Taroko Arts Residency Project II
“I like to sing in front of Mt. Sanchiaochui in the morning.” the eighty-seven-year-old Taroko tribe leader said.
Tree Tree Tree Person — Taroko Arts Residency(TAR) Project II is a para-curatorial practice of contemporary performance which aims to question the meaning of public space by comparing the relationship among human and nature creatures. In these comparison, we could ask ourselves that the role of nature creatures in our society. Are they our accessories, entertainment supplies, or partners? Obviously, before making a consequence of identifying the meaning of public space, we would be better to judge the autonomy of animals and plants in different spaces and preform performances whose audiences are natural creatures and things. These would benefit the discussion and provide us an alternative perspective for the theme of this project.
In 2017, the project invites five artistic groups to stay in Taroko for one and a half months. During the period of residence, they will live with the aborigines in the natural environment and learn how to interact with nature. After that, they will perform their contemporary performance works to reply the theme of the para-curatorial practice –the relationship of human and nature in the public space. Therefore, in the sense of coupling art with nature, the audience will experience the artistic work with a type of autonomy from national park and help them to compare it with that form human society into the discussion of the meaning of public space accordingly.
Three special performances will debut. Looks forward to meet with eagle, barking deer, pangolin and you!
Residency Project
Ima Hangan Su?, o!sland (Dorothy WONG Ka Chung , Eva LIN Yingchi, Benjamin RYSER)
We have been staying with the Taroko people for 3 weeks. The day we arrived our host gave us Taroko names as a welcome present. As we become closer with the Taroko people we also become more aware of the different layers that history has left on their place. We experience the space as twofold. From the mountain to the down town village. From the down town village back to the mountain. Back and forth between our new and our old names.
Streams Flow Down The Mountain Not Up, Sheaf+Barley
The hike up the mountain is the is the only way to get to Datong and Dali. The Truku have been asked to use the path sparingly so they won’t disturb the tourists. The pulley system is often broken and expensive when it does work. The young people don’t go into the mountain much, they head into the cities and towns to work, and the elders are getting older. On the the walk we will take some supplies up to the residents of Dali and Datong, since we are going up there anyway.
Portable Landscapes: Bamboo, Ania Varez
If nature is dying and the relationship between human beings to it has proven increasingly fragile as cities grow, how can people still keep their awareness of nature alive? Is there anything we can do to change this dynamic of neglect? Bamboo is a performance that unravels the fragile threads of our connection to dying nature, it appeals to the potential of intimacy, curiosity and individual will to invite people back to awareness and remembrance.
The gift exercise, Nina Willimann & Mayumi Ara
“The gift exercise” is an artistic research about cultural techniques and thoughts about how to relate with the foreign(er). Through the exchange with the locals, We reflect the complex role-play of hospitality in its culture- and site-specific customs, codes and traditions in different parts of the world as well as hospitality as a trans-cultural phenomena and one of the oldest universal laws in human societies. In this frame, we develop site-specific interventions called INVITATIONS, integrating the gained knowledge into their artistic practice and sharing it with the local community.
In the dark, Hannah Sullivan
For one person at time, ‘In the dark’ is a small performance research into the generosity of dark places. Hannah is experimenting with the dark as material. Material that can be a representation of loss or the unknown and also an environment of rest or secrecy. Whilst in Taiwan Hannah has been struck by the relief of the dark night, the cool mountain air. When she asked her host about the dark, she said in the dark I can sleep, in the dark it is finally cool.
About the Resident Researchers
Shih-Yang Lee (Taiwan)
Shih-Yang Lee is a pianist from Taiwan who has dedicated many years to improvisational performance. He collaborated with the Horse Dance Theatre on “Two Men’s Relationship,” serving as the composer and performer. The production was selected as one of the top ten annual performances at the 11th Taishin Arts Awards. In the summer of 2013, he was invited to perform at the Milus Meteorological Music Festival in France, collaborating with the European improvisational piano maestro Fred Van Hove, making him the first Taiwanese person to be featured in the festival in three decades. He has collaborated with numerous artists from various fields, including painting, theater, multimedia, and dance. Currently, he is the convener of the Carduon Improvisation Ensemble. He and his ensemble have been invited to perform in various countries, including China, the United States, Canada, Mexico, the United Kingdom, France, Belgium, the Netherlands, Germany, Austria, New Zealand, Malaysia, and Japan. In 2018, he was selected as an artist for the “South to South – Nanhuai Art Project,” Taipei Performing Arts Center’s “Adam Project 2 – Artist Lab” residency program, and the 15th Cloud Gate Wanderer Project. In addition, he has curated events such as “Chaos Resonance” and “Improvisation Ensemble Gathering.” Currently, he co-founded the “Taiwan International Improvisation Music Festival” and serves as the musical director.
Candice Jee (Australia)
Candice Jee (余曉冰/Biang) is an Australian-born Malaysian Hakka artist currently residing in Taipei. She investigates the processes of displacement, movement, and reassembly, considering them as part of cultural identity. Based on this, she produces rich and diverse works, including installations composed of sculpture, sound, architecture, and organisms (such as plants, soil, and insects). These constantly changing materials and meanings reflect the intermediacy and adaptability in the experience of mobility.
Marianne Villiere (France)
Marianne Villiere, born in Nancy, France, currently resides in France and Luxembourg. Her works often exhibit intertextuality, attempting to provide critical perspectives on people’s familiar daily lives. She aims to initiate discussions on norms, questioning what is considered normal and abnormal, and why.
Kok Chung Cheong + Tseng Ling Chiao (Malaysia)
Tseng Ling Chiao is a painter born in 1974 in Malaysia, graduated from the Art Department of the Malaysian Art Academy, focusing mainly on abstract depictions of nature.
Kok Chung Cheong is a photographer born in 1975 in Malaysia, graduated from the Art Department of the Malaysian Art Academy, and was the art director of the Kuala Lumpur Arts Plaza before deciding to dedicate himself full-time to professional photography in 2011.
Marta Roberti (Italy)
Marta Roberti uses hand-drawn animation, projection, and lightbox painting installations as the basis for her series of research projects. She is particularly interested in how Western identity is derived from animals, nature, exoticism, the East, and prehistory. In her latest works, Marta Roberti is attempting to deconstruct representations of nature.
