Kuandu Museum of Fine Arts

About the Exhibition

Curator
Chen Hsiang-Wen

What stories have we heard about the past? In addition to written history, what did survivors witness? Is it possible to find more ways to define ourselves by looking into the rustling sounds coming out from the ash pile of history and by examining culturally significant marks ingrained in us?

This project starts with several journeys between Taiwan and the Indonesian archipelago. There is a lasting connection between these two countries in regard to their histories and current social situations. The colonies had been governed by different colonial regimes. Their native languages were eliminated. And the identity and feelings for the motherland were purposefully diluted. Moreover, whenever the governing body changes, the understanding of history and geography of a nation would be replaced by a new set of knowledge. In the post-war era, many cultural groups and individuals who are put at a disadvantage due to lack of discursive or militant power seem invisible. Yet their voices and memories might still be there despite that they choose to forget. In this exhibition, artists collect fragments of the past, research carefully on traces left in nature, cultural practice and personal micro-histories, and further dig out more means to articulate a discourse beyond the existing definition of politics and geography. What’s absurd and intriguing at the same time is that the residues of the past which could not be properly documented in written history have actually been passed on from generation to generation. They travel in the shadowed rifts, mutating and transforming into similar yet different manifestations in varied regions to be shared and divided.

About the Exhibition

Curator
Chen Hsiang-Wen

What stories have we heard about the past? In addition to written history, what did survivors witness? Is it possible to find more ways to define ourselves by looking into the rustling sounds coming out from the ash pile of history and by examining culturally significant marks ingrained in us?

This project starts with several journeys between Taiwan and the Indonesian archipelago. There is a lasting connection between these two countries in regard to their histories and current social situations. The colonies had been governed by different colonial regimes. Their native languages were eliminated. And the identity and feelings for the motherland were purposefully diluted. Moreover, whenever the governing body changes, the understanding of history and geography of a nation would be replaced by a new set of knowledge. In the post-war era, many cultural groups and individuals who are put at a disadvantage due to lack of discursive or militant power seem invisible. Yet their voices and memories might still be there despite that they choose to forget. In this exhibition, artists collect fragments of the past, research carefully on traces left in nature, cultural practice and personal micro-histories, and further dig out more means to articulate a discourse beyond the existing definition of politics and geography. What’s absurd and intriguing at the same time is that the residues of the past which could not be properly documented in written history have actually been passed on from generation to generation. They travel in the shadowed rifts, mutating and transforming into similar yet different manifestations in varied regions to be shared and divided.

Artists

阿爾溫•希達亞
Arwin HIDAYAT

The Village I Live In
batik / dimensions variable / 2019

As far as Arwin HIDAYAT is concerned, the position of batik is no longer just the items used in shirts, shawls, magic, etc., rather, it is like other types of artistic practice, where much more complex expressions can be achieved. HIDAYAT’s batik presents many aspects of his life in the countryside, his family life, everyday tasks or his more personal mind state. Life in the country has had a significant influence on HIDAYAT, here he feels that he is a social person who needs to work with everyone. Mutual cooperation is a symbol of country life. This aspect also provides a lot of nourishments for his work, he has found many prototypes for his characters in the village and tried to change these images in the works.

-

區秀詒x 陳侑汝
AU Sow-Yeex CHEN Yow-Ruu

If We Do Not Exist, How Could Our Memories Remain and Not Pass Into Silence
mixed media / dimensions variable / 2017

If We Do Not Exist, How Could Our Memories Remain and not Pass into Silenceconstructs a “memory map” between one object and another. These objects hint at the total sum of human activity. Translated into sound and visual elements, they form a statement linking personal memories, historical memories, geographical memories and local memories. The artists appeal to the senses, using their own bodily expressions to chart a “sound score” of the process of field research collection, and from this they produce an aural map of modernology. At the same time, the trajectories of the body, society and history are manifested through the “performances” of objects.

-

林羿綺
LIN Yi-Chi

Nanyang Express: Trans-drifting and South Sea Crossing
FULL-HD single-channel video, color, sound / 15’ / 2019

Like a messenger, LIN brought with her the letters sent from relatives in Indonesia which have been carefully preserved in her house for years. From blurred illegible handwriting on the envelopes, she tracked down addresses and flew to Bangka island in North Indonesia to carry out the filming. In the early days, many people from Kinmen left for Nanyang (Southeast Asia) in search of better opportunities. They ended up settling on a foreign land. Letters written under their dictation were the only means to reach out to their homeland and family which gradually faded in their memories. By revisiting the places, LIN stepped on this immigration route across different islands. Through the use of on-site documentary filming, letters and texts, oral histories of families, and communication happening in a mixture of languages, this work gave a rich account of personal narratives of Kinmen people setting off for the sea.

