11th Taishin Arts Award recipients announced in Taipei


UTUX, Pan-Spirit’s Men for Music and Dance – Her Silent Innermost (2012), installation view at the “11th Taishin Arts Award Exhibition,” Museum of Contemporary Art, Taipei.

One of Taiwan’s most prestigious honors in the field of arts and culture, the Taishin Arts Award has announced the winners of this year’s 11th iteration. Artist Wu Mali and the Bamboo Curtain Studio took home the Annual Visual Arts Award, while in the Performing Arts category, Pisui Ciyo/UTUX, Pan-Spirit’s Men for Music and Dance made history as both the first work addressing Taiwan’s aboriginal peoples to win the prize, and the first inaugural work ever to win the prize. Additionally, the Jury’s Special Award was presented to 1/2 Q Theatre.

Among a field of strong candidates, Wu Mali & Bamboo Curtain Studio were recognized for their project Art as Environment – A Cultural Action at Plum Creek. Proposing an ecology-focused planning for urban villages, the project brought together professionals from different fields – including those from local primary and secondary schools, as well as universities – and artists spanning a variety of media to initiate dialogue between local residents and the public sector and apply theoretical aspects of critical pedagogy to practical situations. Unanimously voting to award Art as Environment- A Cultural Action at Plum Creek the Annual Visual Arts Award, the jury stated, “[The project] demonstrates an outstanding example of the exploration of social issues through artistic practice, addressing sustainable development, environmental protection and encouraging community participation…giving rise to a new type of public art.”

Pisui Ciyo/UTUX, Pan Spirit’s Men for Music and Dance were recognized for their theatre project Her Silent Innermost, based on a year of fieldwork interviews and research with the Sbayen tribe in Nantou county, home to the Squliq linguistic cluster of the Tayal tribe. The work centers upon the personal narratives of five Tayal women over the age of 80, whose lives span from the late Japanese colonial period to the current era. The jury commented, “Pisui Ciyo’s work stands at a cross point between anthropological research, contemporary life and sustainability. […] The haunting melodies and the clear conflicts speak of the loss that modern society is experiencing. Loss of identity. Loss of connection to what is important. Yet, it is also a work of survival.”

1/2 Q Theatre received special recognition for their project Peach Blossom Rain, which explores the modern vitality of kunqu theatre, one of the oldest forms of Chinese opera.

Additionally, this year’s award ceremony was directed by Tainaner Ensemble’s Tsai Pao-chang, who collaborated with composer Wang Xi-wen in organizing the program, and hosted the proceedings along with Tainaner Ensemble prima donna Clara Lee.

Sponsored by Taishin Financial Holdings, the Taishin Arts Awards confer prizes of NT $1 million to the winners of the performing and visual arts categories, with an additional NT $300,000 for the Jury’s Special Award. The awards recognize performing arts productions and visual arts exhibitions that have premiered in the previous calendar year. Comprising leading international and local professionals, international jury members for the 11th edition included Korean curator Sunjung Kim and dean of the School of Fine Art, Royal College of Art, Ute Meta Bauer, in the visual arts category, and the artistic director of Singapore’s TheatreWorks and founder of Arts Network Asia, Ong Keng Sen, the secretary general of the International Association of Theatre Critics, Michel Vais, and the co-director of American Dance Abroad, Carolelinda Dickey, in the performing arts category.

At this year’s awards ceremony, the chairman of the Taishin Bank Foundation for Arts and Culture, Simon Cheng, announced that the prize will be revamping its selection system with next year’s 12th iteration, with an eye toward expanding its inclusivity. The exhibition of this year’s Taishin Arts Award finalists at the Museum of Contemporary Art, Taipei, continues through June 23.


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Snapshots: The 11th Taishin Arts Award Exhibition…

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