Foreword

From 2019, the Research Department of the Taipei Fine Arts Museum has worked with Professor Jun-Jieh Wang and Professor Chien-Hung Huang from the Taipei National University of the Arts on the “1980s Taiwan Transdisciplinary and Experimental Art Research Project”. We also published the special series “The Enlightening Eighties” in the Modern Art quarterly. In November, 2021, we co-organized the forum The 1980s: The Dawn of an Interdisciplinary Taiwan. In 2022, to tie in with the exhibition The Wild Eighties: Dawn of a Transdisciplinary Taiwan presented by TFAM, we will host an international forum from December 3 to 4, inviting scholars, curators, artists and writers from Taiwan, Southeast Asia, Japan, China and Hong Kong exploring transdisciplinary art, film, theatre, humanistic ideas and the social environment to exchange ideas and engage in in-depth dialogue. The forum will focus on five main themes: I. Methodology and the Times; II. The Specialization and Transdisciplinarity of Modernity; III. Art Collective and Communal Becoming; IV. Trans-cultural Chimera & Avant-gardism Rotting; V. Art Responding to Era and Context. It will include five keynote speeches with six speakers and four panel discussions with twelve panelists.

Instruction

Through colonial modernity, Taiwan entered the picture of world history. During the Japanese colonial era, the Japanese Empire developed Taiwan into a base for its southern expansion. At the end of World War II, Taiwan was returned to China in accordance with international treaties. But following the defeat of the KMT by the CCP in China, Chiang Kai-shek retreated to Taiwan. Ever since, Taiwan has been an outstanding issue, and an epitome of international history. Taiwan in the 80s was the setting of geopolitical interactions. In the 1980s, Japan entered the international market with a new mode of Asian management and South Korea was gripped by violent pro-democracy protests, China began a period of reform and opening up after the end of the Cultural Revolution, while Singapore was forging its identity after the founding of the republic. The development of these different Asian regions was influenced by the international order and the economic ties between them. However, in terms of form of government and cultural identity, they followed their own individual path. While looking back and reflecting on Taiwan in the 80s, the international forum The Wild Eighties: Dawn of a Transdisciplinary Taiwan recognizes the need for more dialogue with our neighbors, in order to better understand the significance of that period.

To understand Taiwan, one must understand Asia first. Only by engaging in dialogue with the world can we imagine Taiwan’s future. The 1980s: The Dawn of an Interdisciplinary Taiwan is a research project supported by the Ministry of Culture’s “Taiwanese Art History Reconstruction Project”. In order to increase the sharing and discussion of this research topic on public platforms, the Taipei Fine Arts Museum is presenting the exhibition and forum The Wild Eighties: Dawn of a Transdisciplinary Taiwan. The most important part of reconstructing Taiwanese art history is to affirm one’s subjectivity in history, and to have a foundation for engaging in dialogue with and expanding the symbiotic relationship with others. The research project focuses on the specific historical period of the 1980s characterized by the profound resonance between art, culture and social conditions. The artistic and cultural energy produced by the social and historical conditions played a huge role in the transdisciplinary collaborations between artists and practitioners in different fields and contributed to the overall changes. With “people, events and places” as well as “key issues” as the two “transdisciplinary” themes, the exhibition creates a constellation of “an age”. Transdisciplinarity in a specific environment that is not yet “schematized” and improvised transdisciplinary experiments form the main axis of the exhibition. Held in November 2021, the forum The 1980s: The Dawn of an Interdisciplinary Taiwan was based on research and mainly showcased the testimonies of the transdisciplinary participants during those years. The international forum in 2022, along with the content of the exhibition, will be an important occasion for us to exchange and discuss with experts from Asia, with an abundance of material and narratives as their basis. With five keynote speeches and four panel discussions, we will explore how the 80s belonged to Asia in the limited valuable time.

| The research project by Taipei National University of the Arts is supported by the Ministry of Culture’s “Taiwanese Art History Reconstruction Project” |

Time: DEC 3, 2022 (Sat.) 11:00 - 17:30

Time: DEC 4, 2022 (Sun.) 12:50 - 17:15

Venue: Auditorium, Taipei Fine Arts Museum

Simultaneous Interpretation in Mandarin and English Provided

    △ Online pre-registration is required and begins on NOV 21 (Mon.) 10:00 AM.

    △ The registration page will automatically close when reached the maximum number of participants
    △ Check-in: DEC 3  (Sat.) 10:30 - 10:45; the registration expires when exceeding the check-in timeframe

    △ Check-in: DEC 4  (Sun.) 12:20 - 12:35; the registration expires when exceeding the check-in timeframe

Notice       

• All backpacks and items exceeding 40 x 30 x 20 cm must be stored in a locker at the Museum Information Center located in the lobby.
• Participating in the forum is free of charge. Please purchase an ordinary TFAM visitor’s ticket when entering the museum.
• In the case of changes on the symposium schedule, information on the official website shall prevail.
• To follow precaution measures for COVID-19, please see the museum's corresponding provisions in the updated announcement before visiting.

Research Department | 02-25957656 #122