January 2011

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ArtGuide - Museum
Budapest - January
TAIWAN CALLING is the first large-scale exhibition in the region to present contemporary Taiwanese art. In recent years, the increasing number of programmes created by various European cultural institutions has shown a genuine and professional interest in contemporary Asian art. The exhibition in Budapest, due to a unique cooperation, is on display simultaneously at the Ludwig Museum and Mucsarnok, where the works of altogether 25 artists represent the rich and fresh contemporary Taiwanese art scene.

The Taiwan Calling - Elusive Island exhibition realised at the Ludwig Museum presents artistic reflections on the social, historical, ethnic, political, and cultural issues pertaining to the multifaceted Taiwanese society of our time. During the last few decades, Taiwan has witnessed rapid and radical changes in its politics and culture. Such crucial events and the ensuing social transformation led to the critical questioning of Taiwanese identity, whereby a reconstructed Taiwanese identity emerged. This was a process of turning away from the unified cultural identity dictated by continental China, seeking to evolve a unique Taiwanese consciousness. This process made its impact felt in all the art forms, including the visual arts.

The major recurring subject matter for those generally elder artists who are responsive to the social issues of their country includes immigration and emigration, integration, inter-cultural communication, inter-generational conflicts and shifts, as well as inter-marriage between people of different nationalities.


Enumerating art works that are significant to determine the position of contemporary Taiwanese art scene both as opposed to the mainland or in an international context, and through the works of artists who are looking for their very own identity, the Elusive Island exhibition at the Ludwig Museum intends to present a complex view of the questions posed like soft whispers in today's Taiwanese society.

The exhibition is a collaboration between the National Taiwan Museum of Fine Arts, the Mucsarnok, Budapest and the Ludwig Museum - Museum of Contemporary Art, Budapest. The Taiwan Calling - Elusive Island exhibition is curated by Róna Kopeczky.
About Ludwig Museum

Ludwig Museum - Museum of Contemporary Art collects and displays masterworks of modern and contemporary art. The permanent collection contains valuable pieces of American pop art (Andy Warhol, Claes Oldenburg, Robert Rauschenberg etc.). Yet focusing on Eastern and Central European art, it also puts a special emphasis on presenting the Hungarian art of the 60's to recent days in an international context. Besides, temporary exhibitions showcase leading artists of the international scene as well as the best-known Hungarian masters. Be sure to explore the Museum's colourful place which is indeed a contemporary work of art as well.

History and Aims
In October 1982, Irene and Peter Ludwig established the "Ludwig Foundation for Art and International Understanding“. After the sudden death of her husband on July 22, 1996, Irene Ludwig established the "Peter and Irene Ludwig Foundation“. The Foundation is subject to German foundation law (according to §2, section 1 of the foundation law of the Land of North Rhine-Westphalia) and continues the activities of its predecessor. It is governed by the Board of Trustees and the Executive Board. Irene Ludwig is the Chairwoman of the Board of Trustees. The seat and administrative offices of the Foundation are in Aachen.

The goals and activities of the Peter and Irene Ludwig Foundation are stipulated in the statutes. According to these statutes, the Foundation’s purpose is realized in particular through the acquisition and administration of art objects, including the organization of exhibitions and the promotion of loans to public exhibitions, as well as through the financial support of the acquisition and maintenance of works of art and the promotion of exhibition activities.

The primary goal of the Peter and Irene Ludwig Foundation is the long-term continuation of its international activities in the tradition established by Peter and Irene Ludwig. In order to reflect and preserve their spirit, cosmopolitan attitudes are the most significant feature of the Peter and Irene Ludwig Foundation. One of its foremost missions is, therefore, the development of international relations on a cultural level.

Another essential goal of the Foundation is to facilitate cooperative efforts between the various Ludwig Museums in the spirit of international cultural dialogue. The promotion of a multicultural dialogue will improve social relations beyond national borders. By establishing a foundation, Irene and Peter Ludwig created an institution that is dedicated to transporting their intentions and ambitions into the future. The Peter and Irene Ludwig Foundation brings these ideas and visions together and thus constitutes a legacy to ensure that the activities and efforts, to which the Ludwigs have dedicated their lives, will survive.

In accordance with the visions and goals of the founders and in appreciation of their enormous achievements and outstanding collection, it is the responsibility of the Foundation's boards to lead the Foundation into a prosperous future. The boards are, however, at the same time, free to react to the challenges of changing times. The establishment of the Peter and Irene Ludwig Foundation was not intended to serve the purpose of preserving the Ludwig Collection as a monument, but rather to pursue any acitivities, in the spirit of the founders, that are future-orientated and productive.
Taiwan Calling - Elusive Island
Ludwig Museum and Mucsarnok  Budapest
Until 6 March
Chien-Chi CHANG also addresses inter-cultural misunderstandings and prejudices in his works. Marriage brokers in Southeast Asian countries lure Vietnamese women with the economic benefits of marrying Taiwanese men. Double Happiness is a video and photo based work, documenting the fate of Vietnamese women entering into such “blind” marriages. It conveys the real story of unhappiness behind those fairytales, revealing the problems arising from cultural and linguistic differences, as well as integration into the husband's family.
From among the paper installations created by Mia Wen-Hsuan LIU, her Guggenheim series is presented at the exhibition. It is constructed of tickets that she collected while she was working as a ticket cashier at the Guggenheim Museum in New York. She has created paper constructions from the museum tickets, reminding one of almost organic origami that resemble huge flowers, terrariums or tiny gardens. Beyond her projected wishes and dreams, these paper gardens appear as internal landscapes, or imaginary and spiritual terrariums.
Chi-Tsung WU's videos and installations are marked by a sense of lyrical slowness and the use of simple materials, with which he ironically and elegantly takes a position against the expressions of our increasingly technical world. Time and movement play an important role in two of his installations, Wire I and Crystal City, which depict natural landscapes or cityscapes in an almost hypnotising manner.
Yong-Ning TZENG's works could be interpreted at first glance as simple colour drawings. With his chosen tool and technique of drawing, however, i.e., the ballpoint or gel pen, he subverts the time-honoured rules of traditional drawing. He uses ballpoint pen, one of the most common office supplies, a prefabricated instrument that allows for drawing only in the given colours. With such a rebellious gesture, he pushes the borders of traditional academic drawing and the limitations of the conventional genre.
Ya-Hui WANG works primarily in video art and video installation. Her works, which are poetic in tone, attempt to delicately disturb human perception and consciousness through mundane themes. Her video entitled Snowman chooses a new angle from which to explore the relationship between a given space/environment (Taiwan's subtropical climate practically excludes snowy weather) and the object representing alternative reality (the snow, which is usually associated with sweets served on crushed ice, or used to cool food, and the snowman that generally evokes winter entertainment).
In Charwei TSAI's work, writing, or more precisely, calligraphy, stands for the long art-making process. A recurrent motif in the young artist's works is the Heart Sutra, which is Buddha's central teaching, the most widely known mantra and a key text of Buddhism. Presenting a site-specific installation at the Ludwig Museum, Charwei TSAI's works inspire contemplation on the ephemeral qualities of our environment. While her thinking is focused on meditation on life and death, she confronts the accepted eternal validity of the written text with the transformation and fleeting life of the text's organic support.
Courtesy of the artist
Courtesy of the artist
Courtesy of the artist
Courtesy of the artist
Courtesy of the artist
Collection of National Taiwan Museum of Fine Arts
ludwigmuseum.hu
ludwigmuseum.hu
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