Development of Independent Curator in Taiwan
The term “independent curator” was already extensively discussed when Nanjo Fumio served as the curator of the Taipei Biennial in 1998. However, way before that, related practice had already appeared in Taiwan. According to Chen Shu-Ling, who was chief of the Exhibition Department at the Taipei Fine Arts Museum (TFAM), even though the museum did not give the title of curator to exhibition coordinators during an early period, the work of exhibition coordinators was almost the same as curating. However, the results achieved by the exhibitions were often attributed to the museum or the museum director rather than the coordinators, for example, Taipei – New York: Confrontation of Modernism (台北—紐約：現代藝術的遇合; 1991; planned by Lai Hsiang-Ling), Art Taiwan: The Contemporary Art of Taiwan (中澳當代藝術交流展：台灣當代藝術; 1995; planned by Yang Wen-I), etc. In her article, titled “The Routine Practice and Professional Context of In-house Curating: What Does a Public Art Museum Curator Do in Taiwan?”, Lin Ping discussed about issues of administrative management and organizational culture, which had an impact on the professional operation of an art museum. She also mentioned the difficulties faced by in-house curators in another article, titled “Taiwanese Curator’s ‘Halo’ and Its Long and Winding Road.”
As early as before 1998, the TFAM had already presented exhibitions curated by external curators, such as Dis/ Continuity: Religion, Shamanism and Nature (1992) curated by Huang Hai-Ming, who was given the title, “Responsible Critic,” and the 1996 Taipei Biennial: The Quest For Identity, which was curated by a curatorial team formed by critics, scholars, writers and art historians. Furthermore, in 1998, the National Taiwan Museum of Fine Arts (NTMoFA) and Art China magazine co-presented the 1st International Chinese Art Curator Conference, which generated a certain degree of influence on defining the concept and the translated understanding of the emerging term – “curator.”
In 2004, the National Culture and Arts Foundation (NCAF) launched the “Production Grants to Independent Curators in Visual Arts” (視覺藝術策劃性展覽獎助計畫) planned by Lai Hsiang-Ling, who was NCAF’s visual arts director at the time, and in 2010, the “Curator's Incubator Program @ Museums” (策展人培力@美術館專案), both of which provided the practice of exhibition curating and independent curators with necessary support. In her article of 2022, titled “Stories of Curators: Examining the Taiwan Curatorial Ecosystem in 2004-2021 Through NCAF Curatorial Grants,” written for the feature program – “NCAF Visual Arts Curating” (視覺藝術策展專題), Tsai Pei-Kuei interviewed grantees from past years, and stated the benefits of the grant in terms of training and nurturing independent curators and their subsequently career development. She also teased out inevitable problems encountered by independent curators. For instance, as the entry barrier to become an independent curator lowered, and channels to procure resources became clear, emerging curators were able to produce more high-quality exhibitions. However, they also had difficulties developing and continuing further in a systematic way. Also for the “NCAF Visual Arts Curating,” Takamori Nobuo published “Incubation Time: Retrospective Survey and Re-Evaluation of NCAF Curatorial Grants,” in which he pointed out that the design of the award and grant system offered a path to be followed and for accumulation, which already possibly ruled out curators that were not suitable for the developmental path. Meanwhile, such a path also set a limit to curators’ imagination. Moreover, curators’ dependence on award and grant systems could also lead to other problems in the future.
References
As early as before 1998, the TFAM had already presented exhibitions curated by external curators, such as Dis/ Continuity: Religion, Shamanism and Nature (1992) curated by Huang Hai-Ming, who was given the title, “Responsible Critic,” and the 1996 Taipei Biennial: The Quest For Identity, which was curated by a curatorial team formed by critics, scholars, writers and art historians. Furthermore, in 1998, the National Taiwan Museum of Fine Arts (NTMoFA) and Art China magazine co-presented the 1st International Chinese Art Curator Conference, which generated a certain degree of influence on defining the concept and the translated understanding of the emerging term – “curator.”
In 2004, the National Culture and Arts Foundation (NCAF) launched the “Production Grants to Independent Curators in Visual Arts” (視覺藝術策劃性展覽獎助計畫) planned by Lai Hsiang-Ling, who was NCAF’s visual arts director at the time, and in 2010, the “Curator's Incubator Program @ Museums” (策展人培力@美術館專案), both of which provided the practice of exhibition curating and independent curators with necessary support. In her article of 2022, titled “Stories of Curators: Examining the Taiwan Curatorial Ecosystem in 2004-2021 Through NCAF Curatorial Grants,” written for the feature program – “NCAF Visual Arts Curating” (視覺藝術策展專題), Tsai Pei-Kuei interviewed grantees from past years, and stated the benefits of the grant in terms of training and nurturing independent curators and their subsequently career development. She also teased out inevitable problems encountered by independent curators. For instance, as the entry barrier to become an independent curator lowered, and channels to procure resources became clear, emerging curators were able to produce more high-quality exhibitions. However, they also had difficulties developing and continuing further in a systematic way. Also for the “NCAF Visual Arts Curating,” Takamori Nobuo published “Incubation Time: Retrospective Survey and Re-Evaluation of NCAF Curatorial Grants,” in which he pointed out that the design of the award and grant system offered a path to be followed and for accumulation, which already possibly ruled out curators that were not suitable for the developmental path. Meanwhile, such a path also set a limit to curators’ imagination. Moreover, curators’ dependence on award and grant systems could also lead to other problems in the future.
References
- Lin, Ping. “Taiwanese Curator’s ‘Halo’ and Its Long and Winding Road.” Artist, no. 352, September 2004, pp. 228-33.
