Founded by a group of artists, curators, scholars and cultural activists, the mission of the Taipei Contemporary Art Center (TCAC) has been to provide a platform for public discourse where diverse voices can be heard in discussions about aesthetics and art production, and the issues related to the formation of a public culture — including cultural policies, museums, artistic organizations; as well as issues such as the relationship between art and the community, public spaces, the city, or social movements.
In line with this mission, we organized this inaugural “Forum Biennial of Taiwanese Contemporary Art”. The purpose of the biennial is twofold. First, it aims to re-examine artistic production in the specificities of every two years in an exhibition format, by presenting works that provoke thinking or controversy. Secondly, it offers an opportunity to organize large-scale forums during the exhibition period to discuss – debate – pressing public issues.
The “2010 Forum Biennial of Taiwanese Contemporary Art” was unanimously decided and organized by the TCAC’s operation team. Curator Manray HSU was the acting convener. A group of TCAC’s members, those who have in-depth field knowledge of the Taiwanese art, was invited to form a consulting committee. Members of this committee include: HUANG Hai-ming, CHEN Kai-huang, PAN Sheau-shei, WU Mali, WANG Jun-jieh, Amy CHENG, YAO Jui-chung, CHENG Meiya, Jun YANG, CHEN Taisang, WU Chi-tsung, TSUI Kuang-yu, Sandy LO, CHANG Tieh-chih. This group was involved at different stages of brain-storming, many meaningful issues were raised, and the list of participating artists grew gradually, but there was significant agreement on the topics for the forum. This type of planning mechanism is experimental, and reveals the uncertainties the TCAC faced in its initial period of operation. The uncertain process also perfectly illustrates essential characteristic of contemporary art. As a public platform, the TCAC has a responsibility to present this biennial exhibition and forum for public discussion. 繼續閱讀 →