Traveling through, past, and beyond the turmoil during and after the martial law period in Taiwan   

Curator: Nita LO

Capturing the Flow of History
To promote awareness among the public of the relance of KMFA’s modern/contemporary collections to their lives, we launched the exhibition series of our collection in 2019. Through this series of exhibitions based on different curatorial themes, the works in our collection can have more opportunities to be approached and appreciated by viewers. After its renovation during 2018 and 2019, the the South+ Special Collection Galleries are now warm, calm, bright, and fashionable self-luminous spaces built with the aim of inspiring viewers’ imagination of “time traveling” to different periods in history. When viewers move around in the gallery with contrasting variances of the openness and brightness in its space, they can immerse themselves in the physical and virtual experiences brought by the art works, interpretative materials, and documents on display.
 
“South as a place of XXX” is our approach to observe the historical pluralism of local art development, enabling the works in our collection to demonstrate their meanings in history and giving rise to a kind of philosophical interpretation of the “South” that is more profound and extensive than the existing geographic definition and people’s stereotypical imagination. The artists in this exhibition have brought artistic and cultural nutrients for different parts of Taiwan after their constant “moving”, “traveling back and forth among” and “settling down in” different places on this island. They have helped to bring forth a new “South” that has more diverse facets, more significance, more depth, and more referential meanings. This “South” is not only the most epitomizing symbol of Greater Kaohsiung but also a response to the “multiple meanings of the South” proposed by scholars. Moreover, the “XXX” part represents different kinds of imagination about the “South”. It also resonates with the bold idea of “historical pluralism” we have proposed to look back at the history and, more importantly, explore new perspectives.
 
The curation of this exhibition was started in 2020. In 2021, KMFA’s research team worked with external scholars, artists, and elders to review the art development in Kaohsiung from the 1970s to the 1990s and made a special selection of KMFA’s collections to represent different elements such as key figures, incidents, and art works most relevant to and representative of the art development history in southern Taiwan, particularly in Greater Kaohsiung, during those two decades. In addition to the special selection of KMFA’s collections, this exhibition will also feature the documents and historical materials collected during our research and curation process. The “key collections” that KMFA is still expanding will also be included in this exhibition to represent a more comprehensive picture of the history. 
 
Mild Cultural “Collision” with Powerful Aftershocks
This exhibition is curated as a research exhibition mainly focusing on the art development in Greater Kaohsiung from the 1970s to the 1990s and presenting over 100 works from KMFA’s collection. The title and main theme of this exhibition in Chinese literally means “South a place of collision”. However, we prefer to regard the “collision” as people’s eager desire to seek “changes” (hence the English title of this exhibition) to the overall environment in Taiwan back then other than “rebellion” against the institution.
 
Converging in the city that was considered a “cultural desert” back then, artists used “arts” as a medium to trigger “changes” in different dimensions of society. Breaking free from all the physical and mental constraints, artists turned their eagerness to seek changes into their unique styles of grassroot roughness, anti-mainstream toughness, and childlike pureness. Some of them were more low-profile and subtle in expressing through their works their “disobedience” of the traditional media and expression methods, their anxiety about the environment, their empathy with people at the bottom of society, and their criticism against political, cultural, and social constraints. The others were more outspoken and direct in venting their anger and challenge against the institution through their art works and, in particular, their writings of art critiques.
 
With the industrial infrastructure left by the Japanese government after WWII, Kaohsiung was well-positioned for industrial development and attracted a lot of companies to build their factories here. (The first Export Processing Zone in Taiwan was established in Kaohsiung in 1996 while China Steel, China Shipbuilding, and China Petroleum all built their factories in Kaohsiung during the Ten Major Construction Projects in the 1970s.) Amidst the fast industrial development, Kaohsiung and its satellite cities saw an influx of people and a boom in the development of tertiary industries. As a result, creators from all walks of life and all the other places in Taiwan were attracted to Kaohsiung. They converged in this city to pursue their dreams with the “spirit of the South” alive and vibrant in their souls. This “spirit of the South” not only nurtured the cultural development of Kaohsiung but also gradually influenced the places they were from.
 
