A Touch for the Now! – Artysei z Tajwanu i azji Boludniowej
觸見今日 – 台灣與東南亞當代藝術聯展

Exhibition Date：March.18 – April.4, 2016
Open Hour：Tue-Fri 13pm-18pm. Sat-Sun 11am-20pm
Opening：19pm, March.18, 2016
Venue：MONA Inner Spaces – ul.Gwarna 7/100, 61-702 Poznań

Exhibition Artist：Wu Chi-Tsung, Zhang En-Man, Huang Po-Chih, Ariel Kuo, Catalina Africa, Agus Suwage, Tromarama, Wong Lip Chin, Tuan Mami, Sutthirat Supaparinya
Curator：Yipei LEE
Coordinator：Mat Bieczynski, Max Skorwider, Kornelia Drozdek, Duncan Lin
Organization：Rarytas Art Foundation, SUAVEART
Special thanks: Sheraton Design & Print, Adam Mickiewicz University

Curatorial:
The exhibition “A Touch For the Now – Contemporary Art Exhibition of Taiwan and Southeast Asia” held in Poland is not merely an information exchange station but also a presentation of the current state of convergence among contemporary Asian artists. Starting from Asia (Taiwan and Southeast Asia), the exhibition seeks to extend the perspective of contemporary art in Europe (Eastern Europe and other regions) through firsthand experiences or witnessing artistic creations. Beyond providing a platform for dialogue, the exhibition aims to understand the current trends in Asia and, more importantly, establish a new path for equal and open discussions on art, rooted in Asia but with a broader view towards Europe.

Artworks from Taiwan and Southeast Asian countries reflect concerns about their own social realities. After World War II, much of Asia absorbed democratic education from the Western system. The 1960s-70s in Europe and the United States were a golden period for contemporary art development and experimentation. The curator believes that Taiwan and Southeast Asian countries, heavily influenced by colonialism, are gradually breaking free from its shadows over time while simultaneously establishing cultural identity. After more than half a century, the level of vibrancy and boldness in contemporary art can be compared to the 1960s-70s in the Western context, creating a source of energy and vitality in Asia.

The contemporary art perspectives presented by Taiwan and Southeast Asian countries today are much broader than we might perceive or imagine. In the exhibition “A Touch For the Now” artists from Taiwan, Indonesia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam, through painting, installations, videos, and photography, not only express the static and passive posture of Asian countries during colonization but also reveal the vibrant and unique qualities of life in Asian Southeast Asian countries. This, in turn, triggers perceptual intersections between the East and West.

Although we live in Asia, differences in geographical location and temporal space lead to synchronous events and information disparities. However, we can vaguely understand from the context of artworks. The concept of “A Touch For the Now” in the exhibition attempts to break through the singular white-box concept, providing multiple parallel perspectives for the viewing experience, creating diverse cultural landscapes within three simultaneous spaces. This allows viewers to enjoy a visually and intuitively rich artistic experience and participate in the coexistence of events, actions, and environments.

In this exhibition, the interplay and dialogue across generations by the artists serve as an opportunity and a window to re-understand the accumulated context of the artists’ past and works. From receiving Western art education, relying on the influences of colonialism and capitalist thinking, to today’s independent national sovereignty prompting artists to rediscover their positions from identity and cultural memory fragments, the exhibition reflects on how artists can maintain coherence when extending to a cultural time and space and how to retell their personal relationships with the world while establishing a “cultural landscape” of ethnic identity. While artists express personal opinions, they represent the existence of diverse dialogues in Asian cultures, which are worth reconsidering for viewers/participants.

This prompts us to consider how to reconcile identity and culture, the truths of society and history, and the realities composed of other identities, cultures, and races. From the artists’ works, the origin of the emerging cultural landscape differences between oneself and others, as well as between nations, is confronted. Curator Lee Yi-Pei hopes that through the exchange of artistic experiences between Taiwan and Southeast Asian countries, mutual support can generate more diverse and enriching forward momentum, continuing to cultivate deeply in the cross-domain of diverse cultures. The goal is to let cultures regenerate their own characteristics organically after traveling. Roaming through the thoughts of different cities in Asia, engaging in an interesting and multifaceted contemporary art dialogue, the exhibition contemplates the cultural context it possesses at present.

