I was invited to hold a lecture at the Art Taipei 2006 art fair (5/5-9). The theme I was given was "The Contemporary Art Market in Tokyo". I delivered a report based on research about "Art Fair Tokyo", "Art@Agnes", "Geisai", "Take Art Collection", "Gallery Tagboat" and other institutions, and the Taiwanese art professionals seemed to be interested particularly in the latter two and their online shops, which hints at the recent worldwide upward trend in this field. In such online shops a customer can of course only watch images and other information about certain pieces of art, but not touch the real things, so what’s for sale there are mainly prints, photographs, videos, and other duplicable items. The developments of information technology affect not only technologies and contents of media art, but also in the commercial product format (media) art can take on.
There were several problematic points about "Art Taipei". Floor space and ceiling height of this year’s venue, a former brewery that is now the Hua Shan Culture Park, were just perfect, but there was no air conditioning in the main venue, and at some points rain was leaking through the roof. At art fairs in countries with a subtropical climate, it should be a matter of course to protect the interiors from heat and humidity. Due to the loose construction and insufficient cleaning, there was a lot of dust, and especially participating galleries and artists from overseas were expressing their displeasure.
The dispositions and levels of the participating galleries were another point that bothered me. There were a total of 58 participants, mainly from the hosting country, Taiwan. Displays included lots of modern art and traditional paintings, and even wine and other local product from various areas was offered. Now an art fair is not a festival, but a place for doing business with art, so a greater variety of artworks would have been desirable. On the other hand, after Ozawa Tsuyoshi in 2005, the invited artist to mark the fair’s "highlight" this year was Patricia Piccinini, and to invite a leading contemporary artist to show her works and even give lectures made the concept seem a little incoherent. I woudn't request to specialize in contemporary art altogether, but Art Taipei is certainly a good opportunity to "enlighten" the general public about contemporary art.
Another "good occasion" was "A Glimpse of Contemporary Art in Taiwan", a small but sharp group exhibition at the Museum of Contemporary Art, Taipei (Taipei MOCA). Shown there were only a few, carefully selected works by seven skilled artists in their late 30s and 40s, including among others Yuan Goang-min and Wan Jun-jieh. Works ranged from drawings combined with installations, paintings, video installations and media art, to unique products made by design units. Too bad there was no photography, but apart from that the balance of different media was excellent. It was definitely a show that offered a short yet multifaceted, highly rewarding "glimpse of contemporary art in Taiwan" to the visitor. If you happen to be in Taipei before June 4, check it out!
IT Park, an artist-run space, was showing a solo exhibition of Wu Mali that consisted of objects, drawings, installations, and other pieces the artist was partly still working on during the event period. IT Park is a cosy space with a cafe bar, and to me the exhibition looked like a very nice combination of venue and contents. Also run by artists is VT Art Salon, a bar that recently opened just around the corner from IT Park. Displayed on the walls are photographs by the above-mentioned Yuan Goang-min and others. The minimal interior design looked a bit too cool for me, but considering that designer hotels seems to be quite popular in Taipei these days, a place like this perfectly symbolizes the newest trend in the local culture scene. I wish there were more places in Tokyo where different genres, such as art, music, imagery, design and architecture, can come together!
Outside the Art Taipei venue I had several occasions to experience the "real Taipei" with its fusion of contemporary art and city life. If "fusion" sounds too pompous, you can just call it "mixture"… If the shops, galleries and bars in the neighborhood hooked up with the art fair, they could definitely generate more interest in art while catering to the visitors from other parts of Taiwan and overseas. Such cooperation would also be good for joint PR activities, and such things as the distribution of access maps or exhibition schedules, possibly included in a free paper. So-called "cultural tourism" is gaining popularity also in other countries, so the above applies not only to Taipei of course.
PS: To the credit of Art Taipei I have to point out the staff’s praiseworthy eagerness and hard work. Their care and friendly smiles turned the venue into a place with a very pleasant atmosphere. I hope that the hospitality of a southern country will help raise the level of Art Taipei in the future.
Ozaki Tetsuya / Editor in chief / REALTOKYO