A well-known artist has been teaching visual art at Keelung Prison for five years.
Yan Shang-wen (嚴尚文) has painted in the traditional Japanese style known as gyotaku for 36 years.
Gyotaku, or fish printing, involves applying ink, paint or pigment to the relief side of a fish, which is then pressed onto paper or canvas.
Photo: Wu Cheng-feng, Taipei Times
Yan’s works have sold for millions of dollars at auction and have been displayed at the Louvre Museum in Paris.
Five years ago Yan accepted a teaching position at the prison, which hopes to use art to help rehabilitate inmates.
“I am 62 years old. I wanted to act while I still have the ability to help people who nobody else has concern for,” Yan said.
Photo: Wu Cheng-feng, Taipei Times
The Ministry of Justice in 2012 launched a program to promote special characteristics for each prison. Keelung Prison chose to feature the city’s fishing industry through gyotaku printing.
The ministry offered to pay Yan NT$1,600 per lesson.
“I felt that I had the opportunity to serve society, and at my age it was providence as well as my responsibility. I gladly accepted,” Yan said.
Yan has taught more than 100 inmates, only five of whom have been reincarcerated after their release.
Yan said classes demonstrate that marginalized people can develop self-confidence and a sense of achievement through art, adding that it can help with rehabilitation.
“For me, everything started with fishing,” Yan said.
Yan said he first made prints of his catches to record their size, the bait used and the time and place.
He later became interested in fish printing as an art form and started making prints with different numbers, colors and types of fish.
His art eventually gained Yan recognition nationwide.
In 2007 he was invited to make a 2m print of an Atlantic bluefin tuna for the annual Pingtung Bluefin Tuna Cultural Festival with then-president Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁), who drew the tuna’s eyes.
In 2014 Yan’s work was displayed at the Louvre Museum and the museum’s staff wore copies of his prints on their uniforms. The gyotaku print exhibit was the first of its size.
The value of gyotaku art is determined by how rare the fish is, as well as the quality of the print, Yan said.
Preparation takes a long time, but the printing takes five to 10 minutes, Yan said, adding that patience is very important to the process.
“Learning to enter that composed, meditative state of mind is exactly what many inmates need most,” Yan said.
Yan said he would help any of his former inmate students if they found it difficult to find work, adding that he has done so in the past.
People who have visited inmates in the prison have been moved to tears by seeing Yan work with them, the prison said.
The first global hotel Keys Selection by the Michelin Guide includes four hotels in Taiwan, Michelin announced yesterday. All four received the “Michelin One Key,” indicating guests are to experience a “very special stay” at any of the locations as the establishments are “a true gem with personality. Service always goes the extra mile, and the hotel provides much more than others in its price range.” Of the four hotels, three are located in Taipei and one in Taichung. In Taipei, the One Key accolades were awarded to the Capella Taipei, Kimpton Da An Taipei and Mandarin Oriental Taipei. Capella Taipei was described by
EVA Airways today confirmed the death of a flight attendant on Saturday upon their return to Taiwan and said an internal investigation has been launched, as criticism mounted over a social media post accusing the airline of failing to offer sufficient employee protections. According to the post, the flight attendant complained of feeling sick on board a flight, but was unable to take sick leave or access medical care. The crew member allegedly did not receive assistance from the chief purser, who failed to heed their requests for medical attention or call an ambulance once the flight landed, the post said. As sick
The Taichung District Court yesterday confirmed its final ruling that the marriage between teenage heir Lai (賴) and a man surnamed Hsia (夏) was legally invalid, preventing Hsia from inheriting Lai’s NT$500 million (US$16.37 million) estate. The court confirmed that Hsia chose not to appeal the civil judgement after the court handed down its ruling in June, making the decision final. In the June ruling, the court said that Lai, 18, and Hsia, 26, showed “no mutual admiration before the marriage” and that their interactions were “distant and unfamiliar.” The judge concluded that the couple lacked the “true intention of
A drunk woman was sexually assaulted inside a crowded concourse of Taipei Railway Station on Thursday last week before a foreign tourist notified police, leading to calls for better education on bystander intervention and review of security infrastructure. The man, surnamed Chiu (邱), was taken into custody on charges of sexual assault, taking advantage of the woman’s condition and public indecency. Police discovered that Chiu was a fugitive with prior convictions for vehicle theft. He has been taken into custody and is to complete his unserved six-month sentence, police said. On Thursday last week, Chiu was seen wearing a white
RSS