The hybrid identity of Taiwan is its unique quality, but it is the same complexity that also poses a string of challenges for the largely unrecognised nation-state and its meeting with the international art scene. Concurrently, a storm of geopolitical tension brews over the island, which further blows important nuances into the margins. Contemplating the current condition, it would seem that Taiwan knows the world, but does the world really know Taiwan? To contest this knowledge gap, identity has remained a centripetal force that pulls artistic examination towards it, time and time again, and with each roundabout, the voices muffled by the storm grow louder. In the midst of the eye, a generation of trailblazing artists navigates the art scene that mirrors the dynamics and multifariousness of an island nation in flux, superseding cultural barriers, carving out interstice, and maintaining the continuous progression of identity.
To grasp some of these powerful whirlwinds, Tofu Collective has followed a diverse array
of exceptional artists into the epicentre of Taiwan’s contemporary art scene, a meeting that has been nothing short of warm, enlightening, and utterly magnetic. Typhoon is a product of comprehensive research and forged friendships—compiled in collaboration with dmp editions and an esteemed board of advisors—airing an eclectic capture of the streams that flow, intersect, and diverge within the many layers of Taiwanese art circles, through diverse portrayals of both promising younger artists and heavyweight practitioners. From inside and outside perspectives, we move through the sheer depth and variety of identities, fluctuating between an abundance of dichotomies, between local and global, natural and artificial, body and mind, past and future.
Aligned with these interchanging dynamics, Typhoon is conceptualised as two parts of a whole, constantly engaged in a negotiation between collective and individual identity. While always intermingled, their separation prompts a closer investigation of the various components of identity. In broad strokes, ME explores artistic endeavours rooted in introspection and personal narratives, whereas WE widens the lens and encourages reflection upon larger concepts of shared memory, cumulative experience, and societal progress. While some retrace an ancestral heritage, some make astute observations from the daily life before their eyes, and others imagine alternate realities. These revelations, from big to small and everything in between, relay new and unique transcultural perspectives on identity faced as global citizens in a world calling for closer ties and solidarity.
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Published by Tofu Collective with dmp editions
ISBN 978-87-971378-9-5
Language:
English
Size: 22×28×4 cm (x2 – double issue)
Pages: 168+168
Editor: Martin Wendelbo, Regen Li and Shauba Chang
Year: 2024
The hybrid identity of Taiwan is its unique quality, but it is the same complexity that also poses a string of challenges for the largely unrecognised nation-state and its meeting with the international art scene. Concurrently, a storm of geopolitical tension brews over the island, which further blows important nuances into the margins. Contemplating the current condition, it would seem that Taiwan knows the world, but does the world really know Taiwan? To contest this knowledge gap, identity has remained a centripetal force that pulls artistic examination towards it, time and time again, and with each roundabout, the voices muffled by the storm grow louder. In the midst of the eye, a generation of trailblazing artists navigates the art scene that mirrors the dynamics and multifariousness of an island nation in flux, superseding cultural barriers, carving out interstice, and maintaining the continuous progression of identity.
To grasp some of these powerful whirlwinds, Tofu Collective has followed a diverse array
of exceptional artists into the epicentre of Taiwan’s contemporary art scene, a meeting that has been nothing short of warm, enlightening, and utterly magnetic. Typhoon is a product of comprehensive research and forged friendships—compiled in collaboration with dmp editions and an esteemed board of advisors—airing an eclectic capture of the streams that flow, intersect, and diverge within the many layers of Taiwanese art circles, through diverse portrayals of both promising younger artists and heavyweight practitioners. From inside and outside perspectives, we move through the sheer depth and variety of identities, fluctuating between an abundance of dichotomies, between local and global, natural and artificial, body and mind, past and future.
Aligned with these interchanging dynamics, Typhoon is conceptualised as two parts of a whole, constantly engaged in a negotiation between collective and individual identity. While always intermingled, their separation prompts a closer investigation of the various components of identity. In broad strokes, ME explores artistic endeavours rooted in introspection and personal narratives, whereas WE widens the lens and encourages reflection upon larger concepts of shared memory, cumulative experience, and societal progress. While some retrace an ancestral heritage, some make astute observations from the daily life before their eyes, and others imagine alternate realities. These revelations, from big to small and everything in between, relay new and unique transcultural perspectives on identity faced as global citizens in a world calling for closer ties and solidarity.
—
Published by Tofu Collective with dmp editions
ISBN 978-87-971378-9-5
Language:
English
Size: 22×28×4 cm (x2 – double issue)
Pages: 168+168
Editor: Martin Wendelbo, Regen Li and Shauba Chang
Year: 2024
