Asian Perspectives
The notion of Asia is a relative, geographical idea created by European empires for political expansion and cross-regional economic benefits. “The East,” with Europe as the center, is divided into “the Far East” and “the Near East.” In Edward Wadie SAID’s Orientalism (1979), he points out that the Orient is an image of the other shaped by the European discourses. In order to subvert the unequal relationship formed with the West as the center in decades of cultural discourses, and retrieve the power to theorize oneself, many attempts have been carried out in the fields of culture and arts in Asia to formulate fresh viewpoints based on Asian experiences accumulated over the course of several decades.
The Taipei Biennial in 1998 was the first-ever international biennial organized by Taiwan. LIN Man-Li, the director of the Taipei Fine Arts Museum at the time and the driving force behind this precedent, stated that a non-Western discursive power was still lacking in the global contemporary art field that emphasized on diversity. The biennial hoped to enable culture to take a deeper root in local regions through cross-regional communication and discussion, and “[…] the 1998 Taipei Biennial is a curatorial exhibition to foreground the Asian perspectives as its foremost appeal.” In 2007, the National Taiwan Museum of Fine Arts (NTMFA) launched the Asian Art Biennial, the first biennial in the name of Asia. HSUEH Po-Shia, the director of NTMFA at the time, stated that the Asian Art Biennial “can facilitate dialogues between Taiwan and other Asian regions, and highlight the importance of Taiwan’s contemporary art as part of the overall development of Asian art.” In the same year, “The Forum of Asia Arts” organized by the Doctoral Program in Art Creation and Theory of Tainan National University of the Arts, which centered on the core issue of “Asia and Modernity,” collaborated with NTMFA for the first time to serve as the hub of connecting Asian arts and cultural studies with Taiwan through international academic exchange. In Transpassing: Special Studies on Contemporary Asia Art in 2010s published in 2011, author KAO Chien-Hui points out that the “Asian perspectives” emerged in the 21st century are like a movement of political alliance based on the Asian collective consciousness, which employed the channel of major exhibitions, such as the biennials, to speak up to the world while casting the identity of “the silent other” behind.
The Asian perspectives did not emerge without questions and discussions: the co-curator of the 2017 Asian Art Biennial, Wassan AL-KHUDHAIRI, posed the question, “Is Middle East Asia?,” based on traditional geographical division. The same problematic also appeared in the 6th edition of the Kuandu Biennale in 2018--Seven Questions for Asia. Turkish curator Ali AKAY asked, “Can we really talk about ‘Asiatic Mediterranean area’ in terms of global geopolitics and cosmology?” This exhibition that opened with positing “Asia” as the question also triggered doubts about whether it was suitable to interpret the complexity within Asia simply through dialectic logic.
Publication
The Taipei Biennial in 1998 was the first-ever international biennial organized by Taiwan. LIN Man-Li, the director of the Taipei Fine Arts Museum at the time and the driving force behind this precedent, stated that a non-Western discursive power was still lacking in the global contemporary art field that emphasized on diversity. The biennial hoped to enable culture to take a deeper root in local regions through cross-regional communication and discussion, and “[…] the 1998 Taipei Biennial is a curatorial exhibition to foreground the Asian perspectives as its foremost appeal.” In 2007, the National Taiwan Museum of Fine Arts (NTMFA) launched the Asian Art Biennial, the first biennial in the name of Asia. HSUEH Po-Shia, the director of NTMFA at the time, stated that the Asian Art Biennial “can facilitate dialogues between Taiwan and other Asian regions, and highlight the importance of Taiwan’s contemporary art as part of the overall development of Asian art.” In the same year, “The Forum of Asia Arts” organized by the Doctoral Program in Art Creation and Theory of Tainan National University of the Arts, which centered on the core issue of “Asia and Modernity,” collaborated with NTMFA for the first time to serve as the hub of connecting Asian arts and cultural studies with Taiwan through international academic exchange. In Transpassing: Special Studies on Contemporary Asia Art in 2010s published in 2011, author KAO Chien-Hui points out that the “Asian perspectives” emerged in the 21st century are like a movement of political alliance based on the Asian collective consciousness, which employed the channel of major exhibitions, such as the biennials, to speak up to the world while casting the identity of “the silent other” behind.
The Asian perspectives did not emerge without questions and discussions: the co-curator of the 2017 Asian Art Biennial, Wassan AL-KHUDHAIRI, posed the question, “Is Middle East Asia?,” based on traditional geographical division. The same problematic also appeared in the 6th edition of the Kuandu Biennale in 2018--Seven Questions for Asia. Turkish curator Ali AKAY asked, “Can we really talk about ‘Asiatic Mediterranean area’ in terms of global geopolitics and cosmology?” This exhibition that opened with positing “Asia” as the question also triggered doubts about whether it was suitable to interpret the complexity within Asia simply through dialectic logic.
Publication
- KAO Chien-Hui. Transpassing: Special Studies on Contemporary Asia Art in 2010s. Artco Books, 2011.
- WANG Wan-Ju (chief editor). Have You Eaten Yet? ─ 2007 Asian Art Biennial. National Taiwan Museum of Fine Arts, 2007.
- LIN Chin-Hsuan (editor). The 2015 Asian Art Forum: The Living Gestures in Asia IV: NOW, HERE!—Changes and Development of Asian Art after the Millennium. Doctoral Program in Art Creation and Theory, Tainan National University of the Arts, 2015.
- Takamori, Nobuo. “Questions for Asia—The 2018 Kuandu Biennale: Seven Questions for Asia.” Artist, iss. 522, November 2018, pp. 190-95.
