The Yilan County Government on Wednesday apologized after photographing and displaying a sculptor’s work upside down.
Artist Ou Li-ting (歐立婷) discovered the mistake when she attended the opening of this year’s Yilan Awards exhibition on Saturday last week.
Her piece, a 3D sculpture titled Between VI (之間VI), was honored as a special selection.
.Photo: Tsai Yun-jung, Taipei Times
However, Ou wrote on Facebook that she was dismayed to discover that her piece was displayed upside down.
She immediately contacted staff to correct the mistake, but then found that the photographs of her piece in the exhibition catalog were also incorrect, she wrote.
When she went on stage to accept the award, the image displayed on the screen was still upside down, she said.
Photo courtesy of Ou Li-ting
“Was it wrong throughout the entire selection process?” she asked.
Ou said she found that this was indeed the case, even though her application form clearly showed the piece displayed properly from multiple angles and it was shipped with photographs.
“How can such a serious mistake have been made?” she asked. “If there are questions about how a work should be displayed, shouldn’t they check with the artist?”
“Such arbitrary placement is disrespectful to the artist and not only distorts the meaning, but damages their rights,” she said.
She contacted the Yilan Cultural Affairs Bureau to fix the problem, but posted about it online because “if I didn’t fix this publicly, I would be tacitly allowing this kind of thing to continue,” Ou wrote.
The bureau said it was “deeply sorry” and was working to correct the catalog after already fixing the display.
The installer was a new hire, it said, adding that future exhibitions would be installed by experienced professionals.
The bureau also contacted the lead judge, Sung Hsi-te (宋璽德), who said that the 3D artworks were judged in person from many angles, as well as from the artist’s submitted material.
As such, the way it was displayed had no influence on the decision, Sung said.
In a statement made on behalf of Ou, Mumu Gallery manager Chang Yi-wen (張怡文) said that correct installation shows respect for an artist and their creation.
This never should have happened, especially as Ou provided guidance on the correct way to display her work, Chang said.
Hopefully by publicly discussing the incident, the awards committee and bureau would adopt a more professional process, she added.
A fourth public debate was held today about restarting the recently decommissioned Ma-anshan Nuclear Power Plant, ahead of a referendum on the controversial issue to be held in less than two weeks. A referendum on Aug. 23 is to ask voters if they agree that “the Ma-anshan Nuclear Power Plant should continue operations upon approval by the competent authority and confirmation that there are no safety concerns.” Anyone over 18 years of age can vote in the referendum. The vote comes just three months after its final reactor shut down, officially making Taiwan nuclear-free. Taiwan People’s Party Chairman Huang Kuo-chang (黃國昌) represented
ENDORSING TAIWAN: Honduran presidential candidate Nasry Afura said that Honduras was ‘100 times better off’ when it was allied with Taipei The Ministry of Foreign Affairs yesterday said it would explore the possibility of restoring diplomatic relations with Honduras based on the principle of maintaining national interests and dignity. The ministry made the remarks in response to reporters’ questions regarding an article titled: “Will Taiwan Regain a Diplomatic Ally?” published in The Diplomat on Saturday. The article said Honduras’ presidential election in November could offer Taiwan the chance to regain an ally, as multiple candidates have promoted re-establishing diplomatic relations with Taiwan. Honduras severed diplomatic ties with Taiwan in March 2023 in favor of Beijing, but since switching its diplomatic recognition,
Scoot announced yesterday that starting in October, it would increase flights between Taipei and Japan’s Narita airport and Hokkaido, and between Singapore and Taipei. The low-cost airline, a subsidiary of Singapore Airlines, also said it would launch flights to Chiang Rai in Thailand, Okinawa and Tokyo’s Haneda airport between December and March next year. Flights between Singapore and Chiang Rai would begin on Jan. 1, with five flights per week operated by an Embraer E190-E2 aircraft, Scoot said. Flights between Singapore and Okinawa would begin on Dec. 15, with three flights per week operated by Airbus A320 aircraft, the airline said. Services between Singapore
‘ANGRY’: Forgetting the humiliations and sacrifices of ‘the people of the Republic of China’ experienced disqualified Lai from being president, Ma Ying-jeou said Former president Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) yesterday criticized President William Lai (賴清德) over what he called “phrasing that downplayed Japan’s atrocities” against China during World War II. Ma made the remarks in a post on Facebook on the 80th anniversary of the end of World War II. Ma said he was “angry and disappointed” that Lai described the anniversary as the end of World War II instead of a “victory in the war of resistance” — a reference to the end of the Second Sino-Japanese War (1937-1945). The eight-year war was a part of World War II, in which Japan and the other Axis
RSS