Taiwan Biennial
Organized by the National Taiwan Museum of Fine Arts (referred as NTMFA below), the Taiwan Biennial launched since 2008 was transformed from the Taiwan Provincial Fine Arts Exhibition (the last edition was presented by the Culture and Education Affairs Division of the Taiwan Provincial Government in 2006), and has been held with the Asian Art Biennial in alternate years.
The first Taiwan Biennial adopted a partial mode of open calls for submission and was curated by WANG Chia-Chi, who used the theme of “home” to revisit how Taiwanese artists thought about and expressed the state and imagery of “home” after the 20th century. From its second to fourth edition, the biennial adopted the theme of “Yes, Taiwan,” and were curated by in-house researchers. The biennial was divided into thematic curating and open call, for which the former entailed research guided by exhibitions held in Taiwan every two years. The research work was then compared to and linked with the development and context of art history to propose seven core topics instead of categorizing works based on media. The seven core themes or trends included “Local Breakthroughs,” “A New-Style Visual Art Space: Connecting and Transforming,” “Innovations in Oriental Materials,” “New Trends in Easel Paintings,” “Variations on Image Art,” “Rethinking the Language of Installation” and “Naive Approaches to Art.” Moreover, the biennial expanded its list of artists and selection of artworks through open calls. In the feature topic centering on the 2010 Taiwan Biennial in Artco Monthly, curator CHANG Cheng-Lin stated that “the essence of this edition of the Taiwan Biennial is undoubtedly an action of art history, and possesses the meaning of ‘archive.’” Two other articles in the same issue, on the other hand, focused on and discussed about the limitation of the space of the Taiwan Biennial, the necessity of conducting field research about Taiwanese exhibitions every two years, the mechanism of curators within the public system, and sources of exhibition funding and the curator incubator program. Afterwards, changes occurred in the exhibition contents, but the curatorial method remained mostly unchanged. The core themes and trends in 2014 were “Reconstruction of the Subject,” “Representation of Society,” “Interpretation of Tradition,” “Expansion of Art” and “Welcoming and Parting with Youth.”
Since the fifth edition, NTMFA introduced a system of duo curators. The fifth edition was co-curated by guest curator WU Dar-Kuen and the museum’s researcher LIN Shao-Yu. The title “The Possibility of an Island" was taken from its namesake novel by French writer Michel HOUELLEBECQ, and explored how artists transcended spatial-temporal context to respond to various issues in an environment of drastic changes. The sixth edition “Wild Rhizome” continued the system of duo curators, and was co-curated by curator GONG Jow-Jiun and the museum’s researcher CHOU Yu-Ling, and addressed the diverse art community and ecology. The seventh edition Sub-zoology was curated by artist YAO Jui-Chung, and adopted the approach of curator incubation, using NTMFA as the center to connect with various art spaces to unveil a series of parallel and satellite exhibitions. The edition focused on the relationship between humanity and the ecology while unfolding a close-knit dialogue with artists, expanding new artistic experiences and curatorial modes under the circumstance of the pandemic.
Reference:
The first Taiwan Biennial adopted a partial mode of open calls for submission and was curated by WANG Chia-Chi, who used the theme of “home” to revisit how Taiwanese artists thought about and expressed the state and imagery of “home” after the 20th century. From its second to fourth edition, the biennial adopted the theme of “Yes, Taiwan,” and were curated by in-house researchers. The biennial was divided into thematic curating and open call, for which the former entailed research guided by exhibitions held in Taiwan every two years. The research work was then compared to and linked with the development and context of art history to propose seven core topics instead of categorizing works based on media. The seven core themes or trends included “Local Breakthroughs,” “A New-Style Visual Art Space: Connecting and Transforming,” “Innovations in Oriental Materials,” “New Trends in Easel Paintings,” “Variations on Image Art,” “Rethinking the Language of Installation” and “Naive Approaches to Art.” Moreover, the biennial expanded its list of artists and selection of artworks through open calls. In the feature topic centering on the 2010 Taiwan Biennial in Artco Monthly, curator CHANG Cheng-Lin stated that “the essence of this edition of the Taiwan Biennial is undoubtedly an action of art history, and possesses the meaning of ‘archive.’” Two other articles in the same issue, on the other hand, focused on and discussed about the limitation of the space of the Taiwan Biennial, the necessity of conducting field research about Taiwanese exhibitions every two years, the mechanism of curators within the public system, and sources of exhibition funding and the curator incubator program. Afterwards, changes occurred in the exhibition contents, but the curatorial method remained mostly unchanged. The core themes and trends in 2014 were “Reconstruction of the Subject,” “Representation of Society,” “Interpretation of Tradition,” “Expansion of Art” and “Welcoming and Parting with Youth.”
