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2007 » Taiwan » National section
| Curator: | Shih-Hsing Wang |
| Authors of Theme: | Shih-Hsing Wang |
| Designer / Architect of exhibition: | Wen-Zhi Wang |
| Other collaborators: | Asbjørn Værnes, Karin Hagen |
| Institution: | Taiwan Association of Theatre Technology (TATT) |
“On the GO”
For the past decade, Taiwan has struggled under the brunt of politics and a fluctuating economy. Subsequently, our cultural identity is full of uncertainty. Each artistic project evolves from acontinuous questioning of ourselves. What should we retain of the past? What should we challenge for change? This need to discover answers is always challenging to Taiwanese artists. The artistic environment in Taiwan is severe, with insufficient social resources, so the process of theatre-making is never simple. That is why a certain vitality is required for artists to survive in this environment with such difficulties, a vitality evident in the wildly inventive adaptability of Taiwan’s artists. Any kind of social, cultural and economical dilemma that faces them can be turned into nutrients for creativity. Within this cultural atmosphere, the process of creation contains unpredictable energy. On the Go embodies Taiwan’s energy and the attendant stress of running into those daily dilemmas that Taiwan theatre people often experience. Based on four major aspects – neo-classical, technologically influenced, geographically oriented, and historically based- the images in our exhibition are developed to capture the essence of recent Taiwanese performing art. The fusion of our new era with our heritage can be seen within this theme. We believe that the new era needn’t be coldly modern, nor heritage be strictly welded to tradition. This will differentiate us from the classical Chinese aesthetic, and emphasize more of our own philosophy on the contemporary.
The design of the national section is abstracted from Taiwanese aborigines’ braiding, which is constructed mainly by rattan and bamboo. Both materials symbolize occupancy and expansion over the land, while they also carry the characteristics of strength and flexibility.They are used to express the vigorous energy of Taiwan theatre.