However, the spiritual shackles imposed by the martial law rule were as depressing as the coldness and hardness of living in a smog-shrouded industrial city. It was already difficult for people back then to survive all the struggles in life, let alone seeking “changes”. Fortunately, arts (including visual art, literature, cinema, music, and performance art) provided them a spiritual space of imagination and a vent for suppressed emotions. When we look back at those years when people’s stress was boiling nearly to the point of explosion and got released all of a sudden, we should have more empathy, put ourselves in the shoes of those who had to face the difficult time back then, and learn not to take the “freedom” we are enjoying for granted.
 
As once described by Ni Tasi-chin, “Kaohsiung was a city with many wandering thoughts back then.” The political, economic, and international conditions in earlier years resulted in not only rapid social changes to this city but also an increasing number of “wandering thoughts” that came from a group of artists caught in between “martial law” and “lift of martial law”, “ancestry in Taiwan” and “ancestry in China”, “localism” and “internationalism”, and “creation” and “reality”. These artists continued to learn new knowledge, have dialectical self-reflection, seek peer recognition and meanings of their existence, and proactively develop their own rhetoric of artistic creation. They used their paintings, writings, musical works, and movies to seek changes to the external and internal constraints imposed by the traditions of family, politics, society, history, education, and language. By doing so, they found a way to air their “voices” in their time.
 
Not Only an Art Museum but Also a Base of Memories
 
Lasting over 18 months, this exhibition will present works that span a period of more than 30 years. The relatively long duration of this exhibition is intended to give more time for KMFA, viewers, and art education entities to participate in the discussions inspired by the exhibition. As the narratives, either visible or invisible, in the works come from a period of time shared by many, the works also constitute collective memories that all of us should treasure. Before this exhibition, we especially commissioned a research team formed by professors Huang Wen-yung, Cheng Sheng-Hua, and Hsu Woan-Jen from the Tainan University of Technology to conduct research and collect historical materials on the key figures, events, and works during those “critical years” in the art development in southern Taiwan to review and reveal the rich facets of that period of time. The historical materials are used as documents to complement this exhibition and make KMFA a base for people to explore the common memories of those years.
 
In addition to our hope that the South+ Special Collection Galleries will become spaces for art research and education based on our collections, we also work with Wenzao Ursuline University of Languages in producing a Podcast program for young audience and a cloud-based program called “What a time!” in which elders share their stories of earlier days. We also curate and hold together with Kaohsiung Public Library (Kaohsiung Literary Museum) and Kaohsiung Film Archive thematic exhibitions that demonstrates to viewers how literary youth in an earlier period of Taiwan’s history fought against the “martial law order” with the pen as their weapon.
 
In addition to all the participating artists, family members of collectors, and organizations that kindly offer their assistance, we also owe much gratitude to Hung Lung-mu, Chen Jung-fa, Mu Tsan, Yen Ming-ben, Hsieh San-tai, Yang Shun-fa and the other artist who kindly lend their invaluable works and documents. Our gratitude is also extended to the Shih Ming Te Foundation, National Museum of Taiwan Literature, and Zhong Lihe Culture and Education Foundation for their support which makes it possible for us to have different perspectives in our exploration of the history through the high-resolution files of 19 priceless figure drawings created by Shih Ming-zheng. We would like to also thank Chen Shui-tsai, Yeh Chu-sheng, Ou Chu-fan, Hung Ken-shen, Chen Jung-fa, Mu Tsan, Hsu Tzu-kuey, Cheng Ming-chuan, Liu Kao-sing, Lu Ming-te, Su Zhi-che, Tsai Hsien-yiu, Leo Liu, Wu Hui-fang, Chang Sin-pi, Liang Jen-hung, Lai Fang-yu, Ni Chen, Lin Hsiu-mei, Lu Jing-tang and Tsai Shih-wei,; thank Lu Yu-jui and Lung Yu-Hung for their assistance in exhibition and the video recording; and thank Prof. Lien Li-li and the faculty and students from the Department of Communication Art, Wenzao Ursuline University of Languages, for their production and broadcasting of our joint Podcast program. Because of all the kind assistance and provision of an abundance of resources and materials, we are finally able to put together the whole picture of Kaohsiung’s development as a city.
 
