Masiswagger Zingrur
Paiwan Artist Masiswagger Zingrur was born into the Timur tribe of Sandimen village, Sandimen town in Pingtung county. The father of Masiswagger and his brother Kulele is a Paiwanese glass bead master, Qumas Zingerur. From senior high school to graduate school, he studied fine art. During the development of his creative art, Masiswagger began to focus more on preserving tradition than on his own artworks. For the past twenty years, he has been devoted to studying and re-making traditional Paiwan ancient ceramic pots, and his artworks are primarily pottery, sculpture, painting and installation arts. As a Taiwanese indigenous artist, he has participated in several resident artist projects in Taiwan and abroad. He is a lecturer at Tajen University and National Nei-Pu Agricultural and Industrial Vocational High School.
Masiswagger believes that traditional art has an extremely precious cultural value, but as modern culture classifies the traditional arts as merely craftsmanship, this has caused the impression that traditional art is secondary to contemporary arts. He is very concerned with this interpretation and has developed several criticisms. He is convinced that without immersing oneself in traditional tribal cultural aesthetics and working on cultural preservation, one cannot acquire a profound cultural upbringing or even be engaged in creative and innovative contemporary art creation. To preserve traditional culture, for the past twenty years, Masiswagger has explored ancient ceramic pottery on his own, while collecting historic documents using field study methodology. He has made his own wood-fire kiln to produce ceramics so that the color can be more original. Everything he does is to accomplish true cultural texture and the artistic heights of “Paiwan ancient ceramic pots”. With regards to his own art creation, Masiswagger adopts the installation art form, using existing objects to express his observations on the conflict between traditional and modern and consequently reveals his profound cultural identity and strong conceptual reflections. His paintings are done in a mature technique and showcase dramatic artistic performance, embodying his profound thoughts on civilization.
His artworks in recent years include artworks chosen to be the President’s gift on visiting Pacific allies and friendly countries in 2017; “The Memory of the Wise” exhibition at Taiwan Indigenous Culture Park, 2018; “The Representation and Reality after the dissociation of cultural imprint” at Sandimen Cultural Centre in 2016. Resident artist projects include “Put memory in the pocket: 2018 Greater Sandimen artists in residence” at Taiwan Indigenous Culture Park; resident artist at Kaohsiung Museum of Fine Arts, 2008. Joint exhibitions include “The Root of Culture: Representing Paiwan Glory” at Sandimen Cultural Centre in 2018; “Here You Are: Taiwan Indigenous Peoples Ceramic Exhibition”; “When Extreme Black Meets Colors”, a pottery dialogue at the foot of Taimu mountain”; dual exhibition with Lin Shihuang, Pingtung Art Museum, Asia Network Beyond Design”, international joint exhibition in 2017, and “Serendipity-Taiwan Indigenous Ceramic Exhibition” at Yingge Ceramics Museum.
