Time: 2017/8/6 (Sun.) 14:00-17:00
Venue: TFAM Auditorium
Forum Introduction:
The 57th Venice Biennale commenced on May 11. On that day Tehching Hsieh’s Doing Time also opened at the Taiwan Pavilion, winning kudos and attention from the global arts community.
On the afternoon of August 6, 2017 (Sun.), Taipei Fine Arts Museum will hold a forum on the 57th Venice Biennale and the Taiwan Pavilion, pondering their past, present and future. The forum features Venice Biennale 2017 international jury member Amy Cheng, an independent curator and director of TheCube Project Space. Other speakers include the 57th Venice Biennale Taiwan Pavilion nomination committee member Jau-Lan Guo and journalists from “The Reporter,” a media platform covering the current Biennale, as well as a curatorial intern for the Taiwan Pavilion. TFAM director Ping Lin will personally take part as moderator.
The forum title “Halftime” suggests to a moment for imagining the past, present and future of the Venice Biennale. Halftime is an opportunity to turn and head in a new direction, and a time to make new plans. Here, the axis of time takes precedence over space. During the intermission of a musical performance, audience members can share, interact or exit the concert hall. A halftime can be a turning point, a rest, a chance to reenergize and contemplate.
Registration:
Registration deadline: one day prior to the forum
Registration website: https://goo.gl/wcaLwC
For an overview of the forum contents: https://goo.gl/dvpnK2
Tel.: (02) 2595-7656 ext. 319 Email: tfam.events@gmail.com
Organizer: Taipei Fine Arts Museum 181 Zhongshan N. Road Sec. 3, Taipei City
Agenda
14: 00 – 14: 10 Ping Lin, TFAM Director Opening remarks
Session 1 Moderator: Ping Lin
14: 10－14: 30 Sylvie Wang, Yu Chih-wei of “The Reporter”
The Time behind the Lens, the Process behind the Words
–“The Reporter”: A Short Talk on Covering
the Venice Biennale
14: 30 – 14: 50 Nana Yu-I Lee, TFAM International & Public Relations Office
Behind the Scenes of “Doing Time”: Planning and
Strategiesn for the 57th Venice Biennale Taiwan
Pavilion
14: 50－15: 10 Shih-yu Hsu, TFAM curatorial intern
15: 10 － 15: 15 Ping Lin Short conclusion
15: 15 – 15: 30 Coffee & Tea
Session 2
15: 30 – 16: 00 Amy Cheng, independent curator
Set and Setting of the Venice Biennale
Session 3
16: 00 – 16: 30 Jau-Lan Guo, independent curator and art critic
Observations of the Venice Biennale and
the Taiwan Pavilion
16: 30 – 17: 00 Q & A with Ping Lin, Amy Cheng, Jau-lan Guo
Synopsis
The Time behind the Lens, the Process behind the Words – “The Reporter”: A Short Talk on Covering the Venice Biennale
Sylvie Wang, Yu Chih-wei
From preparation to public unveiling, the overlooked process is no less fascinating than the end results. In the age of speed, how many details are hidden in the process of an art festival? How does it appear in the eyes of a journalist and photojournalist for “The Reporter,” and how do they document it?
Behind the Scenes of “Doing Time”: Planning and Strategies for the 57th Venice Biennale Taiwan Pavilion
Nana Yu-I Lee
At the Venice Biennale, often likened to the Olympics of art, the Taiwan Pavilion is viewed as both a “collateral exhibition” and also a “national pavilion.” In this extravaganza with a myriad of artists, Taipei Fine Arts Museum has constantly pondered how to gain notice and initiate dialogue, pursuing new approaches and working passionately for the past two decades. This presentation seeks to dissect the exhibition planning, media strategy, goals and achievements of the Taiwan Pavilion at the 57th Venice Biennale, and to lay out a blueprint for future exhibition strategies.
In Between: Observations and Thoughts on the Inaugural Curatorial and Guide Cultivation Programs
Shih-yu Hsu
One special feature of the Taiwan Pavilion at the Venice Biennale is the introduction of two intern programs for the first time this year, in “Curatorial Cultivation” and “Guide Cultivation.” Their aim is to give more young arts workers exposure to this international platform. What are the observations and feelings of the first participant in the “Curatorial Cultivation” program, after seven months as a member of the TFAM team? And working in the first “Guide Cultivation” program, introducing the artworks in the Taiwan Pavilion to visitors from all over the world, what little stories are there to share that have left a deep impression?
Set and Setting of the Venice Biennale
Amy Cheng
A consideration of the “imagined internationality” of the Venice Biennale: Viewers view the Venice Biennale “more than” an exhibition. This classic biennial, the oldest in the world, retains its vibrancy after well over a century. Amidst the contemporary phenomenon of globalism, it evinces a high degree of cultural and political significance. In particular, how do various lands around the world present themselves on the front line of Venice? And how does Taiwan, located outside the mainstream, redefine itself and this venue, and establish a new relationship with history?
As a juror for the current Venice Biennale, I have selected a few of what I consider to be “unsung treasures,” to ruminate upon a number of dimensions of the Venice Biennale that have been given short shrift. What value do they have curating such a venue? What is the power of contemporary visual culture? And does today’s Venice Biennale possess the ability to muse on the development of human civilization?
