藝術家簡介
Exhibition Organizer and Curator Team
2017-2020
Created Mouth of Xiuguluan River Amis Oral History
2019
Curated and participated in the exhibition “Seeing the Unheard History” at the Taiwan Indigenous Culture Park
2018
Joined and set up for the Austronesian International Arts Award
Participated in the Pulima Art Festival “Micawor Flipping”
Joined and set up for the creative project “Pocketing Memories” in the Taiwan Indigenous Culture Park
Participated in the exhibition in National Taitung Living Art Center’s “Hualien-Taitung Original Creative Life Fest”
Participated in the exhibition in the Tourism Bureau’s “Making and Marketing a Special Tour Map of Hualien-Taitung Region”
Video Production “Find My Way Home”
2017
Solo Exhibition at the Taiwan Indigenous Cultural Center, Hualien County
Participated in Taiwan Cultural Expo in a joint exhibition “We Explode in Culture” for a brand named Kamaro’an
Participated in “ ’Icep in Love – Amis Cultural Exhibition” in Cahamu Gallery in Tainan
Group Competition
2018
Received Austronesian International Arts Award
Selected for the Pulima Arts Award
2016
Received Special Jury Award for Community-building in Gangkou Hualien and qualification of community planner
作品簡介
Waiting for the tide to rise – Grandfather’s Fishing Basket
In Gangkou Village where we live on the East Coast, the elders would sit by the rocky shore for two hours before casting their fishing nets, just to observe the faraway edge of the sea, waiting for the jumping fish comes with the rising tide. Such an inefficient pace of living is somewhat zen-like, yet it embodies the nature, the eternal sense of time the indigenous people follow. Like the ever-changing tides and the endless cycles of everything that make us forget about time, the villagers have transcended time through tireless waiting and laboring. The abundant fish they caught fulfills the villagers’ hope to feed their families; hence they devote all they have to fishing, hunting, planting, weaving, handcrafting, and more, amazingly embody the eternal vitality possessed by their culture and spiritual essence.
However, the stationed fishing nets that gained popularity in the 1980s gradually changed this scene of the past. No more jumping fish can be seen above the sea horizon before the rising tides; instead, dozens of buoys marking the vast and deep fishing grounds for fishes of all sizes to enter as they arrive at the graveyard. The stationed fishing nets are emptied twice daily and a large number of fishes caught. For the coastal villages in Eastern Taiwan whose livelihood depends on the sea, fishery resources’ depletion is visible through the image of buoys that replaced fish jumping above water. Human destruction of the environment took away future villagers’ hope in the sea. The indigenous way of living and oceanic culture is fading away with the fish as the younger generations can no longer catch fish for a living… We concern about the hidden worry as we face the ocean every day. The villagers always look forward to seeing what the fishers catch in their fishing baskets when returning from the sea, praising those who often brought home plentiful fish for having quality fishing baskets. As the number of fish declined and the collectible garbage on the shore increased, resourceful villagers gather plastic ocean waste for upcycling. Especially true for the buoys, which can be made into many things, including containers, artworks, and even drums, like those made by the percussion group Paw Paw, which also symbolizes that plastic has filled up the human life and there is no going back.
What does their work floating above the sea simulate, a school of fish, or a bunch of buoys? The two are interpretive and dialectical to each other, just like the stationed fishing nets surrounding a gigantic fishing basket. A single designated passage presents the only entry, no exit, which allows the audience to experience the Pacific Ocean, following the fishes and buoys into a bamboo woven basket, being embraced by the traditional culture, natural materials, comfy and tranquil ambiance. Together we reminisce the beauty of the Amis traditional way of sustainable fishing, witnessing how it struggles against the destructive industrialized fishing as they coexist in the Pacific. After meeting with the youngsters of the percussion group Paw Paw, we are moved in awe and respect by their passion and mission toward passing down their legacy. It is our responsibility to cherish and protect the natural environment the village culture these children love.
