The 2021 Kaohsiung Awards 
 
As one of the most indicative major art awards in Taiwan, the Kaohsiung Awards has stayed committed to its principles of openness, diversity, and progress, encouraging continuous innovations among new-generation artists in their artistic practice. In 2018, the Kaohsiung Awards started its new measure of accepting applications based on five categories: “Writing Art, Chinese Calligraphy, and Painting”; “Drawing and Print”; “Spatial Art”; “Image and Technological Media Art”; and “Art Project and Interdisciplinary Art”. This new measure is a concrete action responding to the global trends in this information era and providing alternative options for artists to keep up with the times in their artistic creation. In particular, the “Art Project and Interdisciplinary Art” category is the first of its kind among all the art awards in Taiwan, enabling artists to stand out and shine on the stage of Kaohsiung Awards with their art projects that take years of accumulation and development.
 
The total number of participating artists in the 2021 Kaohsiung Awards reached 626, showing an increase of 200 years from last year. Amidst the fierce competition, quite a few of the participating artists were international artists with residence permits in Taiwan. At the end of April, the works of 25 selected artists were on display for the final round of evaluation, from which the final three 2021 Kaohsiung Awards winners were selected: Wei Po-jen; Cai Guo-jie; and Li Kuei-pi. The 2021 HCS Special Award for Calligraphy/Seal Engraving Works was given to Chang Tien-chien.
 
With its mechanism of “evaluating the works in the first round of evaluation according to their categories and all the selected works collectively in the second round regardless of their category differences”, the Kaohsiung Awards can better serve as a platform where works of different types of artistic expressions compete against and engage with one another in diverse dialogues to reflect the trends of contemporary art development. The observer mechanism launched in 2007 has also given the Kaohsiung Awards more flexibility in not only reviewing and adapting to the latest art trends but also fulfilling its diverse responsibilities of art research, discussions, and reporting. With this mechanism, the Kaohsiung Awards have developed its unique facets, enriched its text narratives, and created more profound values.



 

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