Observations of the Venice Biennale and the Taiwan Pavilion
Jau-Lan Guo
As the world’s oldest art festival, the Venice Biennale is a major stop on the itinerary of contemporary art and culture tourism. It also serves as a “Grand Tour” of the world, essential homework for new discoveries that inform the recommended acquisition list of Art Taipei, the international art fair that follows on its heels. Yet who is acquiring? And who is discovering? From the global vision of the 1990s to this year’s “Viva Arte Viva,” from Okwui Enwezor’s recitation of Das Kapital at the 2015 Biennale to Christine Marcel’s allowing artists to sleep at the entrance of the main exhibition this year, how can we assess whether the Taiwan Pavilion has been successful? As it transforms, how can the Taiwan Pavilion maintain balance in its institutional structure and effectively trigger contemporary art’s power to fight back?
Speaker and Moderator Introductions:
Sylvie Wang is currently cultural section editor and marketing manager for The Reporter. She has served as planning supervisor for Eslite bookstore in Taiwan (2004-2011) and developed overseas sales for Eslite in Hong Kong (2013-2015). She has organized “Eslite Music 10 Years: An Important Little Affair” (2009); Taiwan Designers' Week (2012); and the Kaohsiung Film Festival (2015). She was editor of the independent cultural journal Monthly (2011-2012). She writes on books, film, art and music.
Yu Chih-wei is from Kaohsiung and currently lives and works in Taipei. He is chief photographer for The Reporter. His professional training is in mass media with a specialization in photography, and later in-depth studies in applied media and art. He has worked in broadcast media for 15 years. Yu also teaches news photography and supports promotional campaigns for non-profit organizations. He has served as a photojournalist for Storm Magazine (2014.01-2015.06) and Apple Daily (2003.01-2013.12).
Nana Yu-I Lee works for the Taipei Fine Arts Museum International & Public Relations Office, responsible for media liaison and interdepartmental management for such international events as the Taiwan Pavilion at the 2017 Venice Biennale and the Taipei Biennial 2016. She is a graduate of the Columbia University arts administration graduate program. During her studies in the United States, she worked as an intern in non-profit affairs development and public relations for Groundswell, the Museum of the City of New York, and the Guggenheim Museum.
Shih-yu Hsu is a curatorial intern for Taipei Fine Arts Museum at the 57th Venice Biennale. After working three and half years as an IC system designer, she switched to the National Palace Museum as a research assistant, managing touring exhibitions of contemporary interactive media art. She holds an M.A. in Visual Arts Administration from New York University and co-founded the bilingual online media art platform “Screen.” She currently works as a freelance journalist and curator. Her areas of study include image, memory and space.
Amy Cheng is a curator based in Taipei. In 2010, she and music critic Jeph Lo co-founded The Cube Project Space, which serves as an independent art space devoted to the research, production and presentation of contemporary art in Taipei. With the aim of delving deeply into local culture and establishing long-term relationships with artists, Cheng explores the possibility of “expanding curating”. Since 2009, she has co-initiated and carried out several research projects, including “Sound Cultures in Post War Taiwan” (2011- ) and “Critical Political Art and Curatorial Practice Research” (2009), for which she contributed to and edited the publication Art and Society: Introducing Seven Contemporary Artists.
Recent exhibitions curated by Amy Cheng include: The Heard and the Unheard: Soundscape Taiwan, Taiwan Pavilion at the 54th Venice Biennale; the exhibition series Re-envisioning Society (Taipei, 2011-2013); the screening Unhomely: Tales of an Island (Manchester, 2013); Shamans and Dissent (Hong Kong, 2013); and Towards Mysterious Realities (Taipei, 2016; Seoul, 2018). She also co-curated the exhibitions Melancholy in Progress: The 3rd Taiwan International Video Art Exhibition (Taipei, 2012); ALTERing NATIVism─Sound Cultures in Post War Taiwan (Taipei, Kaohsiung, 2014); Phantom of Civilization (Luxembourg, 2015); and Tell Me a Story – Locality and Narrative (Shanghai, Torino, 2016/2018).
Jau-Lan Guo is an independent curator and art critic based in Taipei. She received her doctorate in Western art history in 2006, with a primary research interest in the development of anti-modernist postmodern art theory in America through an interpretation of Robert Rauschenberg and the American Neo-Dada art movement. As an adjunct associate professor, Guo teaches modern art and contemporary art in the MFA Program in New Media Art, Taipei National University of Arts. Her involvement in curation began in 2006, with a focus on the cultural praxis of image, visual culture and sound art. Her recent focuses in research and curatorial practice include how exhibition invents history, produces knowledge, and triggers negotiation in conflicts. She has curated numerous exhibitions including 2015 Experimental Media Arts Festival in Taiwan: Habitation and Elsewhere (Taipei and Kuala Lumpur, 2015); Between Islands (Spain, Portugal, Ecuador, 2015); Harsh Landscape: Sonic Cartography (Hong Kong, 2016); and Amnesia and Malevich’s Pharmacy (Taipei, 2016). Jau-Lan Guo is the translator of the traditional Chinese version of Art Power by Boris Groys.
Ping Lin is currently director of Taipei Fine Arts Museum and a professor at Tunghai University’s department of fine Arts. She earned an M.A. in art education in 1990 and an M.F.A in artistic creation in 1992 at the University of Cincinnati in Ohio, USA. She specializes in art management, independent curating, critics, art education, and artistic creation. A former columnist at Artitude magazine, she has served as a collection committee member at Taipei Fine Arts Museum, National Taiwan Museum of Fine Arts, and Kaohsiung Museum of Fine Arts. She has been a public art committee member at the Ministry of Culture and the Ministry of Transportation, a board director at Taiwan Fine Arts Foundation, and board director at Xi De-Jin Art Foundation. She has served as dean at the Tunghai University department of fine arts and art gallery; art director of Warehouse No. 20, Taichung; director of CCA Railway Arts Network; and nomination committee member for the Taishin Arts Award and other major international awards.