2015 Asian Art Biennial
Artist Making Movement
September 19–December 6, 2015
National Taiwan Museum of Fine Arts
No. 2, Section 1
Wuquan W Rd
West District, Taichung City
Taiwan 403
Hours: Tuesday–Friday 9–17h,
Saturday–Sunday 9–18h
Curator: Iris Shu-Ping Huang
The 5th Asian Art Biennial is officially set to open on September 19 of this year. Artist Making Movement is the overarching theme of this biennial, reflecting on the restlessness and the emergence of social energy observed in Asia during the recent years. This wave of commotions is leading to the formation of new Asian knowledge and art communities based on the ideology behind Asia’s self-awareness. As cultural awareness in Asia is being transformed, different phenomena are revealing the current state of Asian contemporary culture, which is in the midst of reforming its system of governance for the everyday life, with new order and relationships pursued and attempts exerted at subverting social power allocation. Facing these extreme changes in Asia, using art to examine today’s system of survival and taking part in the construction of the present history of life in Asia have become important discourses explored by artists.
As the theme Artist Making Movement suggests, the ability to make (create) and to move symbolizes the ways in which Asian contemporary art is straying from how it was perceived in the past, as a static noun, and is transitioning into a verb of assertive actions. This progression denotes Asian contemporary culture’s active function and the stance taken for the actualization of art, with actions exerted for creating a new chapter in Asian history. Artist Making Movement is used to evoke possibilities of initiation, subversion, rearrangement, and construction; by moving away from prior positions, a route of actualization is formed, which prompts the opening of spaces, loosening of structures, and broadening of fissures. Under such conditions and trends for artmaking, the creative aspects defined by the role of artist not only entails creations based on art concepts and aesthetical objects; it further reflects them as mobile mediums. Artists engage in various social relations during their creative processes, resulting in their functioning as mediators or transformers. Through personal creative processes and social interactions, discussions are sparked and furthermore, through two methods based on art actions and creative mediums, intricate co-constructed connections are formed with dynamic developments in society. In the Asia today, an Asian reality is presently being formed which is based on construction and rearrangement of such multilateral relations.
Asia’s multilateral relations have resulted in many shifts in its social and cultural settings, and with more open sharing and exchanges of resources, it also signifies that more frequent and complex power plays are embedded within. As movements are made by artists, it signifies counterbalance and transformation between the self and the external system and environment. Through mediations created by art, public issues are discussed and responded, as artists use contemporary art to respond to the developments of Asia’s history of modernization, with emphasis placed on giving feedback and getting involved in Asia’s problematic conditions. With the building of knowledge based on personal life or local history concentrated on, various creative roles and potential analytical abilities played by artists in the progression of Asia’s history of modernization are enhanced. Realistic issues embedded in the colossal structure that have long been ruled out, overlooked or suppressed are reevaluated, with personal perceptual experiences constructed, leading to visions on the possibilities and the relational contexts between individuals and the world that could surpass current conditions.
The 2015 Asian Art Biennial: Artist Making Movement will officially open on September 19, 2015 at the National Taiwan Museum of Fine Arts. The exhibition will include diverse genres of contemporary art, including painting, installation, video, performance art, architecture, and creative workshop.
Media liaisons
Ms. Tsai Ya-Chuen: yctsai [at] art.ntmofa.gov.tw / T +886 4 2372 3552 #132
Ms. Emily Wang: emily.w [at] art.ntmofa.gov.tw / T +886 4 2372 3552 #133
