Department of Cultural Affairs

By Yali Chen
Staff Writer

Treasure Hill used to be a military dependents' community located in the bustling Gongguan District of Taipei City. The city government designated the community as a historical site in 2004. Two years later, it gained international attention because the New York Times named it one of the must-see destinations in Taiwan.

Now transformed into the Treasure Hill Artist Village (THAV), the community not only functions as an artist village, but is also home to 22 families, who moved back to Treasure Hill after the renovation work in 2010.

The uniqueness of the space makes itself an ideal location for celebrating the Chinese Lantern Festival with an atmosphere of both nostalgia and modernity.

In celebration of this year's Lantern Festival, which falls on Valentine's Day, the village is holding a series of exhibitions between February 15 and March 16 by inviting a group of contemporary artists from Taiwan and overseas. These artists such as Hung Su-chen, the TransArt NCTU (National Chiao Tung University) team, Huang Lan-ya, Huang Pei-ying, Jen Ta-hsien, Chen Yung-kang, Chuang Chih-wei, Lin Ren-zhong, and Mexican architect Ivan Juarez will showcase their works ranging from visual arts to performing arts, design and architecture.

Opening night on February 15 a crossover performance will be given by theater director Vera Chen, dancer Chen Yung-chen, violinist Johnny Chuang, and Valentin Lechat – a French juggler who lives in Taiwan. Residents in the Treasure Hill community in Taipei can join the performers to have fun during the one-hour show combining music, theater, juggling, and dance.

After the opening ceremony, Improv Everywhere – a New York City-based prank collective that causes scenes of chaos and joy in public places – will invite Taipei residents to take part in the "Mp3 Experiment" as part of the 2014 THAV Lantern Festival. The event will begin at exactly 8:00pm.

Created in August 2001 by Charlie Todd, Improv Everywhere has executed over 100 missions involving tens of thousands of undercover agents. On January 12, 2014 tens of thousands of people participated in the 13th No Pants Subway Ride by taking off their pants on subways in over 60 cities in over 25 countries around the world.

San Francisco-based artist Hung Su-chen grew up in Kaohsiung City, Taiwan and has lived in San Francisco since 1977. She graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Sociology from Tunghai University in Taiwan, and later earned both a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Photography and a Master of Fine Arts in Filmmaking at the San Francisco Art Institute.

During the one-month lantern festival in Taipei, Hung has used a wide variety of media including bamboo, zinc plates and iron wire to create her spiral artwork – like a big lantern with red lights in which visitors can walk.

A group of professors and students from the graduate schools of applied arts, music and architecture at the National Chiao Tung University in Hsinchu, Taiwan established the TransArt NCTU team in 2007. The interdisciplinary team's works always span the realms of technology, humanities and art.

Echoing German philosopher Hans-Georg Gadamer's theory of art games, the team has incorporated a festive and jolly atmosphere into their installation artwork combining optical fiber with plastic. Visitors can wear masks to play games with the team during the lantern festival.

Born in Chiayi in southern Taiwan, Huang Lan-ya earned a Bachelor of Fine Arts at the National Institute of the Arts in 1990 and a Master of Fine Arts at the Taipei National University of the Arts in 2002. Over the past few years, she has been invited to participate in artists-in-residence programs for museums in the U.S., Belgium, South Korea, and Japan.

Huang is a professional artist who uses a hot glue gun as her brush and hot glue as her paint. In recent years, her creations have mainly focused on the concept of fractals. Bits and pieces of geometric shapes evolve into the entire form of life, events or objects. Abstract emotions within are sculpted through hot glue to create a dreamlike world.

Born in Taipei in 1976, Huang Pei-ying graduated with a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree from Tunghai University in 1999 and earned a Master of Fine Arts at the Taipei National University of the Arts in 2002.

Especially adept at creating atmospheric installations, the young artist likes to try new techniques from games and experiments. During this year's festival, she decided to experiment with red foam accessible in daily life to create ball-like objects floating in the air.

Jen Ta-hsien and Chen Yung-kang have used steel wire, iron pipes, acrylic paints, and LED lights to create a piece of installation artwork in a bid to unveil the history and special landscapes of the Treasure Hill on the conventional festive occasion.

Born in Kaohsiung in 1977, Jen earned a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Sculpture at the National Taiwan University of the Arts in 2004 and a Master of Plastic Arts at Tainan National University of the Arts in 2010. His creations focus on sculpture exploring the relationship between human and space.

Chen graduated from Tunghai University in 2006 and has specialized in metal and wood sculpture. Since 2012 he has participated in a series of public arts projects.

Chuang Chih-wei, born in Taichung in 1986, earned a Master of Architecture at the National Chiao Tung University and a Master of Fine Arts in New Media at Taipei National University of the Arts. He receives inspiration from life experiences to create his light and space installations.

In a move to interact with local residents and visitors, Chuang set up dozens of motorcycle rear-view mirrors around the Alfresco Garden of the Treasure Hill community. Participants can adjust the angle of mirrors to send out visible green laser beams.

Taiwanese choreographer-producer Lin Ren-zhong, 30, has used a wide variety of mixed media to give a performance titled "Seasonal Depression: Blue Sunbath" at 3:00 pm February 16 on the Cross Plaza of the Treasure Hill Artist Village. Set in blue sky and sandy beaches, this performance conveys people trying to escape from the February rain and wet weather in Taipei.

Mexican architect Ivan Juarez studied landscape architecture at the Polytechnic University of Catalonia, Barcelona, Spain. He founded X-Studio as a space for young architects oriented towards reflection, promotion, research and action in different fields of contemporary expressions.

Trained in Barcelona and Mexico, Juarez always explores the relationship between art and function, integrating the disciplines of architecture, design, sculpture and installation. The award-winning architect has developed a wide variety of projects in different countries in which he investigates and experiments with new ways of relating space with society.

During the one-month event in Taipei, Juarez has employed a wide range of mixed media such as hand-made paper, bamboo and bamboo hats for rice farmers to create his installation artworks on the Heart Chamber Plaza and Cross Plaza of the Treasure Hill Artist Village. Such works attempt to explore the relationship among human, space and landscape.

"Thav Lantern Festival"
Telephone: 02-2364-5313 ext. 135
Address: No.2, Aly. 14, Ln. 230, Sec. 3, Tingzhou Rd., Zhongzheng Dist., Taipei City
Dates: Feb. 15 – March 16 (closed Monday)