Since the fifth edition, NTMFA introduced a system of duo curators. The fifth edition was co-curated by guest curator WU Dar-Kuen and the museum’s researcher LIN Shao-Yu. The title “The Possibility of an Island" was taken from its namesake novel by French writer Michel HOUELLEBECQ, and explored how artists transcended spatial-temporal context to respond to various issues in an environment of drastic changes. The sixth edition “Wild Rhizome” continued the system of duo curators, and was co-curated by curator GONG Jow-Jiun and the museum’s researcher CHOU Yu-Ling, and addressed the diverse art community and ecology. The seventh edition Sub-zoology was curated by artist YAO Jui-Chung, and adopted the approach of curator incubation, using NTMFA as the center to connect with various art spaces to unveil a series of parallel and satellite exhibitions. The edition focused on the relationship between humanity and the ecology while unfolding a close-knit dialogue with artists, expanding new artistic experiences and curatorial modes under the circumstance of the pandemic.
Reference:
- TSAI Chao-Yi (chief editor). 2018 Taiwan Art Biennial: Wild Rhizome. National Taiwan Museum of Fine Arts, 2018.
- TSAI Chao-Yi (chief editor). 2016 Taiwan Art Biennial: The Possibility of an Island. National Taiwan Museum of Fine Arts, 2016.
- HUANG Ke-Hsuan. ‘A Crucial Pause in Taiwan’s Contemporary Art History: The 2014 Taiwan Art Biennial.’ Artist, iss. 474, November 2014, pp. 290-1.
- CHANG Cheng-Lin. ‘Facing the Moment—A Review and Discussion about Taiwan Art Biennial: Yes, Taiwan.’ Feature topic, Artco Monthly & Investment, iss. 219, December 2010, pp. 172-81.
- 2020 Taiwan Art Biennial: Sub-zoology. The website of National Taiwan Museum of Fine Arts.
臺灣美術雙年展（Taiwan Biennial）
由國立臺灣美術館（以下簡稱國美館）主辦，自2008年開始的雙年展，轉型自「臺灣省全省美術展覽會」（該展於2006年由臺灣省政府文教組舉辦最後一屆），與亞洲藝術雙年展隔年舉辦。
