ADAM Gathering and Taipei Arts Festival: dancing ecosystems

Taipei Performing Arts Center is pleased to present Asia Discovers Asia Meeting for Contemporary Performance (ADAM) in conjunction with Taipei Arts Festival to welcome international arts practitioners from August 24 to 27.

To echo Taipei Arts Festival’s new artistic direction curated by River Lin and themed Think Like an Ecosystem, the 2023 ADAM opens doors to redefining worldviews and embracing ecological art through the lens of contemporary performance. The collective residency program ADAM Artist Lab: Watering Intimacy, curated by Taiwanese First-Nation visual artist Anchi Lin (Ciwas Tahos) and performing artist Chen Chen, draws inspiration from water and oceanic politics.

Participating artists include Sorour Darabi (Iran/Germany & France), Gok-Lim Finch (Australia), Daniel Hellmann (Switzerland), Hsieh Chieh-Ting (Taiwan), Ihot Sinlay Cihek (Taiwan), Victor Kinjo (Brazil), Quỳnh Lâm (Vietnam), Nanako Matsumoto (Japan), Prumsodun Ok (United States/Cambodia), Yuka Seki (Japan), Natasha Tontey (Indonesia) and Louie Zalk-Neale (New Zealand). Their research will be dedicated to the notion of queer ecology and speculating on the biodiversity of ecosystems and indigenous knowledge.

ADAM’s Kitchen, a platform nurturing cross-cultural dialogues, will feature M(Other)hood: A Collective Lecture by Scarlet Yu Mei Wah (Hong Kong/Germany/France) and Tung I-Fen. This performance takes motherhood and otherhood as a method, showcasing the eco-systemic journey of becoming mothers. A Field Guide to Getting Lost in the Southern Universe by Wu Chi-Yu and Rikey Tenn revisits the hidden histories behind Taiwan’s national ideology formation. Leu Wijee (Indonesia) in collaboration with Mio Ishida (Japan) and Hung Wei-Ling (Taiwan), presents Museum II: Ridden, exploring the body as a museum and the museum space of the body as nature.

As part of the 2023 Taipei Arts Festival, ADAM co-presents a keynote talk Faiva Haka: Art of Cultural Action by Latai Taumoepeau (Tonga/ Australia)and her iconic performance Ocean Island Mine. The inauguration of Cruising, Taipei Arts Festival’s new curatorial residency program, has invited Jogjakarta-based dance curator and dramaturg Helly Minarti to perform the project The Sea Within with artists Ginoe (The Philippines), Watan Tusi (Taiwan) and Sayaka Uehara (Japan), as part of ADAM Gathering.

In ADAM, featured performances of Taipei Arts Festival: Dancing Ecosystems include The Rite of Lobster, Louver, Concert for Plants: Mt. Jade is Metamorphoses, BAT Banquet (work in progress) and the 2019 Venice Biennial’s Pavilion of Lithuania, Gloden-Lion winner Sun & Sea.   

Join us and delve into the depths of art, ecology, and culture, and embrace the concept of thinking like an ecosystem, acknowledging the intricate interconnections that sustain our world.

For more information, please visit tpac-taipei.org/adam or tpac-taipei.org/festival-taipei.