Department of Cultural Affairs

The Taipei Art Awards celebrate contemporary art that is both distinctive and reflective of its time. This year, ten outstanding works were selected, with pieces by Jui-tsz Shiu, Yen-chi Chen, Kuang-jui Chen, Guan-jhen Wang, Kuang-yi Ku, Co-coism (Chien-han Hung & Kang-hua Chang), Jung-wei Hsieh, Jui-hao Su, Chi-hsun Hsieh, and Pei-mao Sun. Running through April 26, 2026, at the Taipei Fine Arts Museum, this exhibition invites the public to experience and appreciate these unique expressions of contemporary art. 

Jui-tsz Shiu: Territory of Self

This series explores how transnational migrants establish personal boundaries through the relationship between body and environment in the context of labor. Drawing on her experience working in restaurants abroad, Shiu treats the kitchen as a primary, almost performative, space. Through descriptions of actions such as washing, stacking, and placing utensils—combined with playful, imaginative associations—she evokes moments of negotiation and exploration akin to the trials of migration and reflects on bodily movement, social climbing and falling, and the emotional and personal boundaries that emerge from these experiences.

Yen-chi Chen: There Is No Fairy Godmother Here

Chen’s work explores how sound is controlled by institutions and technology, revealing the power structures embedded within these systems. When the miracles and promises of fairy tales vanish and established narratives can no longer progress, sound becomes a sign of labor and regulation. Viewers are caught between voice and silence, imitation and subjectivity, experiencing firsthand the mechanism of social discipline.

Kuang-jui Chen: Divide the Mountain Mass: Sulfide, Springs, and What Lies Between

Chen’s work originates from a profound memory of family emotion with time at its core. Through the interaction of metal and water, and the interplay of sensibility and reason, he explores how time shapes material and leaves traces in the process of transformation. The primary medium is metal sheets, their oxidated and corroded surfaces revealing color and texture. These forms evoke mountain mists, streams, and personal emotional experiences, creating a distinctive visual language. 

Guan-jhen Wang: Before Paint

Wang reflects on how overlapping digital information shapes thought, choosing to walk the streets and observe daily life to cultivate an embodied awareness of external landscapes. Through painting, she captures ideas not yet fully formed, giving visibility and momentum to the unspoken inner world. Her work offers a path for perception and self-understanding before time passes.

Kuang-yi Ku: Atlas of Queer Anatomy

Ku uses the conceit of a fictional medical textbook to examine and critique the lasting influence of mid-20th century human anatomy atlases created by white male scholars. By highlighting the lack of gender and racial diversity and the cultural biases embedded in hierarchical structures, the work proposes a more inclusive and fluid perspective on the body.

Co-coism (Chien-han Hung and Kang-hua Chang): Through the Mother’s Eyes

This live performance explores the origins of shared human emotions and memory. Drawing from everyday experience, the work allows viewers to perceive “the gaze” in life—how selfhood and subjectivity are shaped through being seen—while also sensing shifts in individual identity and the subtle emotional dynamics that unfold as roles quietly change within parent–child relationships.

Jung-wei Hsieh: Orbit

Hsieh transforms abstract astrophysical concepts of gravity and time into a sensory bodily experience. Beginning with the historical solar eclipse used to verify Einstein’s theory of relativity, the work uses a spatial installation to allow sunlight into the exhibition at precise moments. How the viewer moves and how they wait become part of a dynamic interplay between objects, astronomical conditions, and bodily experience. The exhibition space itself is treated as a “container” that brings sun and moon indoors, enabling participants to perceive celestial motion inside the room. Traditional art often centers on objects, but in Orbit Hsieh positions the space between architectural structures as the main subject, with the physical works serving as carriers of light and shadow, intertwining the paths of the viewer’s movement with the trajectories of light to create an immersive, participatory experience.