July is time to travel far away from Taipei
Last month I recommended everybody to visits five super special exhibits in Taiwan, but the hot summer is here, now I recommend you to go further , travel away from Taipei? ( Besides making sure you go, if you have not yet done so, to Kaohsiung , to see Sunshower exhibit at the Kaohsiung Museum of Fine Arts, ) I would recommend bring the family to go overseas and stimulate the eyes of the little ones in art within different spaces and settings. From miniatures and heritage, to expansively outdoor art works.
This may be a great time to travel to Japan , it is a lot cooler than Taiwan. Do to travel beyond the big city of Tokyo, how about the great cool place of the Miho Museum? there you will really know why we respect IM Pei so very much. He worked hard with the vision and aesthetics of the founder Mihoko Koyama, of using that musuem to promote beauty peace and joy, by the art of living, from the objects in daily life to the artifacts of humanity since the world we can envision. The scope of collection is uniquely different from any other musuem, A very extensive world collection of small works with deep heritage connection to our civilization! A tall order for the architect to be building in the setting of that valley. Hence, do slowly approach the site, where he add in the wondrous experience of entering a tunnel toward a vision of fantasy land, the symbol of that museum, a simple Japanese cottage. The rest speaks for itself. But as a side note, please stay long enough , preorder by website, to enjoy a sumptuous Japanese lunch or a very authentic Japanese afternoon tea, remember the Japanese Tea bowl you’re holding in your hand, maybe an art piece, with heritage value beyond what you can pay for, so please return it carefully after you drink it! http://www.miho.or.jp/en/
Next do go to another site, to the Seto Inland Sea, and enjoy the beautiful cool breezes of the little islands , walk within the Setouchi art festival, a very international triennial.
There you will be able to enjoy another installation of our Bamboo Curtain Studio’s favorite artist, Wang Wen Chi, and his bamboo installation. Take off your shoes, go inside, where your whole body can feel it with all five senses, and relax within that space, to find your sixth sense of inner tranquility and voice. I am not bragging, many have told me that’s the magic of his works! There must be a reason why Fran Kitagawa, the curator of all of these major festivals in Japan, from Echigo Tsumari to Niigata, to Setouchi, has asked Wang WenChi to return to Japan multiple times. Wang has a relationship in his process, with his own team of experienced craftsmen, sharing skills, working collaboratively with locals and international volunteers. They have established a trust and understanding with the local people, making a work that relates to their simple lifestyle and the feeling that they can show to everyone, so go see why the form for this year, in a shape of an Olive, is so important there. https://setouchi-artfest.jp/en/artworks-artists/artworks/sho...
However you should go all over to witness these local and global artists that Kitagawi San invited, and see the strategic alignment of these works, so as try to understand why is that festival there, and why is it needed to have artist from all over come to this little remote islands. Why the residents have worked so hard to let everybody understand that life in the inland sea, how they have done it by collaborating with contemporary art.
For me , I see that art can showcase the strategic alignment for sustainable environment and community within this remote part of Japan. This is the age of questioning the nonstop economic development agenda , it is time to use this summer to travel, so as to consider that doubt, to turn it around in our mind? Just maybe we try to understand, there is a choice to a slower growth, and that we can stay in harmony between man and nature, via a more simple way of living.