- Lin, Ping. “The Routine Practice and Professional Context of In-house Curating: What Does a Public Art Museum Curator Do in Taiwan?” Modern Art, no. 167, 2013, pp. 11-5.
- Lin, Hsing-Yueh. “Art Exhibitions and the Art of Exhibition—On the Role and Function of a Curator.” Final Report of the International Chinese Art Curator Conference. Ed. Wang Wan-Ju et al. National Taiwan Museum of Fine Arts, 1998.
- “NCAF Visual Arts Curating.” The National Culture and Arts Foundation Award and Grant Database for the Production Grants to Independent Curators in Visual Arts.
獨立策展人在臺灣的發展（Development of Independent Curator in Taiwan）
「獨立策展人」一詞在1998年南條史生擔任台北雙年展策展人時被大量討論，但早在此之前，便已經有相關的實踐。曾任臺北市立美術館（以下簡稱北美館）展覽組組長的陳淑玲認為，雖然北美館早期的展覽並沒有將承辦人具名為策展人的做法，但就實際工作內容而言，其工作內容已經等同於策展，然而展覽成果通常歸功於館方或館長，而非承辦人，如展覽「台北—紐約：現代藝術的遇合」（1991，賴香伶策畫）、「中澳當代藝術交流展：台灣當代藝術」赴澳巡迴展（1995，羊文漪策畫）等。林平在〈機構策展人的日常練功術和專業舞台—台灣公立美術館研究人員的名實探究〉一文中提及影響美術館專業運作的行政管理及組織文化問題，並且在文章〈台灣策展人「光環」的漫漫長路〉中談論館內策展人所需面臨的難處。
早在1998年之前，北美館便邀請機構外的策展人所規劃的展覽有黃海鳴以「責任藝評」身份策劃的「延續與斷裂：宗教、巫術、自然」（1992）、1996年台北雙年展「台灣藝術主體性」由評論人、學者、作家與藝術史研究者所組成的策展團隊。另外，在1998年國立臺灣美術館（以下簡稱國美館）與《新朝華人藝術》雜誌共同舉辦的「第一屆全球華人美術策展人會議」中，也對於確立「策展人」這個新名詞的概念與轉譯有一定程度的影響。
2004年國家文化藝術基金會（以下簡稱國藝會）推出了由時任視覺藝術總監的賴香伶所規劃的「視覺藝術策劃性展覽獎助計畫」（現稱為視覺藝術策展專案）與2010年起開始辦理的「策展人培力@美術館專案」，為展覽策劃工作與獨立策展人提供了支持，在2022年國藝會「視覺藝術策展專題」中蔡佩桂的文章〈策展人的故事：從國藝會策展補助看2004-2021年臺灣策展生態〉，訪談了歷年來的獲補助者，提到該補助對於獨立策展人的養成以及後續的職涯發展助益，並整理了獨立策展人所必須面臨的問題，如由於成為獨立策展人的門檻降低與資源取得渠道明確，新銳策展人得以進行更多品質俱佳的展覽，但較難進行系統化的發展與延續等。在同專題的另外一篇文章，高森信男的〈培力時光：國藝會策展領域專案之回溯調查與再評估〉中，則指出了獎補助制度的設計指出了一條可供依循與積累的路徑，可能已經排除了不適宜朝該路徑發展的策展人，同時也限縮了對於策展人的想像，此外，策展人對於補助系統的依賴，也有可能在未來衍生其他問題。
參考文獻
早在1998年之前，北美館便邀請機構外的策展人所規劃的展覽有黃海鳴以「責任藝評」身份策劃的「延續與斷裂：宗教、巫術、自然」（1992）、1996年台北雙年展「台灣藝術主體性」由評論人、學者、作家與藝術史研究者所組成的策展團隊。另外，在1998年國立臺灣美術館（以下簡稱國美館）與《新朝華人藝術》雜誌共同舉辦的「第一屆全球華人美術策展人會議」中，也對於確立「策展人」這個新名詞的概念與轉譯有一定程度的影響。
2004年國家文化藝術基金會（以下簡稱國藝會）推出了由時任視覺藝術總監的賴香伶所規劃的「視覺藝術策劃性展覽獎助計畫」（現稱為視覺藝術策展專案）與2010年起開始辦理的「策展人培力@美術館專案」，為展覽策劃工作與獨立策展人提供了支持，在2022年國藝會「視覺藝術策展專題」中蔡佩桂的文章〈策展人的故事：從國藝會策展補助看2004-2021年臺灣策展生態〉，訪談了歷年來的獲補助者，提到該補助對於獨立策展人的養成以及後續的職涯發展助益，並整理了獨立策展人所必須面臨的問題，如由於成為獨立策展人的門檻降低與資源取得渠道明確，新銳策展人得以進行更多品質俱佳的展覽，但較難進行系統化的發展與延續等。在同專題的另外一篇文章，高森信男的〈培力時光：國藝會策展領域專案之回溯調查與再評估〉中，則指出了獎補助制度的設計指出了一條可供依循與積累的路徑，可能已經排除了不適宜朝該路徑發展的策展人，同時也限縮了對於策展人的想像，此外，策展人對於補助系統的依賴，也有可能在未來衍生其他問題。
參考文獻
- 林平，〈台灣策展人「光環」的漫漫長路〉，《藝術家》，352期，頁228-233，2004.9。
- 林平，〈機構策展人的日常練功術和專業舞台—台灣公立美術館研究人員的名實探究〉，《現代美術》，167期，頁11-15，2013。
- 林惺嶽，〈藝術的展覽與展覽的藝術—試論策展人的角色與功能〉，王婉如等編，《第一屆全球華人美術策展人會議」文集》，國立台灣美術館， 1998。
- 〈視覺藝術策展專題〉，國家藝術基金會補助成果檔案庫