Indigenous artist Ciwas Tahos is featured at Hawaii’s top art exhibition, the Hawai’i Triennial 2025 (HT25), which opened over the weekend, becoming the first Taiwanese person to have her work displayed at the event, the Ministry of Culture (MOC) said.
“Ciwas’ work is an exploration of cultural and gender identity, using her body as a medium to trace linguistic and cultural experiences of displacement to seek out new queer forms of understanding,” according to the page about Ciwas on the HT25 Web site.
Ciwas is a Taiwan-born and based artist, and a member of the Atayal community.
Photo courtesy of the Taiwan Academy in Los Angeles
Her works are characterized by a “body-centered” approach, according to her Web site.
She is known for her research exploring a legendary place called Temahohoi, where queer, gender non-conforming indigenous people lived and communicated with bees, which protected them from intruders.
Combining new technology, handmade ceramics and traditional bee-chasing skills, Ciwas celebrates her indigenous culture and identity in her work.
In a recent press release, the MOC describes Ciwas’ work as a reflection on gender and ecological issues that “affirms one’s sensibilities” as a member of gender minorities in the quest for a sense of belonging.
Her work, called Pswagi Temahahoi, translates to finding the way to Temahohoi — a women’s village in Atayal legends, according to the MOC, which assisted the Taiwan Academy in Los Angeles in arranging Ciwas’ participation in the exhibition.
Jerry Chang (張詩瑞), director-general of the Taipei Economic and Cultural Office in Honolulu, said at the event’s opening that he hoped the participation of Taiwanese artists would foster deeper cultural exchange between Taiwan, Hawaii and the Pacific.
At the event, Ciwas led the opening performance, which featured Paiwan artist Sauljaljuy, Puyuma artist Sinkuy Katadrepan and Hawaii-based artists.
In his remarks at the opening ceremony, Chien Te-yuan (簡德源), director of the Taiwan Academy in Los Angeles, highlighted the shared origins and migration history between the people of Taiwan and Hawaii.
By exploring this period of history through contemporary art, a closer cultural and societal connection could be established between both sides, he added.
The triennial, Hawaii’s largest, thematic exhibition of local and Pacific contemporary art, runs until May 4.
For more information, visit the Hawaii Triennial Web site at https://hawaiicontemporary.org/ht25.
Taiwan has received more than US$70 million in royalties as of the end of last year from developing the F-16V jet as countries worldwide purchase or upgrade to this popular model, government and military officials said on Saturday. Taiwan funded the development of the F-16V jet and ended up the sole investor as other countries withdrew from the program. Now the F-16V is increasingly popular and countries must pay Taiwan a percentage in royalties when they purchase new F-16V aircraft or upgrade older F-16 models. The next five years are expected to be the peak for these royalties, with Taiwan potentially earning
STAY IN YOUR LANE: As the US and Israel attack Iran, the ministry has warned China not to overstep by including Taiwanese citizens in its evacuation orders The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) yesterday rebuked a statement by China’s embassy in Israel that it would evacuate Taiwanese holders of Chinese travel documents from Israel amid the latter’s escalating conflict with Iran. Tensions have risen across the Middle East in the wake of US and Israeli airstrikes on Iran beginning Saturday. China subsequently issued an evacuation notice for its citizens. In a news release, the Chinese embassy in Israel said holders of “Taiwan compatriot permits (台胞證)” issued to Taiwanese nationals by Chinese authorities for travel to China — could register for evacuation to Egypt. In Taipei, the ministry yesterday said Taiwan
Taiwan is awaiting official notification from the US regarding the status of the Agreement on Reciprocal Trade (ART) after the US Supreme Court ruled US President Donald Trump's global tariffs unconstitutional. Speaking to reporters before a legislative hearing today, Premier Cho Jung-tai (卓榮泰) said that Taiwan's negotiation team remains focused on ensuring that the bilateral trade deal remains intact despite the legal challenge to Trump's tariff policy. "The US has pledged to notify its trade partners once the subsequent administrative and legal processes are finalized, and that certainly includes Taiwan," Cho said when asked about opposition parties’ doubts that the ART was
If China chose to invade Taiwan tomorrow, it would only have to sever three undersea fiber-optic cable clusters to cause a data blackout, Jason Hsu (許毓仁), a senior fellow at the Hudson Institute and former Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) legislator, told a US security panel yesterday. In a Taiwan contingency, cable disruption would be one of the earliest preinvasion actions and the signal that escalation had begun, he said, adding that Taiwan’s current cable repair capabilities are insufficient. The US-China Economic and Security Review Commission (USCC) yesterday held a hearing on US-China Competition Under the Sea, with Hsu speaking on
RSS