A touring exhibition of works of art by people who have been on death row began yesterday at the Bopiliao Historic Block in Taipei’s Wanhua District (萬華), with organizers inviting people to ponder inmates’ potential to change and alternatives to the death penalty.
The Not Who We Were exhibition displays more than 20 calligraphy works or paintings by 15 people, including Cheng Hsing-tse (鄭性澤), who spent 14 years behind bars until he was acquitted in 2017.
Not every prison offers art classes, but he had the opportunity to learn Chinese painting from 2014 at a prison in Taichung, Cheng told a news conference.
Photo: Sam Yeh / AFP
Some inmates sent their work to family members, but in that way, members of society would not see how they had changed, he said.
“The death penalty is not the only way to solve problems. I hope people can see the possibilities for inmates who are sentenced to death,” he said.
The exhibition features a simulated prison ward of 1.368 ping (4.5m2) with one toilet and two beds.
Some people say that inmates live a comfortable life, but the simulated cell shows that the walled space with only one window is very narrow, Taiwan Alliance to End the Death Penalty executive director Lin Hsin-yi (林欣怡) said.
Death row inmates are usually known for their worst acts, but few know how they can transform after being in prison, Lin said.
The exhibition aims to encourage people to see the possibility of change in inmates and how that might be prompted through social assistance, she said.
Trade Office of Swiss Industries deputy director Beatrice Latteier, who also attended the opening, said she is impressed by the artwork and wished she could read the calligraphic characters so she could understand the creators’ mindsets.
“For Switzerland, the promotion of human rights is an important concern and a foreign policy goal. The death penalty is against human rights and is neither a deterrent nor does it contribute to reconciliation,” Latteier said.
Hopefully, Taiwanese society would be open to discuss the abolition of capital punishment, with both sides willing to communicate, she said.
The exhibition in Taipei runs through July 26 and would travel to Miaoli County from Aug. 1 to 9 and to Tainan from Aug. 22 to Sept. 3.
The manufacture of the remaining 28 M1A2T Abrams tanks Taiwan purchased from the US has recently been completed, and they are expected to be delivered within the next one to two months, a source said yesterday. The Ministry of National Defense is arranging cargo ships to transport the tanks to Taiwan as soon as possible, said the source, who is familiar with the matter. The estimated arrival time ranges from late this month to early next month, the source said. The 28 Abrams tanks make up the third and final batch of a total of 108 tanks, valued at about NT$40.5 billion
Two Taiwanese prosecutors were questioned by Chinese security personnel at their hotel during a trip to China’s Henan Province this month, the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) said yesterday. The officers had personal information on the prosecutors, including “when they were assigned to their posts, their work locations and job titles,” MAC Deputy Minister and spokesman Liang Wen-chieh (梁文傑) said. On top of asking about their agencies and positions, the officers also questioned the prosecutors about the Cross-Strait Joint Crime-Fighting and Judicial Mutual Assistance Agreement, a pact that serves as the framework for Taiwan-China cooperation on combating crime and providing judicial assistance, Liang
A group from the Taiwanese Designers in Australia association yesterday represented Taiwan at the Midsumma Pride March in Melbourne. The march, held in the St. Kilda suburb, is the city’s largest LGBTQIA+ parade and the flagship event of the annual Midsumma Festival. It attracted more than 45,000 spectators who supported the 400 groups and 10,000 marchers that participated this year, the association said. Taiwanese Designers said they organized a team to march for Taiwan this year, joining politicians, government agencies, professionals and community organizations in showing support for LGBTQIA+ people and diverse communities. As the first country in Asia to legalize same-sex
MOTIVES QUESTIONED The PLA considers Xi’s policies toward Taiwan to be driven by personal considerations rather than military assessment, the Epoch Times reports Chinese President Xi Jinping’s (習近平) latest purge of the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) leadership might have been prompted by the military’s opposition to plans of invading Taiwan, the Epoch Times said. The Chinese military opposes waging war against Taiwan by a large consensus, putting it at odds with Xi’s vision, the Falun Gong-affiliated daily said in a report on Thursday, citing anonymous sources with insight into the PLA’s inner workings. The opposition is not the opinion of a few generals, but a widely shared view among the PLA cadre, the Epoch Times cited them as saying. “Chinese forces know full well that
RSS