-

劉玗
LIU Yu

Caecuscreaturae.2-channel video
dimensions variable / 32’ / 2019

Georgo Eberhard Rumphius (1627-1702) is a biologist who was employed by the Dutch East India Company in the 17th century. He designed and built a fortress in Ambon, Indonesia in 1654. He lived in Indonesia for 49 years until passing away. Rumphius is particularly enthusiastic about plant and shellfish research. His important work Herbarium Amboinense features 1,200 species of plants, including the 930 species, which form the biological basis of the Maluku Islands. A large amount of research data left by Rumphius also contributed to Carl indirectly. Carl von Linné'sBinomial Nomenclature was established in 1753, there are even some supporters thought that Carl von Linné had stolen his research. This era of great naming has become the beginning of species dataization, and it has evolved into the scientific basis of our understanding of plants and animals. In fact, Rumphius has lost his vision in both eyes at the beginning stages of his research, but he continues to use imagination to define the world we know today.

-

呂易倫
LU Yi-Lun

Connection and Bystanding
print on PVC photo paper / dimensions variable / 2019

This work is a visual investigation on the act of “observing (family relations),” which is largely about family sentiments, taking root in different environments, identity, and a migration/colonial history.LU’s work documents the situation where “family-visitors” arrive at a foreign land in which their relatives reside. The experience illustrates certain homogeneity of the culture they share; at the same time, there is a distance, a contrast between perceptions of two places due to geographical separation. Oscillation between the two factors—cultural homogeneity and geographical separation— “seeking novelty” is among reasons that drives the photographer to press the shutter. On the display, LU rearranges the photos of documentary nature in order to recreate the scenes as they were to the audience with a narrative full of ups and downs. The chronological order is purposefully disrupted—with family photos of these visitors inserted in the sequence, allowing a different perception of time and space.

-

羅懿君
LO Yi-Chun

Deer Rug
dried banana peels, urushiol / 220×260cm / 2016

Deerskin was an important goods for trading in the 17thcentury Taiwan, whereas banana held similar importance from 1950s to 1970s. Both were historically significant to Taiwan’s early-day developments. In this work, LO creates a dialogue beyond space and time between these two kinds of produce once relevant to Taiwan’s economy. By sewing processed, sun-dried banana skins into a sculpture that reminds us of a piece of deerskin, the two concepts are brought together. The weight of time, as well as the historical significance the objects bear are now converged in the same installation.

馬寞路
mamoru

Firando Tayouan Batavia- Japan Taiwan Indonesia
5-channel video installation; HD, stereo / 10’47” / 2018

The title of the work represents three locations where VOC (Dutch East India Company) had established their trading posts. Their trading routes that had once flourished was also the path that Catholics who were persecuted by the Japanese had to take when they were deported permanently from their homeland. Among them, there were also numbers of people who were born of Japanese mothers and European fathers. The work especially was inspired by a letter smuggled from Batavia (Jakarta) to Firando (Hirado) through Tayouan (Tainan) in the 1630’s. The dress of the female protagonist was inspired by the dresses appear in the 17th century Dutch geography book about Japan, and designed by a Japanese fashion designer who uses textiles from all over Asia. The work is a chapter from the series of work A Long Listening Journey of a Possible History Especially of Japanese & Dutch & Something More.

-

馬哈拉妮‧馬羌那嘎拉
Maharani MANCANAGARA

Tale of Wanatentrem Chronicle #2
charcoal on woodboard / 160 × 160 × 15 cm / 2018

Students in Indonesia are expected to willfully accept the history lessons being taught in school, including the events in the year 1965, in which the Gerakan 30 September (30 September Movement or G30S) took place and culminating into a mass killing incident and a national tragedy (1965-1966). The events that took place in the year 1965 directly feeds the people with disdain and anger towards the responsible parties from G30S, with media reports providing the fuel to the fire. And now after the end of the New Order ruling, the freedom of speech revealed many gaps that used to be concealed in the era, interrupting the existing facts to “conclude” to what has been taught in school.Through MANCANAGARA grandfather's diary, she tried to retrace the records, leading her to research the Koblen prison in Surabaya, the prison was the first stop (and also transit) for prisoners who were captured in Surabaya and the surrounding areas before they were transferred to Nusakambangan and then to Buru Island.Tale of Wanatentrem illustrations started her works regarding the ongoing quest of discovery, not directly animating the figures that were mentioned constantly in the historical archives. Inspired by children’s folktale, many characters took the form of animals in which they will live and survive. The chapters were designed linearly by accident. She hopes to not only display a story in a systematic way, but also to use various instruments to convey that very message.

