landscapes and the values that they allude to, such as strength, transcendence and eternity.
■ Tina Keng Gallery (耿畫廊), 15, Ln 548, Ruiguang Rd, Taipei City (台北市瑞光路548巷15號), tel: (02) 2659-0798. Open Tuesdays to Sundays from 10am to 7pm
■ Until May 26
Photo Courtesy of Taipei Fine Art Museum
June 23 to June 29 After capturing the walled city of Hsinchu on June 22, 1895, the Japanese hoped to quickly push south and seize control of Taiwan’s entire west coast — but their advance was stalled for more than a month. Not only did local Hakka fighters continue to cause them headaches, resistance forces even attempted to retake the city three times. “We had planned to occupy Anping (Tainan) and Takao (Kaohsiung) as soon as possible, but ever since we took Hsinchu, nearby bandits proclaiming to be ‘righteous people’ (義民) have been destroying train tracks and electrical cables, and gathering in villages
Dr. Y. Tony Yang, Associate Dean of Health Policy and Population Science at George Washington University, argued last week in a piece for the Taipei Times about former president Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) leading a student delegation to the People’s Republic of China (PRC) that, “The real question is not whether Ma’s visit helps or hurts Taiwan — it is why Taiwan lacks a sophisticated, multi-track approach to one of the most complex geopolitical relationships in the world” (“Ma’s Visit, DPP’s Blind Spot,” June 18, page 8). Yang contends that the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) has a blind spot: “By treating any
This year will go down in the history books. Taiwan faces enormous turmoil and uncertainty in the coming months. Which political parties are in a good position to handle big changes? All of the main parties are beset with challenges. Taking stock, this column examined the Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) (“Huang Kuo-chang’s choking the life out of the TPP,” May 28, page 12), the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) (“Challenges amid choppy waters for the DPP,” June 14, page 12) and the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) (“KMT struggles to seize opportunities as ‘interesting times’ loom,” June 20, page 11). Times like these can
Swooping low over the banks of a Nile River tributary, an aid flight run by retired American military officers released a stream of food-stuffed sacks over a town emptied by fighting in South Sudan, a country wracked by conflict. Last week’s air drop was the latest in a controversial development — private contracting firms led by former US intelligence officers and military veterans delivering aid to some of the world’s deadliest conflict zones, in operations organized with governments that are combatants in the conflicts. The moves are roiling the global aid community, which warns of a more militarized, politicized and profit-seeking trend
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