A special exhibition aimed at highlighting the diversity of Aboriginal cultures yesterday opened at the Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hall in Taipei to mark Indigenous Peoples’ Day.
The exhibition, titled “Ita/kita” (一起得力量，我們!), is curated by Masao Aki and organized by the Ministry of Culture, it said.
Ita and kita mean “us” among many Aboriginal groups in Taiwan, as well as Austronesian-speaking nations, Aki said.
Photo: Chuang Shih-hsien, Taipei Times
Aruwai Kaumakan, Alik Studio, Siki Sufin, Eval Malinjinnan, Tafong Kati and Ruby Swana are among the participating artists, the ministry said.
One of the pieces featured in the exhibition is The Song of Life (生命之歌) by Paiwan artist Aruwai Kaumakan.
The work was inspired by the artist’s experience with Typhoon Morakot, which struck her village in August 2009, it said, adding that the piece symbolizes the togetherness of the village, as well as the artist’s attempt to overcome her sorrow in losing her home and land.
The Song of Life is being displayed in the exhibition’s “Power of Rebirth” section, the ministry said.
Everyone should cherish and recognize Aboriginal culture as an indispensable part of what defines Taiwan, Minister of Culture Lee Yung-te (李永得) said at the exhibition’s opening reception on Saturday.
Aborigines’ achievements in sports, music and the arts, as well as their contributions to the nation’s multiculturalism, deserve people’s deepest respect, he said.
Hopefully, through the exhibition, more people would pay attention to Aborigines’ interpretations of history and art, he added.
“Only by listening to and respecting the subjective interpretation of Aborigines can we truly understand,” Lee said.
Indigenous Peoples’ Day commemorates Aborigines’ movement to rectify their name, Council of Indigenous Peoples Minister Icyang Parod said at the reception.
A decade after the movement began, the name “Aborigines” was officially included in the Constitution on Aug. 1, 1994, he said.
On Aug. 1, 2016, President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) apologized to Aborigines on behalf of the government, and announced that it would promote Aborigines’ efforts toward historical and transitional justice, he said.
“Ita/kita” is at the memorial’s Bo-ai Gallery until Wednesday next week, the ministry said.
It would be open for four 90-minute sessions each day beginning at 9am, 11am, 1:30pm and 3:30pm, with up to 100 visitors allowed each session, it said.
A year-long renovation of Taipei’s Bangka Park (艋舺公園) began yesterday, as city workers fenced off the site and cleared out belongings left by homeless residents who had been living there. Despite protests from displaced residents, a city official defended the government’s relocation efforts, saying transitional housing has been offered. The renovation of the park in Taipei’s Wanhua District (萬華), near Longshan Temple (龍山寺), began at 9am yesterday, as about 20 homeless people packed their belongings and left after being asked to move by city personnel. Among them was a 90-year-old woman surnamed Wang (王), who last week said that she had no plans
TO BE APPEALED: The environment ministry said coal reduction goals had to be reached within two months, which was against the principle of legitimate expectation The Taipei High Administrative Court on Thursday ruled in favor of the Taichung Environmental Protection Bureau in its administrative litigation against the Ministry of Environment for the rescission of a NT$18 million fine (US$609,570) imposed by the bureau on the Taichung Power Plant in 2019 for alleged excess coal power generation. The bureau in November 2019 revised what it said was a “slip of the pen” in the text of the operating permit granted to the plant — which is run by Taiwan Power Co (Taipower) — in October 2017. The permit originally read: “reduce coal use by 40 percent from Jan.
China might accelerate its strategic actions toward Taiwan, the South China Sea and across the first island chain, after the US officially entered a military conflict with Iran, as Beijing would perceive Washington as incapable of fighting a two-front war, a military expert said yesterday. The US’ ongoing conflict with Iran is not merely an act of retaliation or a “delaying tactic,” but a strategic military campaign aimed at dismantling Tehran’s nuclear capabilities and reshaping the regional order in the Middle East, said National Defense University distinguished adjunct lecturer Holmes Liao (廖宏祥), former McDonnell Douglas Aerospace representative in Taiwan. If
‘SPEY’ REACTION: Beijing said its Eastern Theater Command ‘organized troops to monitor and guard the entire process’ of a Taiwan Strait transit China sent 74 warplanes toward Taiwan between late Thursday and early yesterday, 61 of which crossed the median line in the Taiwan Strait. It was not clear why so many planes were scrambled, said the Ministry of National Defense, which tabulated the flights. The aircraft were sent in two separate tranches, the ministry said. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Thursday “confirmed and welcomed” a transit by the British Royal Navy’s HMS Spey, a River-class offshore patrol vessel, through the Taiwan Strait a day earlier. The ship’s transit “once again [reaffirmed the Strait’s] status as international waters,” the foreign ministry said. “Such transits by
RSS