-

梅西‧西妥魯斯
Meicy SITORUS

Nona Djawa
photography components / dimensions variable / 2013

During the Japanese colonial period (1943-1945), 200,000-400,000 Asian women aged between 13-25 years old were forced to be army sex slaves, some lured by promises of free education and steady job whilst others were recruited by force. This project illustrates the truth behind “Ianfu/Survivor,” a generic term for prostitutes, but in reality, they are all evidence of a well-planned crime of brutal sex slavery during the war.Nona Djawa is one part of the Mataoli documentary photography series, a collaborative project with an independent researcher, focusing on the history of JugunIanfu in Java and witnessing the survivor’s story 72 years after the colonial era.

-

吳其育
WU Chi-Yu

Hominin
single channel video with surround sound / 15’ / 2019

The conception of the work is based largely on prehistoric cave paintings in Asia. The creation of cave paintings marks the dawn of the intelligent creature discovering images for immersive experience. Species of different lineages can develop similar functions because of being in similar environments— what we call convergent evolution; different ethnicity groups, too, are able to develop consistent cognitive ability in similar spaces.

As one of the oldest cave paintings, the painting at Leang-Leang cave had witnessed the beginning of consciousness, which happened across different locations in human history. It illustrates the common ground of humans and how they gradually evolve to share more similarities. Hand prints, deer pig drawn on different surfaces in the cave, altogether, constitute what is like a VR experience at the dawn of consciousness. Be it a newly-emerged religious ritual, popular prehistoric “VR” experience, or artistic masterpieces in current modern-day exhibitions. Evolution is a continuum, an ongoing and uninterrupted timeline. The missing link in the course of evolution is never missing. It’s the current species situated in a specific segment of time who fails to comprehend a prehistoric way of seeing and to go further beyond in order to see what’s missing in the course of evolution.

-

張徐展
ZHANG-XU Zhan

Tale of Animal AT58
single-channel video / dimensions variable / 2019

The “Aarne-Thompson classification system,” shortened as “AT number system,” is an index for classifying folktales which understands them as being built out of smaller, interchangeable motifs. Tale of Animal AT58starts with a research project during the artist’s residency program in Yogyakarta, Indonesia. “Mouse-deer” is a common subject in Indonesian folktales. Based on the famous tale “The Mouse-Deer and the Crocodile,” similar motifs in Chinese folktales are drawn upon in reference to “The Clever Fox or Other Animal.” The artist is as well inspired by costumes used in Yi-Zhen, traditional Taiwanese folk performance of religious procession, when he fabricates a half fox half mouse-deer figure in the installation. Images of the two animals work together for the character to act out “AT58,” a similar narrative to the tale, which speaks to the artist’s previous work Si So Miin regard to explorations on changes of meaning when cultures spread across different regions as well as universality.

Artists

阿爾溫•希達亞
Arwin HIDAYAT

The Village I Live In
batik / dimensions variable / 2019

As far as Arwin HIDAYAT is concerned, the position of batik is no longer just the items used in shirts, shawls, magic, etc., rather, it is like other types of artistic practice, where much more complex expressions can be achieved. HIDAYAT’s batik presents many aspects of his life in the countryside, his family life, everyday tasks or his more personal mind state. Life in the country has had a significant influence on HIDAYAT, here he feels that he is a social person who needs to work with everyone. Mutual cooperation is a symbol of country life. This aspect also provides a lot of nourishments for his work, he has found many prototypes for his characters in the village and tried to change these images in the works.

