The National Museum of Taiwan Literature (國立台灣文學館) teams up with Taiwan Contemporary Cultural Lab (空總臺灣當代文化實驗場) to present an outstanding exhibition about the paranormal in Taiwanese mythology. Taiwan is an enigmatic and enchanted country, and a reconsideration of its shadowy creatures allows for a more balanced perspective of the world between the sensible and the mysterious. “No matter how scary they may be, monsters are a colorfully diverse aspect of traditional folk perspectives and beliefs.” Yao-chi City (妖氣都市—鬼怪文學與當代藝術特展) provides an artistic overview of yaoqi (妖氣), a term that refers to monsters, demons and ghouls that live in the depths of Taiwan’s mountains, forests or in the dim corners of modern cities. The show features works by artists working in a range of mediums, including writers, literary organizations, illustrators and painters, sound and theater artists and game animation designers. Highlights include writer Badai’s (巴代) novel, Witch Way (巫旅), which includes folklore and animist beliefs that belong to the Puyuma Aboriginal tribe. Miaogong Junyang’s (妙工俊陽) The Taiwan Monsters Series (台灣妖怪系列) is a body of colorful portrait paintings that depict paranormal creatures that frequent Taiwanese tales. The exhibition will run throughout Ghost Festival (鬼節), a time when ghosts leave the underworld and wander among the living.
■ C-LAB (臺灣當代文化實驗場), 177, Jianguo S Rd Sec 1, Taipei City (臺北市大安區建國南路一段177號), tel: (02) 8773-5087. Open Tuesdays to Sundays from 11am to 6pm
■ Until Sept. 15
Photo courtesy of Mind Set Art Center
Luo Jr-shin (羅智信) is a Taipei-based artist who works with a variety of traditional and unconventional materials, including clay, metal, everyday objects, food and other substances. For Luo, experimenting with these materials is a process of investigating the realm of spirituality and dimensions of the human condition that underlie the world of representation. His multimedia works often reveal the absurd in everyday life, particularly quotidian moments that he deems dangerous, illusory or delusional. SNAILS (NOT INCLUDED) (不存在的蝸牛) is a curious installation described by Michael Ku Gallery (谷公館) as “the second half of a house party.” Water, malt, hops, rice and yeast are scatted across the floor, while a stainless steel shelve displays a set of perfumes.
■ Michael Ku Gallery (谷公館), 4F-2, 21, Dunhua S Rd Sec 1, Taipei City (台北市敦化南路一段21號4樓之2), tel: (02) 2577-5601. Open Tuesdays to Sundays from 11am to 7pm
■ Until Sept. 8
Photo: Noah Buchan, Taipei Times
Mia Liu (劉文瑄) is a contemporary artist who primarily works with drawing. She often works over other people’s drawings and expands on the original piece by extending her marks beyond the frame and onto the walls on which the drawing is displayed. Liu is interested in the idea of “communicating between drawings” and examines the relationship between a drawing’s surface, boundaries and frameworks of time. I Dwell in Possibility (我居住在可能裡) is Liu’s solo exhibition at Mind Set Art Center (安卓藝術). The show includes ink paintings and paper sculptures, as well as photographs and a documentary film produced in collaboration with film directors Maggie Liao (廖憶玲) and Chu Po-ying (朱柏穎), conservator Lin Huan-shen (林煥盛) and photographer Chung Soon-long (鍾順龍). These works are inspired by the artist’s encounters during her travels. A large installation, Dialogue Drawing Dialogue in Seoul: Four Gentlemen, is a rearrangement of four paintings by artist Dao Tian (稻田). The original paintings, which depict the symbolic themes of plum blossom, orchid, bamboo and chrysanthemum, are mounted on a single scroll with new drawing marks and fabric, seamlessly combining modern and the traditional sensibilities. A conversation between the artist and her collaborators will be held tomorrow at 2:30pm during the opening reception. Contact the gallery for more details.
■ Mind Set Art Center (安卓藝術) 180, Heping E Rd, Taipei City (台北市和平東路180號), tel: (02) 2365-6008. Open Tuesdays to Saturdays from 11am to 6pm
■ Tomorrow until Aug. 31
Photo Courtesy of Taipei Fine Art Museum
Focusing on female artists from Taiwan, South Korea and Japan, The Herstory of Abstraction in East Asia (她的抽象) explores art history from post-World War II to the present. While shedding light on the region’s artistic developments, the show is also an opportunity to see rare works from the collections of the Taipei Fine Arts Museum, national modern art museums in Tokyo and Kyoto, 21st Century Museum of Contemporary Art, Kanazawa and the National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art, Seoul. Exhibition highlights include early paintings by the prominent Japanese artist Yayoi Kusama. Dating from the 1950’s, these works reveal her early style before she arrived at the signature style of organic patterns and contours she is widely known for today.
■ 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
■ Tomorrow until Oct. 7
Photo Courtesy of Michael Ku Gallery
A hue to spell (用色拼字) is a solo exhibition by Taiwanese artist Su Yu-hsin (蘇予昕). Su works between painting, printmaking, writing and installation. Su says viewing a painting is a creative act, during which the viewer traces the painting process, picturing its time of making and how images are formed step by step. Writer Liu Na-ou (劉吶鷗) describes how the materiality of pigment and the speed and shape of brushstrokes guide the viewer into a process of active looking and exploring the world Su’s paintings encapsulate. The exhibition preface includes a series of scenic descriptions without context that may or may not be related to the visual narratives displayed in the show.
■ 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 Sept. 22
If one asks Taiwanese why house prices are so high or why the nation is so built up or why certain policies cannot be carried out, one common answer is that “Taiwan is too small.” This is actually true, though not in the way people think. The National Property Administration (NPA), responsible for tracking and managing the government’s real estate assets, maintains statistics on how much land the government owns. As of the end of last year, land for official use constituted 293,655 hectares, for public use 1,732,513 hectares, for non-public use 216,972 hectares and for state enterprises 34 hectares, yielding
The small platform at Duoliang Train Station in Taitung County’s Taimali Township (太麻里) served villagers from 1992 to 2006, but was eventually shut down due to lack of use. Just 10 years later, the abandoned train station had become widely known as the most beautiful station in Taiwan, and visitors were so frequent that the village had to start restricting traffic. Nowadays, Duoliang Village (多良) is known as a bit of a tourist trap, with a mandatory, albeit modest, admission fee of NT$10 giving access to a crowded lane of vendors with a mediocre view of the ocean and the trains
For many people, Bilingual Nation 2030 begins and ends in the classroom. Since the policy was launched in 2018, the debate has centered on students, teachers and the pressure placed on schools. Yet the policy was never solely about English education. The government’s official plan also calls for bilingualization in Taiwan’s government services, laws and regulations, and living environment. The goal is to make Taiwan more inclusive and accessible to international enterprises and talent and better prepared for global economic and trade conditions. After eight years, that grand vision is due for a pulse check. RULES THAT CAN BE READ For Harper Chen (陳虹宇), an adviser
Traditionally, indigenous people in Taiwan’s mountains practice swidden cultivation, or “slash and burn” agriculture, a practice common in human history. According to a 2016 research article in the International Journal of Environmental Sustainability, among the Atayal people, this began with a search for suitable forested slopeland. The trees are burnt for fertilizer and the land cleared of stones. The stones and wood are then piled up to make fences, while both dead and standing trees are retained on the plot. The fences are used to grow climbing crops like squash and beans. The plot itself supports farming for three years.
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