Taiwan’s urban and rural life cycles are filled with rituals and ceremonies of various faiths ranging from Buddhism, Daoism and Confucianism to Christianity, Chinese folk religions and animistic beliefs of Taiwan’s Aboriginal peoples. While religion affects, challenges and intermingles with the secular world, myths, legends and fairytales add other layers to the spiritual world of Taiwan.
Taiwan is home to sixteen officially recognized Aboriginal groups of Austronesian peoples and Han Chinese of various backgrounds as well as other long-term settlers and recent immigrants. Throughout its history, outside forces—Chinese, Portuguese, Dutch, Spanish, and Japanese—have taken a turn to ‘discover’, settle in or occupy Taiwan. They introduced or forced different religions or brought myths and legends to the island with them. As with other East Asian countries, it is common to blend different religious practices in Taiwan. The spiritual world is very much part of life and has also been the source for creative inspiration in Taiwan.
(In)visible: The Spiritual World of Taiwan Through Contemporary Art explores how traditional and religious beliefs and modern values are integrated in this vibrant country. The exhibition features works by seven contemporary Taiwanese artists, who express and visualize religious beliefs, myths and the spiritual world with modern sensitivities.
About Spotlight Taiwan
MOA launched its Spotlight Taiwan Project in 2014, a new initiative that focuses on Taiwan’s complex and multicultural identity. Spotlight Taiwan project is made possible through the generous support of the Ministry of Culture, Republic of China (Taiwan).
Participating artists 參展藝術家:
Anli Genu / 安力‧給怒
Charwei Tsai / 蔡佳葳
Chiu Yu-Wen / 邱雨玟
Li Jiun-Yang / 李俊陽
Tu Wei-Cheng / 涂維政
Yuma Taru / 尤瑪‧達陸
Walis Labai /瓦歷斯‧拉拜
「台灣文化光點計畫」的順利進行,得益於中華民國(台灣)文化部的慷慨支助。
2014 年,加拿大不列顛哥倫比亞大學人類學博物館 (MOA) 發起「台灣文化光點計畫」,該計畫是專門研討台灣複雜多元文化認同的創舉。 MOA即將舉辦期待已久的台灣當代藝術展:《形(無)形: 台灣當代藝術的靈性世界》。
關於展覽
開展日期: 2015年11月20日- 2016年4月3日
策展人:中村冬日博士,加拿大溫哥華不列顛哥倫比亞大學人類學博物館亞洲部策展人
在高樓林立,群山環繞的台灣島上深居著各式各樣的鬼神。橫跨全島,不同神祇安身於祠堂,廟宇或隱身於自然現象之中。以民主聞名的當代台灣,容納著往往是混雜合流、千姿百態的信仰。無論在城市還是鄉下,人們的生命週期都充滿了各種信仰儀式,包括佛,道,儒,基督教乃至民間宗教與台灣原住民泛靈論等等。宗教影響,挑戰著世俗世界並與之交融,而豐富的神話,傳說和童話故事也賦予台灣的靈性世界不同的層面。
台灣有十六個官方認同的原住民族,都屬於南島民族的後裔。台灣有歷史悠久的定居者,也有新來的移民,包括各地來的漢人與其他外國人。在歷史的演變中,不同的外部勢力—比如中國,葡萄牙,荷蘭,西班牙和日本—輪流「發現」,定居或佔領台灣。他們傳入或強行引入了不同的宗教信仰和神話傳說。和東亞國家一樣,在台灣,各種宗教之間的混合很常見。台灣人的靈性世界融合在日常生活裡,也成為創意靈感的源泉。
《形(無)形: 台灣當代藝術的靈性世界 》探討傳統,宗教信仰與現代價值觀在這充滿活力的國家裡如何融合在一起。此展覽將展出七位台灣當代藝術家,他們的作品都以具有現代意識的視覺表達了各類宗教信仰,神話傳說與靈性世界。
Curator: Fuyubi Nakamura.
Read more about the artists featured in this exhibition in the Museum Note (In)visible / 形(無)形: The Spiritual World of Taiwan Through Contemporary Art / 台灣當代藝術的靈性世界.