-

區秀詒x 陳侑汝
AU Sow-Yeex CHEN Yow-Ruu

If We Do Not Exist, How Could Our Memories Remain and Not Pass Into Silence
mixed media / dimensions variable / 2017

If We Do Not Exist, How Could Our Memories Remain and not Pass into Silenceconstructs a “memory map” between one object and another. These objects hint at the total sum of human activity. Translated into sound and visual elements, they form a statement linking personal memories, historical memories, geographical memories and local memories. The artists appeal to the senses, using their own bodily expressions to chart a “sound score” of the process of field research collection, and from this they produce an aural map of modernology. At the same time, the trajectories of the body, society and history are manifested through the “performances” of objects.

-

林羿綺
LIN Yi-Chi

Nanyang Express: Trans-drifting and South Sea Crossing
FULL-HD single-channel video, color, sound / 15’ / 2019

Like a messenger, LIN brought with her the letters sent from relatives in Indonesia which have been carefully preserved in her house for years. From blurred illegible handwriting on the envelopes, she tracked down addresses and flew to Bangka island in North Indonesia to carry out the filming. In the early days, many people from Kinmen left for Nanyang (Southeast Asia) in search of better opportunities. They ended up settling on a foreign land. Letters written under their dictation were the only means to reach out to their homeland and family which gradually faded in their memories. By revisiting the places, LIN stepped on this immigration route across different islands. Through the use of on-site documentary filming, letters and texts, oral histories of families, and communication happening in a mixture of languages, this work gave a rich account of personal narratives of Kinmen people setting off for the sea.

-

劉玗
LIU Yu

Caecuscreaturae.2-channel video
dimensions variable / 32’ / 2019

Georgo Eberhard Rumphius (1627-1702) is a biologist who was employed by the Dutch East India Company in the 17th century. He designed and built a fortress in Ambon, Indonesia in 1654. He lived in Indonesia for 49 years until passing away. Rumphius is particularly enthusiastic about plant and shellfish research. His important work Herbarium Amboinense features 1,200 species of plants, including the 930 species, which form the biological basis of the Maluku Islands. A large amount of research data left by Rumphius also contributed to Carl indirectly. Carl von Linné'sBinomial Nomenclature was established in 1753, there are even some supporters thought that Carl von Linné had stolen his research. This era of great naming has become the beginning of species dataization, and it has evolved into the scientific basis of our understanding of plants and animals. In fact, Rumphius has lost his vision in both eyes at the beginning stages of his research, but he continues to use imagination to define the world we know today.

-

呂易倫
LU Yi-Lun

Connection and Bystanding
print on PVC photo paper / dimensions variable / 2019

This work is a visual investigation on the act of “observing (family relations),” which is largely about family sentiments, taking root in different environments, identity, and a migration/colonial history.LU’s work documents the situation where “family-visitors” arrive at a foreign land in which their relatives reside. The experience illustrates certain homogeneity of the culture they share; at the same time, there is a distance, a contrast between perceptions of two places due to geographical separation. Oscillation between the two factors—cultural homogeneity and geographical separation— “seeking novelty” is among reasons that drives the photographer to press the shutter. On the display, LU rearranges the photos of documentary nature in order to recreate the scenes as they were to the audience with a narrative full of ups and downs. The chronological order is purposefully disrupted—with family photos of these visitors inserted in the sequence, allowing a different perception of time and space.

-

羅懿君
LO Yi-Chun

Deer Rug
dried banana peels, urushiol / 220×260cm / 2016

Deerskin was an important goods for trading in the 17thcentury Taiwan, whereas banana held similar importance from 1950s to 1970s. Both were historically significant to Taiwan’s early-day developments. In this work, LO creates a dialogue beyond space and time between these two kinds of produce once relevant to Taiwan’s economy. By sewing processed, sun-dried banana skins into a sculpture that reminds us of a piece of deerskin, the two concepts are brought together. The weight of time, as well as the historical significance the objects bear are now converged in the same installation.

馬寞路
mamoru

Firando Tayouan Batavia- Japan Taiwan Indonesia
5-channel video installation; HD, stereo / 10’47” / 2018

The title of the work represents three locations where VOC (Dutch East India Company) had established their trading posts. Their trading routes that had once flourished was also the path that Catholics who were persecuted by the Japanese had to take when they were deported permanently from their homeland. Among them, there were also numbers of people who were born of Japanese mothers and European fathers. The work especially was inspired by a letter smuggled from Batavia (Jakarta) to Firando (Hirado) through Tayouan (Tainan) in the 1630’s. The dress of the female protagonist was inspired by the dresses appear in the 17th century Dutch geography book about Japan, and designed by a Japanese fashion designer who uses textiles from all over Asia. The work is a chapter from the series of work A Long Listening Journey of a Possible History Especially of Japanese & Dutch & Something More.

