The National 228 Memorial Museum on Saturday opened an art show featuring the works of a Hungarian-American painter whose creative themes usually revolve around human rights activism.
The “Spectre of Freedom: Art of Resistance” exhibition features the selected works of Steven Balogh and is to run until March 23.
While the artist himself could not make it to Taiwan to personally attend the exhibition’s opening due to an injury, he gave thanks to the 228 Memorial Foundation in a pre-recorded video for organizing his show and also talked about the inspiration behind his works.
Photo: CNA
Taiwan shared a lot with his native Hungary in that its peoples have always strived for national independence and freedom, Balogh said.
The artist is expected to visit Taiwan in February next year to create an installation artwork to memorialize the 228 Incident, following which thousands of people protesting the authoritarian Chinese National Party (KMT) regime in 1947 were killed or arrested.
Balogh was born in 1954 in Hungary when the country was still under the shadow of the Soviet Union, and his first foray into art came when he served in his country’s Air Force at the age of 20.
Balogh was inspired to pursue art after witnessing a gruesome injury suffered by a peer in the air force, Taiwanese American Arts Council CEO Luchia Meihua Lee-Howell (李美華).
He trained under various mentors to create artwork criticizing the Hungarian Communist Party, which put him on the radar of Hungary’s authoritarian government. That led him to seek asylum in a refugee camp in Austria in 1986 and become stateless, she said.
Balogh has been living in New York since he was granted refugee status by the US, she said.
Photos of his performance art back in 1979 in Hungary and works from when he started living in New York would be exhibited at the show in Taiwan, Lee said.
Museum curator Lan Shih-po (藍士博) said one of Balogh’s works in Taiwan is a painting of a Hungarian college student who committed self-immolation, which mirrors the history of Taiwan independence activist Deng Nan-jung (鄭南榕), who also self-immolated in the name of freedom and free speech.
SPACE VETERAN: Kjell N. Lindgren, who helps lead NASA’s human spaceflight missions, has been on two expeditions on the ISS and has spent 311 days in space Taiwan-born US astronaut Kjell N. Lindgren is to visit Taiwan to promote technological partnerships through one of the programs organized by the US for its 250th national anniversary. Lindgren would be in Taiwan from Tuesday to Saturday next week as part of the US Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs’ US Speaker Program, organized to celebrate the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence, the American Institute in Taiwan (AIT) said in a statement yesterday. Lindgren plans to engage with key leaders across the nation “to advance cutting-edge technological partnerships and inspire the next generation of scientists and engineers,”
UNREASONABLE SURVEILLANCE: A camera targeted on an road by a neighbor captured a man’s habitual unsignaled turn into home, netting him dozens of tickets The Taichung High Administrative Court has canceled all 45 tickets given to a man for failing to use a turn signal while driving, as it considered long-term surveillance of his privacy more problematic than the traffic violations. The man, surnamed Tseng (曾), lives in Changhua County and was reported 45 times within a month for failing to signal while driving when he turned into the alley where his residence is. The reports were filed by his neighbor, who set up security cameras that constantly monitored not only the alley but also the door and yard of Tseng’s house. The surveillance occurred from July
A Japan Self-Defense Forces vessel entered the Taiwan Strait yesterday, Japanese media reported. After passing through the Taiwan Strait, the Ikazuchi was to proceed to the South China Sea to take part in a joint military exercise with the US and the Philippines, the reports said. Japan Self-Defense Force vessels were first reported to have passed through the strait in September, 2024, with two further transits taking place in February and June last year, the Asahi Shimbun reported. Yesterday’s transit also marked the first time since Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi took office that a Japanese warship has been sent through the Taiwan
‘SAME OLD TRICK’: Even if Beijing resumes individual travel to Taiwan, it would only benefit Chinese tourism companies, the Economic Democracy Union convener said China’s 10 new “incentives” are “sugar-coated poison,” an official said yesterday, adding that Taiwanese businesses see them clearly for what they are, but that Beijing would inevitably find some local collaborators to try to drums up support. The official, speaking on condition of anonymity, made the remark ahead of a news conference the General Chamber of Commerce is to hold today. The event, titled “Industry Perspectives on China’s Recent Pro-Taiwan Policies,” is expected to include representatives from industry associations — such as those in travel, hotels, food and agriculture — to request the government cooperate with China’s new measures, people familiar with
RSS