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Aboriginal art and video installations at Art Taipei

CCTV.com

11-17-2016 00:47 BJT

Video art and works that embrace technology are part of Art Taipei this year. It's Asia's oldest such event celebrating art from the region, including that of Taiwan's aboriginal tribes.

Vibrant, richly coloured and textured. These pieces are the works of Aboriginal artist, Etan Pavavalung, who is from the Paiwan tribe. He likes to use different forms to illustrate the emotional and spiritual states through his works.

These particular pieces are said to reflect aboriginal ancestral culture, the current suffering of the Aboriginal peoples, and their connection with nature and the earth. 

"I want to transcribe the ancient wisdom of our aboriginal ancestors into what we see now, so that we can reflect on ourselves. For instance, we can reflect on our harmony with the grains of the earth. We can reflect on our relation with mother earth, be it harmonious, forced or destructive," Etan Pavavalung said.

"The Weeping Person is the King of the Tribe" is a piece by Pacake Taugadhu of the Rukai Tribe.
 
The Rukai are another group of aboriginal people living in Taiwan. In 2009, a deadliest typhoon hit Taiwan, forcing the Rukai to abandon their homes. People found refuge in new communities where they were referred to as the "Bare Feet Tribe," because visitors had to take off their shoes when visiting the Rukai ancestral homes there.

The sense of humiliating, experienced by Taugadhu and other tribesmen can be felt in his work.

However, the biggest shift this year is the introduction of video and other new technologies to Art Taipei.
 
"Normally, people are more familiar with paintings or sculptures. But this year we also created a new section on photography and video art. This is also to attract more art collectors, and steer  in a new direction, such as photography, video art, even technology with art. This is a new trend for the future," said Wang Kun-sheng, executive drector of Art Taipei.

Art Taipei 2016 runs November 12 to November 15.

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