2008 Taipei Biennial

Never Land, new work commissioned by the Taipei Biennale, 153 color slides / 3 synchronized slide projectors (work realized after reseach in the archives of the newspaper Phileleftheros, Nicosia, Cyprus)


Sep.13 2008 - Jan.4 2009

Curators Manray Hsu, Vasif Kortun

Participating Artists

Nevin ALADAG, Germany
Lara ALMÁRCEGUI, Spain / Netherlands
Ziad ANTAR, Lebanon
Yochai AYRAHAMI, Israel
Bbrother, Taiwan
Matei BEJENARU, Romania
Lene BERG, Norway
Roderick BUCHANAN, Scotland
CHE Onejoon, South Korea
Anetta Mona CHISA, Romania ＋ Lucia TKACOVA, Slovakia
Burak DELIER, Turkey
Democracia, Spain
Internacional Errorista, Argentina
Didier Fiuza FAUSTINO, France
Mieke GERRITZEN, Netherlands
Shaun GLADWELL, Australia
Minja GU, South Korea
Nicoline van HARSKAMP, Netherlands
Institute for Applied Autonomy (IAA), USA
Irwin, Slovenia
LIU Wei, China
Trevor PAGLEN, USA
Christodoulos PANAYIOTOU, Cyprus
Mario RIZZI, Italy
Katya SANDER, Denmark
Sašo SEDLAČEK, Slovenia
Superflex, Denmark
Bert THEIS, Luxembourg
Kuang-yu TSUI, Taiwan
Nasan TUR, Germany
WONG Hoy Cheong, Malaysia
Mali WU, Taiwan
Jun YANG, Austria
The Yes Men, USA
YU Cheng-Ta, Taiwan

A World Where Many Worlds Fit, a section curated by Oliver Ressler
RTMark, USA
Zanny BEGG, Australia
Christopher DELAURENTI, USA
Noel DOUGLAS, Great Britain
Etcetera, Argentina
Petra GERSCHNER, Germany
John JORDAN, Great Britain
Oliver RESSLER, Austria
Allan SEKULA, USA
Gregory SHOLETTE, USA
Nuria VILA ＋ Marcelo EXPÓSITO, Spain
Dmitry VILENSKY, Russia

The Taipei Biennial is organised by the Taipei Museum of Fine Arts. The 6th edition, curated by Manray Hsu [Germany/Taiwan] and Vasif Kortun [Turkey], takes place between September 13, 2008 and January 4, 2009.

In addition to the Taipei Museum of Fine Arts, which is the main venue established for the Taipei Biennials, the 6th edition also includes projects in the Beer Brewery, on the mega-digital screen at the Taipei Arena, in Taipei Art Park, at the Zhongxiao Xinsheng MRT Station, and an intervention at No.13, Qidong Street. The Biennial will also employ a number of advertising boards in the city, spreading the exhibition throughout different neighbourhoods and bringing the project into view when least expected.

In addition, upon the invitation of the curators, the artist/activist Oliver Ressler presents an exhibition within the context of the Biennial titled A World Where Many Worlds Fit that is dedicated to resistance movements.

The Taipei Biennial originates from a constellation of correlated themes all connected to neo-liberal capitalist globalisation. The threads of investigation in the exhibition include urban transformation in Taiwan, circumstances for immigrant and illegal labour, mobility, borders, divided states and micro-nations, permanent war condition, ecological breakdown, global unrest, and the opportunities for change. All these threads are processed and witnessed through do-it-yourself practices, individual stories, and humour. While art does not provide answers, it has the capacity to reflect on these issues from multiple angles, to work with different forms of enquiry and determine when to focus on individual moments. As with the approach of the Biennial, no story is infinitely singular. Each area of focus is associated with many other questions, for example, the mobility of a tourist, a temporary worker, or a foreign bride are certainly not the same, not even similar. Towards this end, the Biennial has been commissioning as many new works as possible, or asking the participating artists to rethink and adapt previous projects in light of their presentation in Taipei. There will also be existing works presented in juxtaposition to the new ones. The exhibition will include thematic compilations and farcical and biting videos.