The Kaohsiung in the picture we put together also debunks the long-accepted stereotypical and derogatory impression of this city as a “cultural desert”. How come a city with such frequent interactions among its cultured youth, such lively exchanges among artists from different disciplines, and such enthusiastic public participation was considered a so-called “cultural desert”? If you still call Kaohsiung a cultural desert, the joke is on you!  

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Not Only an Art Museum but Also a Base of Memories
This exhibition, South as a Place of Changes, is the second exhibition of our “Constructing historical pluralism from the KMFA collection” initiative. As a research exhibition that focuses on the history of art development in Greater Kaohsiung from the 1970s to the 1990s, this exhibition includes over 100 works from KMFA’s collection and works from lending collectors complemented with historical documents, taking us back to those years during and after the martial law period where the long suppressed energies of creativity were suddenly released.
 
Back in those years, artists continued to learn know knowledge, have dialectical self-reflection, and seek peer recognition and meanings of existence even though they were caught in between identification with Taiwan and with China, between localization and internationalization, between artistic creation and reality. By proactively developing their own rhetoric of art, artists not only pursued changes to the constraints in family, politics, society, history, culture, and language but also found the way to air their “voices" in their time.
 
Lasting over 18 months, this exhibition will present works that span a period of more than 30 years. The relatively long duration of this exhibition is intended to give more time for KMFA, viewers, and art education entities to participate in the discussions inspired by the exhibition. As the narratives, either visible or invisible, in the works come from a period of time shared by many, the works also constitute collective memories that all of us should treasure.
 
Regrettably, due to the limitation of venue space, many more issues, artists, and their works waiting for further exploration are absent in this exhibition. However, the holding of the exhibition is not the end but just the beginning of our research project.
 
We hope to continue and expand the documentation, verification, deep exploration, and completion of materials regarding the art development history in southern Taiwan from the 70’s to the 90’s by inviting the public to participate and contribute their memories about that era. We also hope to discover through our research more "silent artist" submerged in the currents of time.

Theme Areas
●Young Man, Worry Not? What’s in the Head of Angry Youth in those Years with the Undercurrents of “Existentialism”?
●Years of Seeking Identity: How to Feel “Native” and “Local”?
●Calling Kaohsiung a Cultural Desert? The Joke’s on You! Kaohsiung as a Place for Cultured Youth to Converge and Convert the City
●The Blackening of Art/Black Painting in an Industrial City—More Than One Type of “Black”
●The Unspeakable: White Terror during the Authoritarian Period
●Awkward ☹: People in the Hushed Years
●In-betweens before and after the Martial Law Period: Paradigm-shifting Critical Writings
●New World after a Broadened Horizon: Transcending the Tradition toward the Contemporary Time
 


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‧ Supervisor: Bureau of Cultural Affairs, Kaohsiung City Government
‧ Organizer: Kaohsiung Museum of Fine Arts 
‧ Co-organizers: Kaohsiung Public Library (Kaohsiung Literary Museum); Kaohsiung Film Archive; Tainan University of Technology; Wenzao Ursuline University of Languages; National Museum of ‧ Taiwan Literature; Shih Ming Te Foundation; and Zhong Lihe Culture and Education Foundation
 
