Exhibition｜Power! Concrete! Let's Build the Island's Modern Dream!
Date｜2023.02.25-2023.06.11
Veune｜Tainan Art Museum
"Everyday Life and Landscapes of the Island: Betel Nuts, Bananas, Sugar Cane, and Palms", an exhibition previously held at the museum in 2020, attempted to reconstruct the concept of landscape in Taiwan's art history through local economic crops. This exhibition, "Power! Concrete! Let's Build the Island's Modern Dream!”, seeks to further discuss the industrial transformation on the island and its impact on Taiwan's lifestyle and artistic creativity.
Since the era of Japanese rule, successive regimes’ industrialization projects on the island have not merely fulfilled a given regime’s own needs; in fact, industrialization has driven Taiwan towards the process of modernization. From the infrastructure construction boom during the Japanese colonial period to the post-war Ten Major Construction Projects, Taiwan has transformed itself from being a weak economic power during the early post-war stage to one of the Four Asian Tigers. With the development of high-tech industry and the deployment of core infrastructure such as high-speed rail in recent years, Taiwan has become a developed country with high industrial and commercial growth.
However, when faced with the landscape changes resulting from such progress, how do artists in Taiwan challenge and depict the landscape and themes of industrialization? When residents of the island begin demanding speed and convenience, alongside bigger and taller buildings, is this concrete-imprisoned island still the Beautiful Formosa at which people would marvel?
“Power! Concrete! Let's Build the Island's Modern Dream" attempts to re-examine the process of industrialization and modernization in Taiwan from various angles. At the exhibition, we can see how senior artists such as Lin Yu-shan and Li Chi-mao used traditional media to depict Taiwan's industrial landscape; we can also see how the hardcore artists Chen Shui-tsai and Lu Hsien-ming translated Taiwan's industrial landscape into the artistic language of contemporary painting. On top of these recognized names, the exhibition features works by many contemporary artists showcasing their feelings — including satire and resistance — towards this industrial island.
Modernization and industrialization carry with them not only dust blotting out the sky; these forces equally influence the lifestyle and leisure activities of the people in Taiwan. From the bento boxes that fill the stomach during rail travels, to the international airports that allow us to travel abroad conveniently, these industrial constructions also harbor our fond memories of the past.
This exhibition is not about glorifying modern constructions, nor is it constrained to the beautiful scenery left unsullied by modern development. At the time of Taiwan’s transition into the post-industrial era, the exhibition attempts to rethink the industrial process that we have been through, and to reflect upon how these industrial memories reshaped our homeland and become the new scenery in our common memory.
