Paiwan artist Sakuliu Pavavaljung yesterday denied that he sexually assaulted a teenage girl, following a description of an assault posted online last week that led to speculation that he had been involved in such an incident and local prosecutors launching an investigation.
Pavavaljung, who received a National Award for Art in 2017, said that the incident depicted in the Facebook post never happened.
“I did not do what the online story alleges,” 61-year-old Pavavaljung said. “I will clear things up when I talk to judicial authorities about the matter.”
On Thursday last week, artist Kuo Yu-ping (郭俞平) posted online a piece titled “Story of a Small Town,” in which he describes how a Paiwan artist, who Kuo calls Kulusa, sexually assaulted a 19-year-old female fan earlier this year.
Since the post, numerous readers have said that the artist is Pavavaljung.
Yu Yue-lien (余悅廉), an engineer, wrote in a Facebook post on Sunday that Pavavaljung attempted to sexually assault her in the summer of 2006, when she attended an exhibition of his work.
Following the allegations, the Taipei Fine Arts Museum, which was set to feature the veteran artist at the Taiwan Pavilion for next year’s Venice Biennale and Kassel Documenta Fifteen in Germany, said on Monday that work on the curation was halted “until matters are clarified.”
The National Culture and Arts Foundation, which granted Pavavaljung a National Culture and Arts Award in 2018, said it is halting sponsorship of the artist.
Prosecutors in Pingtung have launched a probe into the matter.
Pavavaljung said that in the wake of Kuo’s post, people in the arts community, as well as friends and family, have expressed concern.
“I am innocent,” Pavavaljung said. “I will continue my preparatory work for upcoming exhibitions.”
He declined to comment on moves by Taipei Fine Arts Museum and the National Culture and Arts Foundation to halt his sponsorship.
US climber Alex Honnold is to attempt to scale Taipei 101 without a rope and harness in a live Netflix special on Jan. 24, the streaming platform announced on Wednesday. Accounting for the time difference, the two-hour broadcast of Honnold’s climb, called Skyscraper Live, is to air on Jan. 23 in the US, Netflix said in a statement. Honnold, 40, was the first person ever to free solo climb the 900m El Capitan rock formation in Yosemite National Park — a feat that was recorded and later made into the 2018 documentary film Free Solo. Netflix previewed Skyscraper Live in October, after videos
NUMBERS IMBALANCE: More than 4 million Taiwanese have visited China this year, while only about half a million Chinese have visited here Beijing has yet to respond to Taiwan’s requests for negotiation over matters related to the recovery of cross-strait tourism, the Tourism Administration said yesterday. Taiwan’s tourism authority issued the statement after Chinese-language daily the China Times reported yesterday that the government’s policy of banning group tours to China does not stop Taiwanese from visiting the country. As of October, more than 4.2 million had traveled to China this year, exceeding last year. Beijing estimated the number of Taiwanese tourists in China could reach 4.5 million this year. By contrast, only 500,000 Chinese tourists are expected in Taiwan, the report said. The report
Temperatures are forecast to drop steadily as a continental cold air mass moves across Taiwan, with some areas also likely to see heavy rainfall, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. From today through early tomorrow, a cold air mass would keep temperatures low across central and northern Taiwan, and the eastern half of Taiwan proper, with isolated brief showers forecast along Keelung’s north coast, Taipei and New Taipei City’s mountainous areas and eastern Taiwan, it said. Lows of 11°C to 15°C are forecast in central and northern Taiwan, Yilan County, and the outlying Kinmen and Lienchiang (Matsu) counties, and 14°C to 17°C
STEERING FAILURE: The first boat of its class is experiencing teething issues as it readies for acceptance by the navy, according to a recent story about rudder failure The Hai Kun (海鯤), the nation’s first locally built submarine, allegedly suffered a total failure of stern hydraulic systems during the second round of sea acceptance trials on June 26, and sailors were forced to manually operate the X-rudder to turn the submarine and return to port, news Web site Mirror Daily reported yesterday. The report said that tugboats following the Hai Kun assisted the submarine in avoiding collisions with other ships due to the X-rudder malfunctioning. At the time of the report, the submarine had completed its trials and was scheduled to begin diving and surfacing tests in shallow areas. The X-rudder,
RSS