Between Earth and Sky
written by Manray Hsu, the curator of “Between Earth and Sky: Indigenous Contemporary Art From Taiwan” in APT 10.
Between the sky and earth, there exists all sorts of things, everything, and an ever-growing power. The indigenous myths and legends are embedded within the relationship between humanity and everything in the universe, as well as the ecological wisdom to coexist with other species. In our ceremonies, social systems, and ever-changing art forms, indigenous people maintain the principles to co-exist with everything in the world in harmony.
At the same time, various infrastructures that were formed by way of modern technological thinking and capitalism have brought all of humanity and all the other species into the realm of global urbanism The belief that humanity can eventually conquer the world has replaced the original ecological wisdom and has been the cause of the current catastrophic global warming.
The colonial process over the last few centuries not only has cut off the link between indigenous people and the land but also undermined the living styles and practices that had been built over thousands of years.
In this exhibition “From Earth to the Cosmos and Back”, the artists attempt to re-examine the complex propositions of our historical situation and ethnical renaissance from the perspectives of traditional myths, cosmology, and time at a more complex level. We aim to contemplate the potential future of humanity, land, and other species.
About Manray Hsu
Manray Hsu is an independent curator and art critic based in Taipei. He is the co-founder and director (2010–2012) of Taipei Contemporary Art Center and teaches in art academies in Taiwan and abroad.
Among many exhibitions, Manray has curated 2000 Taipei Biennial (with Jerome Sans); “How Big Is the World?” (O.K Center for Contemporary Art, Linz); Wayward Economy (2004, Main Trend Gallery, Taipei); “Wrong(ed) Attitudes: Tsui Kuangyu and Su Huiyu” (2006, Sparwasser HQ, Berlin): Naked Life (2006, MOCA Taipei); Liverpool Biennial in 2006 (with Gerardo Mosquera); “Future Relics” (2007, co-organized with Hu Fang, Documenta 12 Magazine); 2008 Taipei Biennial (with Vasif Kortun); Biennale Cuvee in 2009 (the OK Center for Contemporary Art, Linz); Forum Biennial of Taiwanese Contemporary Art in 2010 (Taipei Contemporary Art Centre); “The South: an Art of Asking and Listening” (2017, Kaohsiung Museum of Fine Arts); “Autostrada Biennale: The Future of Borders” (2017, Prizren, Kosovo); “Herbal Urbanism: An artistic project on cosmopolitics” (2018, Hong Gah Museum, Taipei); “When Kacalisian culture meets with vertical city: Greater Sandimen Contemporary Art” (Feb. 2019, Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hall, Taipei; May 2019, Taiwan Aboriginal Culture Park, Pingtung), Futurist Wave: Contemporary Art from Greater Sandimen (2020, Pingtung Art Museum)
Manray has served as a juror for Venice Biennale (2001), Istanbul Biennial (2001), etc.
