Taiwan's protest over the issue of its name at the 25th Sao Paulo Biennial Art Exhibit in Brazil took a dramatic twist on Sunday, as six countries donated an English letter each to form the word "taiwan" for the nation's exhibit hall.
A Chinese-language newspaper reported yesterday that the innovative protest action was the brainchild of an Austrian artist, George Thomann, who took the initiative in urging other participants to take an English letter from each of their respective exhibition name plates to donate to Taiwan.
Thomann took the letter "t" from Austria's name plate and artists from five other countries followed his lead.
The report said Canada donated the letter "a," Croatia donated the letter "i," Puerto Rico donated an "o" -- which was cut into two pieces to form the letter "w," Singapore donated another "a" and Panama donated the "n."
The cooperative effort was then attached to the name plate on Taiwan display's shortly before biennial opened. The Sao Paulo biennial is one of the world's three most important exhibits of contemporary art.
The Taiwan display was originally labeled as "Chien-Chi Chang (
Three days before the opening of the show, Brazilian organizers abruptly removed the "Taiwan" from the name plate without giving any explanation.
Chang protested by closing the Taiwan display and sending a protest letter in English to the organizers. Copies of the letter were given to the 190 participating artists from around the world to solicit their support.
Thomann responded by plastering a bulletin on the closed door of the Taiwan display on the eve of the opening of the art show calling for donations of English letters.
"The generous donation made by the six countries has enabled us to reopen our exhibition hall in time to meet the raising of the curtain on the biennial show," Chang was quoted in the newspaper report as saying.
"The unprecedented move has left the name plates of each of the donor nations with one letter missing from their respective national titles," Chang said. "But their missing letters have helped add an `artwork of protest' to the dazzling array of exhibits on display here."
Huang Tzai-lang (黃才郎), director of the Taipei Fine Arts Museum, who is also in Sao Paulo, said that the new word "taiwan" on the name plate is a creative work of art.
"We admire the artists from the six donor countries for their courage in standing up to support our protest," he said.
AIR DEFENSE: The Norwegian missile system has proved highly effective in Ukraine in its war against Russia, and the US has recommended it for Taiwan, an expert said The Norwegian Advanced Surface-to-Air Missile Systems (NASAMS) Taiwan ordered from the US would be installed in strategically important positions in Taipei and New Taipei City to guard the region, the Ministry of National Defense said in statement yesterday. The air defense system would be deployed in Taipei’s Songshan District (松山) and New Taipei City’s Tamsui District (淡水), the ministry said, adding that the systems could be delivered as soon as the end of this year. The US Defense Security Cooperation Agency has previously said that three NASAMS would be sold to Taiwan. The weapons are part of the 17th US arms sale to
INSURRECTION: The NSB said it found evidence the CCP was seeking snipers in Taiwan to target members of the military and foreign organizations in the event of an invasion The number of Chinese spies prosecuted in Taiwan has grown threefold over a four-year period, the National Security Bureau (NSB) said in a report released yesterday. In 2021 and 2022, 16 and 10 spies were prosecuted respectively, but that number grew to 64 last year, it said, adding that the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) was working with gangs in Taiwan to develop a network of armed spies. Spies in Taiwan have on behalf of the CCP used a variety of channels and methods to infiltrate all sectors of the country, and recruited Taiwanese to cooperate in developing organizations and obtaining sensitive information
BREAKTHROUGH: The US is making chips on par in yield and quality with Taiwan, despite people saying that it could not happen, the official said Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) has begun producing advanced 4-nanometer (nm) chips for US customers in Arizona, US Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo said, a milestone in the semiconductor efforts of the administration of US President Joe Biden. In November last year, the commerce department finalized a US$6.6 billion grant to TSMC’s US unit for semiconductor production in Phoenix, Arizona. “For the first time ever in our country’s history, we are making leading edge 4-nanometer chips on American soil, American workers — on par in yield and quality with Taiwan,” Raimondo said, adding that production had begun in recent
Seven hundred and sixty-four foreigners were arrested last year for acting as money mules for criminals, with many entering Taiwan on a tourist visa for all-expenses-paid trips, the Criminal Investigation Bureau (CIB) said on Saturday. Although from Jan. 1 to Dec. 26 last year, 26,478 people were arrested for working as money mules, the bureau said it was particularly concerned about those entering the country as tourists or migrant workers who help criminals and scammers pick up or transfer illegally obtained money. In a report, officials divided the money mules into two groups, the first of which are foreigners, mainly from Malaysia
RSS