- LIN Man-Li. “Catalogue to the 1998 Taipei Biennial.” Artist, iss. 278, July 1998, pp. 305-31.
亞洲觀點（Asian Perspectives）
亞洲（Asia）的概念起源於歐洲帝國為政治擴張及跨地區經濟利益所建立起的相對性地理觀念，以歐洲為中心的「東方」，在此之下劃分了「遠東」（Far east）與「近東」的差異。在薩伊德（Edward Wadie Said）的《東方主義》(Orientalism, 1979)一書中，指出了東方是歐洲論述當中所建立起的他者形象。為了翻轉世界文化論述中長期以歐美為中心所形成的不對等關係，並取回論述自身的權力，數十年來亞洲地區的文化及藝術領域做過諸多嘗試，並試圖從自身經驗當中凝聚起新的觀點。
1998年的「台北雙年展」為臺灣首度舉辦的國際雙年展，推動此先例的時任館長林曼麗便指出，即便在強調多元性的全球化當代藝術場域裡，非西方的話語權依然缺乏，希望透過跨地域的溝通與討論，讓文化深耕於在地，而「［…］『一九九八台北雙年展』是一刻意凸顯亞洲觀點為主要訴求的策畫展。」。2007年，國立臺灣美術館（以下簡稱國美館）創辦以亞洲為名的第一屆「亞洲藝術雙年展」，館長薛保瑕指出亞洲雙年展將「［…］有助於促進台灣與亞洲各區域間相互的對話，並突顯台灣當代藝術作為亞洲藝術整體發展一環的重要性。」；同年，長期以「亞洲與現代性」作為討論核心的國立臺南藝術大學創作理論研究所博士班所舉辦的「亞洲藝術論壇」，首次與國美館合作舉辦，試圖藉由跨國學術交流，成為在地聯結亞洲藝術文化研究的樞紐。在2011年出版的《風火林泉：當代亞洲藝術專題研究》一書中，作者高千惠指出，21世紀興起的「亞洲觀點」有如一場亞洲集體意識的政治性結盟運動，透過雙年展等大型展覽向國際發聲，離開過去「沉默的他者」的身份。
亞洲觀點的凝聚也伴隨著問題與討論：2017年的亞洲藝術雙年展共同策展人瓦姍‧阿爾-庫戴立（Wassan AL-KHUDHAIRI）對於傳統地理學的劃分方式提出了「中東是亞洲嗎﹖」的疑問。相同的問題意識也出現在2018年第六屆關渡雙年展「給亞洲的七個提問」裡，來自土耳其的策展人阿里‧阿凱（Ali Akay）提出了「我們真的可以就全球地緣政治和宇宙學的角度來談『亞洲地中海區』嗎﹖」；而在以「亞洲」作為問題開端的這個展覽裡，也引發了是否能單純以邏輯辯證來詮釋亞洲內部複雜性的疑慮。
參考文獻
1998年的「台北雙年展」為臺灣首度舉辦的國際雙年展，推動此先例的時任館長林曼麗便指出，即便在強調多元性的全球化當代藝術場域裡，非西方的話語權依然缺乏，希望透過跨地域的溝通與討論，讓文化深耕於在地，而「［…］『一九九八台北雙年展』是一刻意凸顯亞洲觀點為主要訴求的策畫展。」。2007年，國立臺灣美術館（以下簡稱國美館）創辦以亞洲為名的第一屆「亞洲藝術雙年展」，館長薛保瑕指出亞洲雙年展將「［…］有助於促進台灣與亞洲各區域間相互的對話，並突顯台灣當代藝術作為亞洲藝術整體發展一環的重要性。」；同年，長期以「亞洲與現代性」作為討論核心的國立臺南藝術大學創作理論研究所博士班所舉辦的「亞洲藝術論壇」，首次與國美館合作舉辦，試圖藉由跨國學術交流，成為在地聯結亞洲藝術文化研究的樞紐。在2011年出版的《風火林泉：當代亞洲藝術專題研究》一書中，作者高千惠指出，21世紀興起的「亞洲觀點」有如一場亞洲集體意識的政治性結盟運動，透過雙年展等大型展覽向國際發聲，離開過去「沉默的他者」的身份。
亞洲觀點的凝聚也伴隨著問題與討論：2017年的亞洲藝術雙年展共同策展人瓦姍‧阿爾-庫戴立（Wassan AL-KHUDHAIRI）對於傳統地理學的劃分方式提出了「中東是亞洲嗎﹖」的疑問。相同的問題意識也出現在2018年第六屆關渡雙年展「給亞洲的七個提問」裡，來自土耳其的策展人阿里‧阿凱（Ali Akay）提出了「我們真的可以就全球地緣政治和宇宙學的角度來談『亞洲地中海區』嗎﹖」；而在以「亞洲」作為問題開端的這個展覽裡，也引發了是否能單純以邏輯辯證來詮釋亞洲內部複雜性的疑慮。
參考文獻
- 高千惠著，《當代亞洲藝術專題研究》，典藏藝術家庭股份有限公司，2011。
- 王婉如總編，《食飽未？：亞洲藝術雙年展.2007》，國立臺灣美術館，2007。
- 林青萱編，《2015亞洲藝術學術論壇 亞洲生活手勢Ⅳ：NOW,HERE!—千禧年後亞洲藝術的變異與開展》，國立臺南藝術大學藝術創作理論研究所博士班，2015。
- 高森信男，〈送給亞洲的提問—2018關渡雙年展『給亞洲的七個提問』〉，藝術家，522期，頁190-195，2018.11。
- 林曼麗等，〈一九九八台北雙年展專輯〉，藝術家，278期，頁305-331，1998.7。