第一屆臺灣美術雙年展保留部分徵件模式，由王家驥進行主題策畫，以「家」為題，試圖梳理20世紀以後臺灣藝術家如何思考並表達「家」的狀態及意象。從第二屆到第四屆的臺灣美術雙年展皆以「台灣報到」（Yes, Taiwan）為題，由館內研究人員策展，分為主題策展與公開徵件兩部分，主題策展針對每兩年在臺灣舉辦之展覽進行研究，對照並銜接藝術史的發展脈絡，去除以媒材作為分類方式，提出七個子題：「地方突圍」、「新類型視覺藝術空間的連結與轉進」、「東方媒材的創新」、「架上繪畫的新流向」、「影像的變奏」、「裝置語言的轉化」及「樸素之質」，另透過公開徵件擴充藝術家及作品選擇名單。在典藏今藝術2010臺灣美術雙年展的專題中，策展人張正霖提及「…本屆台雙展的內涵無疑是種藝術史行動，並擁有『文獻』的意義於其中，…」另兩篇文章則對臺灣美術雙年展空間的侷限性、以每兩年在台展覽作為田野調查內容的必要性、公務體系內的策展人機制、展演資金來源及策展人培力提出觀點。其後展覽內容變化，但大致上未改動策展方法，2014年子題為「重構主體」、「再現社會」、「演敘傳統」、「藝術拓域」、「迎別青春」。
自第五屆開始，國美館引入雙策展人制度，由客座策展人吳達坤與館內研究員林曉瑜共同策展。展名「一座島嶼的可能性」援引自法國作家韋勒貝克（Michel Houellebecq）的同名小說，探討劇烈變動中的環境底下，藝術家如何跨越時空語境回應當下的眾多議題。第六屆「野根莖」（Wild Rhizome）延續了雙策展人的制度，由客座策展人龔卓軍與館內研究員周郁齡對多元的藝術社群生態提出觀點。第七屆「禽獸不如」（Subzoology）由藝術家姚瑞中擔任策展人，透過培力策展的方式，以國美館為中心，串聯各地空間進行平行展與衛星展，關注於人與生態的關係並與藝術家展開密切的對話關係，在疫情下開拓新的藝術經驗與策展模式。
參考文獻
第一屆臺灣美術雙年展保留部分徵件模式，由王家驥進行主題策畫，以「家」為題，試圖梳理20世紀以後臺灣藝術家如何思考並表達「家」的狀態及意象。從第二屆到第四屆的臺灣美術雙年展皆以「台灣報到」（Yes, Taiwan）為題，由館內研究人員策展，分為主題策展與公開徵件兩部分，主題策展針對每兩年在臺灣舉辦之展覽進行研究，對照並銜接藝術史的發展脈絡，去除以媒材作為分類方式，提出七個子題：「地方突圍」、「新類型視覺藝術空間的連結與轉進」、「東方媒材的創新」、「架上繪畫的新流向」、「影像的變奏」、「裝置語言的轉化」及「樸素之質」，另透過公開徵件擴充藝術家及作品選擇名單。在典藏今藝術2010臺灣美術雙年展的專題中，策展人張正霖提及「…本屆台雙展的內涵無疑是種藝術史行動，並擁有『文獻』的意義於其中，…」另兩篇文章則對臺灣美術雙年展空間的侷限性、以每兩年在台展覽作為田野調查內容的必要性、公務體系內的策展人機制、展演資金來源及策展人培力提出觀點。其後展覽內容變化，但大致上未改動策展方法，2014年子題為「重構主體」、「再現社會」、「演敘傳統」、「藝術拓域」、「迎別青春」。
自第五屆開始，國美館引入雙策展人制度，由客座策展人吳達坤與館內研究員林曉瑜共同策展。展名「一座島嶼的可能性」援引自法國作家韋勒貝克（Michel Houellebecq）的同名小說，探討劇烈變動中的環境底下，藝術家如何跨越時空語境回應當下的眾多議題。第六屆「野根莖」（Wild Rhizome）延續了雙策展人的制度，由客座策展人龔卓軍與館內研究員周郁齡對多元的藝術社群生態提出觀點。第七屆「禽獸不如」（Subzoology）由藝術家姚瑞中擔任策展人，透過培力策展的方式，以國美館為中心，串聯各地空間進行平行展與衛星展，關注於人與生態的關係並與藝術家展開密切的對話關係，在疫情下開拓新的藝術經驗與策展模式。
參考文獻
- 蔡昭儀主編，《野根莖：台灣美術雙年展.2018》，國立臺灣美術館，2018。
- 蔡昭儀主編，《一座島嶼的可能性：台灣美術雙年展.2016》，國立臺灣美術館，2016。
- 黃可萱，〈台灣當代藝術歷史的重要逗點：2014台灣美術雙年展〉，藝術家，474期，頁290-291，2014.11。
- 張正霖等，〈直面當下「台灣美術雙年展：台灣報到！」檢驗與討論〉專題，典藏今藝術，219期，頁172-181，2010.12。
- 禽獸不如-2020台灣美術雙年展，國立臺灣美術館網頁