-

馬哈拉妮‧馬羌那嘎拉
Maharani MANCANAGARA

Tale of Wanatentrem Chronicle #2
charcoal on woodboard / 160 × 160 × 15 cm / 2018

Students in Indonesia are expected to willfully accept the history lessons being taught in school, including the events in the year 1965, in which the Gerakan 30 September (30 September Movement or G30S) took place and culminating into a mass killing incident and a national tragedy (1965-1966). The events that took place in the year 1965 directly feeds the people with disdain and anger towards the responsible parties from G30S, with media reports providing the fuel to the fire. And now after the end of the New Order ruling, the freedom of speech revealed many gaps that used to be concealed in the era, interrupting the existing facts to “conclude” to what has been taught in school.Through MANCANAGARA grandfather's diary, she tried to retrace the records, leading her to research the Koblen prison in Surabaya, the prison was the first stop (and also transit) for prisoners who were captured in Surabaya and the surrounding areas before they were transferred to Nusakambangan and then to Buru Island.Tale of Wanatentrem illustrations started her works regarding the ongoing quest of discovery, not directly animating the figures that were mentioned constantly in the historical archives. Inspired by children’s folktale, many characters took the form of animals in which they will live and survive. The chapters were designed linearly by accident. She hopes to not only display a story in a systematic way, but also to use various instruments to convey that very message.

-

梅西‧西妥魯斯
Meicy SITORUS

Nona Djawa
photography components / dimensions variable / 2013

During the Japanese colonial period (1943-1945), 200,000-400,000 Asian women aged between 13-25 years old were forced to be army sex slaves, some lured by promises of free education and steady job whilst others were recruited by force. This project illustrates the truth behind “Ianfu/Survivor,” a generic term for prostitutes, but in reality, they are all evidence of a well-planned crime of brutal sex slavery during the war.Nona Djawa is one part of the Mataoli documentary photography series, a collaborative project with an independent researcher, focusing on the history of JugunIanfu in Java and witnessing the survivor’s story 72 years after the colonial era.

-

吳其育
WU Chi-Yu

Hominin
single channel video with surround sound / 15’ / 2019

The conception of the work is based largely on prehistoric cave paintings in Asia. The creation of cave paintings marks the dawn of the intelligent creature discovering images for immersive experience. Species of different lineages can develop similar functions because of being in similar environments— what we call convergent evolution; different ethnicity groups, too, are able to develop consistent cognitive ability in similar spaces.

As one of the oldest cave paintings, the painting at Leang-Leang cave had witnessed the beginning of consciousness, which happened across different locations in human history. It illustrates the common ground of humans and how they gradually evolve to share more similarities. Hand prints, deer pig drawn on different surfaces in the cave, altogether, constitute what is like a VR experience at the dawn of consciousness. Be it a newly-emerged religious ritual, popular prehistoric “VR” experience, or artistic masterpieces in current modern-day exhibitions. Evolution is a continuum, an ongoing and uninterrupted timeline. The missing link in the course of evolution is never missing. It’s the current species situated in a specific segment of time who fails to comprehend a prehistoric way of seeing and to go further beyond in order to see what’s missing in the course of evolution.

-

張徐展
ZHANG-XU Zhan

Tale of Animal AT58
single-channel video / dimensions variable / 2019

The “Aarne-Thompson classification system,” shortened as “AT number system,” is an index for classifying folktales which understands them as being built out of smaller, interchangeable motifs. Tale of Animal AT58starts with a research project during the artist’s residency program in Yogyakarta, Indonesia. “Mouse-deer” is a common subject in Indonesian folktales. Based on the famous tale “The Mouse-Deer and the Crocodile,” similar motifs in Chinese folktales are drawn upon in reference to “The Clever Fox or Other Animal.” The artist is as well inspired by costumes used in Yi-Zhen, traditional Taiwanese folk performance of religious procession, when he fabricates a half fox half mouse-deer figure in the installation. Images of the two animals work together for the character to act out “AT58,” a similar narrative to the tale, which speaks to the artist’s previous work Si So Miin regard to explorations on changes of meaning when cultures spread across different regions as well as universality.

Works