There will be performative works and interventions in the city, some of which will be documented and reconfigured in the exhibition venues. Taipei Brewery, a site that has been through an extended process of transformation from its inauguration as Taiwan's first beer factory (a production and distribution site built during the Japanese occupation), to a state monopoly that involved the privatisation, re-branding and finally relocation to a site outside of the city centre. While the factory's history can be read as a classic example of shifting states of use in any post-industrialised city in the world, the exhibition is interested in seeking the nuances and specificities found within the general. The brewery's daily operation will continue during the exhibition run, and its space will be utilised as a real place rather than an insular exhibition zone.

Parallel programming includes a conference co-presented with the Dictionary of War that takes place on October 24 and 25, 2008; a film programme related to the themes of the exhibition co-hosted by the Urban Nomad Film Program; and in collaboration with Taipei Drift, an International Workshop for Art Academics, 2008.

By means of these projects the curators and artists will explore the diverse opportunities that this Biennial is capable of creating and responding to.


2008 TAIPEI BIENNIAL
Sep.13 2008 - Jan.4 2009

Organized by
Taipei Fine Arts Museum

Official support
Council for Cultural Affairs, Taiwan
Taipei City Government
Department of Cultural Affairs, Taipei City Government

In cooperation with
Taiwan Tobacco and Liquor Corp.
German Cultural Center, Taipei

International support
Credit Suisse
Ifa (Institut für Auslandsbeziehungen e.V.)
Mondriaan Stichting (Mondriaan Foundation)
SEACEX（Sociedad Estatal para la Acción Cultural Exterior）
Danish Arts Council
Australian Council for the Arts
Office for Contemporary Art, Norway
ISECO (Israel Economic and Cultural Office in Taipei)
Institut Français, Taipei

Special projects sponsor
Nova Media CO.LTD.
Yeh Rong Jai Culture & Art Foundation

Assisted by
Taipei Artist Village

Venue
Taipei Fine Arts Museum
Taipei Art Park
Taipei Brewery
Zhongxiao Xinsheng MRT Station
PDP in MRT
Taipei Arena / Taipei Screen

Preview and Opening program

Press Conference
Time: Sep.11, 11:00-23:00
Place: Taipei Fine Arts Museum(TFAM)

Press Preview
Date: Sep.11, 12:00-17:30
Place: TFAM + Taipei Brewery

Time: Sep.12
Place: TFAM (9:30-17:30); Taipei Brewery (9:30-18:00)

Bus Tours
Time: Sep.11, 14:00 &15:00; Sep.12, 12:00 & 13:00, in front of TFAM
Route: Zhongxiao Bridge, Qitong Street, Taipei Arena, Zhongxiao Xinsheng MRT, Taipei Brewery

Opening Ceremony
Time: Sep.11, 18:30-21:30
Place: Museum Square, TFAM

Taipei Brewery Live Concert: Slurpee Revolt!
Time: Sep.12, 19:30-21:30
Sep.13, 15:00-20:00
Place: Taipei Brewery

2008 Taipei Bienniel Forums
session 1: Sep. 12, 14:00-16:30, TFAM
session 2: Sep. 13, 14:00-16:00, TFAM
session 3: Sep. 13, 17:00-20:00, TFAM

TB08 Programs
2008 Taipei Biennial Feature: Dictionary of War
[http://www.dictionaryofwar.org/]

Urban Nomad Film Program at the Taipei Biennial
[http://urbannomadfilmfest.blogspot.com/]

Partner
Taipei Drift: International Workshop for Art Academics 2008
[http://taipeidrift.tnua.edu.tw/]

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Tel +886-2-2595-7656 Fax +886-2-2585-1886
info@taipeibiennial.org
www.taipeibiennial.org