策展概念：
於波蘭舉辦之展覽「觸見今日 – 台灣與東南亞當代藝術聯展」，不僅視為一個資訊轉換站，更呈現亞洲藝術家們當代交匯之現狀：從亞洲（台灣及東南亞）出發，透過親身經歷或親眼目睹的藝術創作中，找尋連接歐洲（東歐與其他地區）當代藝術之視野延伸。本展覽除了打開台灣與東南亞國家跟東歐對話機會，瞭解亞洲今日動向，更重要是立足亞洲、放眼歐洲，建立平等與公開討論藝術的新路徑。 

來自台灣與東南亞國家的藝術作品中，皆反映出自身社會現狀的關注。二次大戰後，幾乎整個亞洲版圖大量地吸收西方體系的民主教育，同時在1960-70年代的歐美國家更是當代藝術發展與實驗的黃金時期；換句話說，歐美政治經濟的轉型開放影響著大眾思維，逐漸讓奇特新穎的想法可以被實驗，而不用考慮公眾迴響的壓力。就策展人認為，受到殖民主義影響甚重的台灣與東南亞國家，一方面隨著時間推移逐漸脫離後殖民影子，另一方面正建立文化主體認同感。經過半個多世紀，如今台灣與東南亞當代藝術之活躍奔放程度，可比擬1960-70年代歐美環境，形成亞洲一股能量泉源與活力洪流。每當拜訪東南亞國家參觀藝術家工作室時，有限空間內總是佇立著一件比一件還大的作品，我們雖然能游走狹小空間範圍內，但每件作品呈現的姿勢，早已存在著數種文化的語言重疊和脈絡交織。

其實，台灣與東南亞國家今日呈現的當代藝術視野，遠比我們看見或想像的還要遼闊。展覽「觸見今日 – 台灣與東南亞當代藝術聯展」 當中，來自台灣、印尼、菲律賓、新加坡、泰國和越南藝術家，透過繪畫、裝置、錄像和攝影，加上對自身國家文化進行觀察、理解與創作，不僅表現出亞洲國家被殖民時靜態且被動的姿態，以及單一鏡框式的敘事邏輯表達出亞洲東南亞國家生命力蓬勃的獨特氣質與其純粹性，無形中觸發東方與西方之間的感知交會點。

雖然我們生活在亞洲，但地理位置與時間空間的座落，讓事件與資訊同步產生差異。然而，我們依稀能從藝術作品脈絡中瞭解；過去，藝術家吸收了大量知識，經過時間轉移創作，知識隨著生命經驗，轉型(transform)為個人與當下社會、政治、經濟等外部關聯的溝通媒介。展覽當中「觸見今日」一概念，試圖衝破單一向度的白盒子概念，提供觀賞經驗的多重平行(parallelism)，創造出同一時間三個空間裡的文化景觀(cultural landscape)多元並置，讓觀者盡情享受視覺與感知直觀的藝術經驗，並參與事件、行動與環境的共存。

本次展覽中，藝術家跨時代的交錯和對話，可作為促進我們重新理解藝術家過去和作品脈絡累積的機會與一扇窗。自接受西方藝術教育後，倚賴殖民主義和思考資本主義影響，到今日國家主權獨立促使藝術家們從身份認同、文化記憶碎片中重新找到自己位置，當拉遠至一個文化的時空，如何再次保持一致，並重新敘述與世界的個人關係，同時建立族群認同的「文化景觀」。藝術家雖作為個人意見，但他們代表著亞洲多元文化的對話存在，值得為觀者／參與者重新看到。

這當中讓我們思考的問題是如何協調身份與文化、社會和歷史的真相，以及其他身份、文化和種族所構成的現實。從藝術家作品中，正視自我與他人之間的關係，以及國家之間文化景觀差異正在形成的原點。策展人李依佩希望藉由台灣與東南亞國家的藝術經驗交流，幫助彼此產生更多元豐富的前進力量，持續在多元文化跨域深耕，讓文化透過旅行後，有機再生成自己的特色。漫遊在亞洲不同城市的思維中，進行一場有趣且不同面向的當代藝術對話，思索當下所擁有的文化脈絡。