Event overview
The first exhibition of Taiwanese Indigenous art in the UK, curated by Biung Ismahasan
Curated by Biung Ismahasan
Alumni of MA in Cultural Policy, Relations & Diplomacy at ICCE, Goldsmiths;
PhD Candidate in Curating at University of Essex’s Centre for Curatorial Studies with the curatorial co-writing & graphic design by The Baldwin Gallery.
21 - 25 May, Lower Ground Atrium of Professor Stuart Hall Building, Goldsmiths, University of London.
Curatorial Statement
‘Indigeneity’ is a politically enabling construct in the resistance to ongoing colonialisms & expropriations, & performance & installation art are vital expressions of its emergent, processual & contextual nature. Dispossessions: Performative Encounter(s) of Taiwanese Indigenous Contemporary Art defies expectations of primitivism & primordialism, emphasising instead self-made & re-appropriated identities. Offering an example of Indigenous curation from an Austronesian perspective, Dispossessions responds to the radical flourishing of Indigenous performance & installation art despite – & in response to – social & environmental disruption, instability & change.
Inspired by the concept of ‘Performing Indigeneity’, as defined by scholars Laura R. Graham & H. Glenn Penny, Dispossessions considers the continuing struggles of Indigenous peoples to resist erasure, & engages with the creative entanglement of the homeland, the tribal & the global. Curated by Biung Ismahasan of the Bunun people of Indigenous Taiwan, Dispossessions participates in the decolonial practice of Indigenous curatorial studies. Central to Dispossessions is the cereal crop millet & its fermentation into traditional millet wine. Though theorising genetically-attributed causes for Indigenous alcoholism dodges the brutal realities of history, First Nations’ alcohol abuse is generally acknowledged as a continuing colonial scourge. But while alcoholism divides through addiction, violence, illness, death & taboo, millet wine has become a ritual object of Taiwanese Indigenous cultures, heralding reclamation & unity. Emerging at the end of colonialism, the sharing of millet wine, & its experimental embodiment in Indigenous performance art, resurrects pre-colonial rituals, allowing for celebration & connection.
Cutting edge & contemporary, essentially Indigenous, multiple in its political modes of expression, from painting to live performance to video to live painting, Dispossessions: Performative Encounter(s) of Taiwanese Indigenous Contemporary Art is the first exhibition of Taiwanese Indigenous art in the UK. It is a gathering of artistic & curatorial activism, showcasing the latest Austronesian performative knowledge from a Taiwanese Indigenous perspective.
Dates & times
| Date | Time | Add to calendar |
|---|---|---|
| 21 May 2018 |
6:00pm - 9:00pm Exhibition Opening & Performance: Indigenous Taiwanese Truku ceremony & opening performance by Ayi-yanga musical troupe & Yu-Hsien Hsueh |
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| 22 May 2018 |
6:00pm - 9:00pm Echoes with My Spirit: Taiwanese Indigenous Musical Performance: Ayi-yanga First Taiwanese Ethnomusicology Ensemble & Curating dialogue |
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| 23 May 2018 |
6:00pm - 9:00pm ‘Kitchen Table’ Talk: Scholars, Artists & Curator: Global Indigeneity of contemporary art & exploring how an Indigenous exhibition can be a form for fostering cultural relations & diplomacy |
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| 24 May 2018 |
6:00pm - 9:00pm Performative Encounters betwixt Northern Sámi (Norway) & Indigenous Taiwanese Truku: Performance art exchange by Marita Isobel Solberg & Don Don Hounwn |
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| 25 May 2018 |
6:00pm - 8:00pm Exhibition Closing & Performance: Closing performance by Ayi-yanga musical troupe & Yu-Hsien Hsueh. Speech by Dr Carla Figueira, Dr Dennison Smith & Curator Biung Ismahasan |
Accessibility
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