‧ Curatorial & Executive Team of KMFA: Nita Lo (Head of the Research and Development Department); Chen Hsiu-wei (Head of the Collections Department); and Wu Hui-fang (Curator of the Exhibition Department)
‧ Co-curators and Research Team of the “Connections between KMFA’s Collection and the Martial Law Period” Project: Huang Wen-yung (Associate Professor, Dept. of Fine Arts, Tainan University of Technology); Cheng Sheng-Hua (Assistant Professor, Dept. of Fine Arts, TUT); and Hsu Woan-Jen (Assistant Professor, Dept. of Fine Arts, TUT)
‧ Curatorial Support: Chen Yen Ching; Liao Yu Chin; and Wu Cai-Zhen
‧ De-rusted and Freshly Painted: Industry and Art of Kaohsiung│Lu Yu-jui & Communal House Documentary Studio
 

▲The following are the art education and promotion activities of this exhibition held on an irregular basis. Please check the official website of this exhibition for more information.
 
‧ What a time! Voice from KMFA & Wenzao Arty Podcast: Department of Communication Arts/Wenzao Ursuline University of Languages
‧ What a time! Voice from KMFA II: Gallery Talks Series of “Transforming from Angry Youth to Active Youth”
‧ Exhibition Display & Graphic Design: Folder (Esther Zheng & Mei-rong Song)
‧ Appointed Deformaldehyde Coating Sponsor (Kaohsiung Venue): HOPAX 
 
Participating Artists
陳庭詩 Chen Ting-shih (1913-2002)
何明績 Ho Ming-chi (1921-2002)
曾培堯 Tseng Pei-yao (1927-1991)
杜巴男 Valialane (1930-2008)
洪傳桂 Hung Chuan-kuei (1931-2013)
蔡水林 Tsay Shoei-lin (1932-2015)
朱沉冬 Chu Chen-tung (1933-1990)
陳甲上 Chen Chia-shang (1933-2023)
羅清雲 Lo Ching-yun (1934-1995)
施明正 Shi Ming-zheng (1935-1988)
張文卿 Chang Wen-chin (1936-1977)
李朝進 Lee Chau-chin (1941-)
陳正雄 Chen Cheng-hsiung (1942-)
許⼀男 Hsu I-nan (1943-)
王國柱 Oňg Kok-thiā (1945-)
陳水財 Chen Shui-tsai (1946-)
洪根深 Hung Ken-shen (1946-)
葉竹盛 Yeh Chu-sheng (1946-)
區超蕃 Ou Chu-fan (1947-)
蘇信義 Su Hsin-yi (1948-)
謝德慶 Hsieh Teh-Ching (1950-)
盧明德 Lu Ming-te (1950-)
陳榮發 Chen Jung-fa (1952-)
倪再沁 Ni Tsai-chin (1955-2015)
吳梅嵩 Wu Mei-song (1955-2023)
陳隆興 Chen Long-sing (1955-)
蘇志徹 Su Zhi-che (1955-)
張新丕 Chang Sin-pi (1955-)
莊明旗 Chuang Ming-chi (1955-)
顏明邦 Yen Ming Pang (1955-)
宋清田 Sung Ching-tien (1956-)
許自貴 Hsu Tzu-kuey (1956-)
吳天章 Wu Tien-chang (1956-)
何經泰 Ho Ching-tai (1956-)
李俊賢 Lee Jiun-shyan (1957-2019)
洪龍木 Hung Lung-mu (1957-)
木殘 Mu Tsan (1957-)
李明則 Lee Ming-tse (1957-)
劉高興 Liu Kao-sing (1958-)
謝三泰 Hsieh San-tai (1958-)
王武森 Wang Wu-sen (1959-)
劉丁讚 Liu Ting-tsan (1959-)
侯聰慧 Hou Tsung-hui (1960-)
林鴻文 Lin Hong-wen (1961-)
楊順發 Yang Shun-fa (1964-)
蔡獻友 Tsai Hsien-yiu (1964-)