Definition of Art in Taiwan

As we talk about art in Taiwan, what would you think about? Art made in Taiwan, Taiwanese art, or something else? The teacher talked about art in historical and political view. She mentioned that neither of the definitions of ‘Taiwan’ and ‘art’ is easy, so we might take more time to grab the concept. Because Taiwan has been occupied by many different countries, art in Taiwan is very various.

<Flora Expo in Taipei>

In my opinion, I would say art in Taiwan is that art made in Taiwan. We don’t have to care so much about who is the person that created art, because every art created is very precious.

The National Palace Museum

As we know, the National Palace Museum is a place where many precious things are stored. But does anyone think about what the Palace Museum should be now? What’s its role?

From the teacher’s point of view, because the Republic of China is different from the People’s Republic of China, Chinese art is being redefined in “native” Taiwanese terms, and we need to redefine “national” for the museum. And the museum also needs to face new generations that don’t think of this island as China.

I think we should see the National Palace Museum and the precious things in the museum as Taiwan’s treasures and we can have more exhibitions in the museum to make its value more.

Enter a Different Kind of Art Class

In our first class, the teacher shared a very different view of art. She said when ancient art was first made, it was functional, not art. They were tools, bowls, a painting that was to send to a friend as a gift and precious items presented to emperors.

Teacher told us modern art is art for art sake. People started to classify art and divide art into categories and it developed until today.

<Shang dynasty ritual bronze vessels of food and wine>

Words teacher said really shocked me, because I never thought art was made not as art and its art because we thought it was! And I started thinking about why people would want to praise something as art, because merchants wanted to send it as merchandise, or because people found they were pretty and rare.