UNSW Art & Design presents at 4A: ‘Post-Colonial Wild Rhizome: Contemporary Art in Taiwan and Its Ruptures’

PLEASE NOTE THE LOCATION FOR THIS TALK HAS BEEN UPDATED:

Lecture Theatre EG02

UNSW  | Art & Design

UNSW Sydney

Paddington campus

Cnr Oxford St & Greens Rd,

Paddington, NSW 2021

SYDNEY. 2 MAY 2019. 6-8PM

Dr. Jow-Jiun Gong, Associate Professor and Director Doctoral Program, Art Theory and Practice, Tainan National University of the Arts (TNNUA), Tainan City, Taiwan

Moderator: Dr Veronica Tello (UNSW Art & Design)  

In this discussion, Dr. Jow-Jiun Gong will analyse the ruptures in contemporary Taiwanese art among the paradigms of European, Japanese and Chinese art histories:

“Using artworks I selected for the 2018 Taiwan Biennale as examples, I argue that the works not only reflect the logic of post-colonial thoughts in Taiwan, but they form a phenomenon which I call ‘wild rhizome’: a self-initiated, grass-root approach of the artist community to build and connect their practices outside institutions. The transformations of artists’ organizations and their diverse types of mimicry parallel the natural environment and complex historical context where these works emerge. In addition, the numerous high mountains which are the backbone of the island, as well as the oceans surrounding it, fostered the cultural diversity and possible ways of amending the colonial ruptures and trauma.”