COMMON PLAGUE. COMMON DECENCY

▍In this collective misery, how could common decency be defined?

“The Plague” by Albert Camus was published in 1947. It centered around the development of the disease in the city, Oran, in French-colonized Algeria.

The coronavirus set its feet in Wuhan at the end of 2019. Through our daily paths, it infiltrates into the life of humankind. In the way ink spreads on paper, it then further touches the border of different countries. Shops are therefore closed. Streets emptied. Cinemas and museums no longer open their doors. When the world is paused, what’s left to move and change is the season.

Camus implied absurdity with the plague, putting the panic, suffering and different aspects of humanity on book pages. As the virus has again forced us to stop, we finally get to shed light on the appearance of love and sorrow. To face the absurdity without any more backup at the end becomes the sole way to realize that maybe the absurdity never comes from the disease. It is the accumulation of life that is the actual origin of pain.

▍Movement blocked on-site, Residency brought to virtual space.

During the past one to two years, on-site Artist-in-Residency is hardly possible and Artists-Virtual-Residency has become inevitable. Based on the similarity between the novel and the reality, we’d love our artists to ponder upon the theme “The Plague” in this project. We’d love them to take a long look at cities they live in or have attachment to and also reflect on themselves. The physical connection that can’t be formed anymore is transferred to numerous conversations on the clouds. Hence, we hope to build up the possibilities of both relationship and art creation through the conversations in between.

In the three-month residency, each artist will have a contact in Taiwan respectively to accompany them through the 90-day program. Bamboo Curtain Studio and the artists would also like to invite our audience to three public sharing events, through which the artists will share with you how they bloom from the theme.

Doctor Rieux said that the only way to confront the disease is decency, and decency is to do one’s job. With sincere heart, we hope that to interpret and respond to every current moment with art will guide us closer to the virtue of decency.

▍Link Tree：https://linktr.ee/commonplaguedecency