For those of us who aren’t so much night owls or early birds as we are sparrows of the high noon, we mostly spend our weekends coffee-shop-hopping, strolling through the same shopping districts, or catching an often underwhelming flick at our local movie house. While there is nothing wrong with enjoying a lazy chat with a friend over some delectable, albeit slightly overpriced artisan coffee, or lining up for the 37th Fast & Furious installment, if you’re anything like us, we spend half the time grousing about how there’s nothing to do in Taipei. Truth is, we just weren’t looking hard enough (or, at all), because there actually are quite a few alternatives to spending your Saturday afternoon.
The following are a few exhibits we caught over the past few weeks. Not only was it a great way to explore the creative scene in Taipei, our wallets were given a much-needed rest.
Location: Taipei Fine Arts Museum 091717
Price of Admission: FREE
We popped in on the last day of these exhibits at around 5PM, and spent a good 3 hours just roaming around the place. There were a total of 7 exhibits on display that day, but only pictures from the “Arena” exhibit are pictured.
The following is a room filled with nothing but gauzy curtains illuminated by projections of changing scenery. The idea sounds simple enough, but it was certainly beautiful, and made for some sweet Instagram shots.
It was a pretty surreal experience, too, mostly because we spent about 20 minutes trying to capture the perfect “artsy” shot, only to find out that we were behind the attraction the whole time. If you look closely, you can spot the legs of one of the 40 people kind enough not to judge us as we sheepishly slunk out to join them.
This is what the attraction actually looked like: (Courtesy of TFAM)
Below is a DIY photo booth-type setup – the tiny yellow door blending into the background leads to a room stocked with an array of full-body costumes and props.
This here is a nifty little church dedicated to social media.
A collection of random pictures from the Arena exhibit:
Location: Songshan Cultural & Creative Park 093017
Price of Admission – FREE
HERMES Wanderland Exhibit
So, we got there around 5PM, but the queue was still pretty insane. But it was free, so here we are in line number 2. To see where the actual line begins, look to the left of the picture:
Here’s a map of the exhibition:
Each party was given these special monocles attached to wooden canes (to be returned after the exhibit, of course). Peek through one of the blank spaces within the designated markers and watch a quick cartoon.
Location: Museum of Contemporary Art Taipei 100717
Spectrosynthesis – Asian LGBTQ Issues and Art Now
Price of Admission: $50 NTD
In light of the historic ruling by Taiwan’s top court, MOCA launched its first “LGBTQ art survey show.” Said exhibit curator, Sean Hu, to CNN: “We hope the exhibit has a ripple effect across Asian society, and leads to people respecting different sexual orientations. The work relates to issues facing the Chinese LGBTQ community and our life stories.”
[https://news.artnet.com/exhibitions/moca-taipei-asias-first-lgbt-art-show-1064153]
Below are a few pictures from the stirring exhibit:
Bronson didn’t want to be interviewed either by our correspondent or any of the traditional media reporters that came later. Later on he needed to go to work and he didn’t want his boss to find out what he did before the start of his shift. He agreed to a photo but only after he wore a surgical mask disguising his identity. At night the scene outside of Taipei 101 mall was quite eerie, there was only Bronson and a few of other people in little groups perched around stairs leading to Taipei 101 station and at the tables nearby. In the morning around 6 am reporters affiliated with traditional media started to appear. First there was a cameraman and a lady anchor, Bronson explained to them how he booked his new iPhone8 but refused to be interviewed. Later on another cameraman came and took a few takes of what was happening inside the store. Just before 7 there were about three other crews all waiting for the release. At 8 am the doors opened and happy Bronson alongside a few other Apple enthusiast entered the mall and went to the first shop on the right, which happened to be the Apple Store. The TV crews followed them closely. Customers got their new phones and watches, a couple got interviewed and without much pomp and circumstance the day continued as any other.
The two women weren’t wearing hijab, niqab or any other Muslim attire but such sight in Taiwan isn’t unusual. Hijab and Dupattas can be seen worn by Indonesian, Malaysian, and other Muslim women all across the island. There are plenty of seasonal workers as well as long-term residents that made Taiwan their home. Being a Muslim in Taiwan is easier than in many other East Asian countries. Just a glimpse at the size and magnitude of Taipei Mosque tells one how big the Muslim community in Taiwan is.
to City Suite Hotel, about five minutes’ drive away. We were treated to sumptuous beef noodles, delectable desserts and iced mango.
Taiwan Observer 