Out of Taiwan and Towards the Asia-Pacific
written by Tseng Chih-Yung, Director General of the Indigenous Peoples Cultural Development Center the Council of Indigenous Peoples
“The Out of Taiwan” theory proposed in 1980 by the renowned Australian archaeologist Dr. Peter Bellwood demonstrated the complicated expansion process of the Austronesian peoples. Yet Taiwan remains the region with the richest and most ancient information for Austronesian language-speaking groups to trace back. In his research “Taiwan’s Gift to The World,” published in the British Science Journal, Nature in 2000, the American biologist Professor, Jared Diamond elaborated on the importance and uniqueness of the languages and cultures of indigenous peoples in Taiwan, stating that Taiwan indigenous peoples are important cultural assets for mankind worldwide. Moreover, in recent years, several Pacific Island countries have been referring to Taiwan as their “mother island, celebrating the importance of Taiwanese indigenous peoples in the Austronesian region. Taiwanese indigenous peoples play a unique and irreplaceable role in the world’s cultural and historical development.
Located in the Asian Pacific Ocean, the islands of Taiwan are inhabited by various ethnic groups, including more than 570,000 indigenous people, accounting for about 2.3% of the total population
According to anthropological classification, the Taiwanese indigenous peoples belong to the Austronesian language family and are probably closely related to the Austronesian peoples in the Philippines, Malaysia, Indonesia, and Oceania. The Austronesian peoples are the most widely distributed ethnic groups in the world, ranging from the island of Madagascar in southwestern Africa, crossing the Indian Ocean all the way to Easter Island in the Pacific Ocean, and from Taiwan in the north to New Zealand in south Taiwan is at the northernmost point of the distribution of Austronesian peoples
At present. 16 indigenous peoples are officially recognized by the Taiwanese government, namely Amis, Atayal, Paiwan, Bunun, Puyumia, Rukal, Isou, Salsiyat Nam, Theo Kavilan Tarako, Sakizaya, Seedia, Hla’alua, and Kanakanavu. Each has its culture, language, crafts, and customs, which form the significant historical and cultural foundation of the Taiwanese indigenous people's Contemporary indigenous peoples, respectively, have fully expressed their cultural and artistic characteristics. By developing the cultural and artistic styles of their rich and diverse traditions towards sustainability, they also attempt to demonstrate their self-worth and cultural subjectivity
Since the Indigenous Peoples Cultural Development Center (IPCDC) took over the “Taiwanese Indigenous Art Residency” program, the Council of Indigenous Peoples, in 2012, the program has been adhering to its essential core goal of promoting the development of indigenous arts. A gradual expansion was realized with the creation of the Taiwan Indigenous Culture Park at Greater Sandimen as the core hub to connect all indigenous artists and art institutions around Taiwan, thereby building a hub for exhibitions and indigenous art research in Taiwan Furthermore, in 2012, the IPCDC started a Taiwan-French artist-in-residence exchange program with France for five consecutive years. This was followed by a collaboration with the Northern Territory Government of Australia in 2018 for a “Taiwan Australia Indigenous Artist in Residence program, a significant threshold in enhancing the connection between Taiwanese indigenous art and the Asia-Pacific art scene.
Due to the current impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the global cultural and art world, the issue of “The Future is Indigenous” is a heated-debate topic and investigation in curation circles. The “historical perspective of Taiwanese indigenous art long promoted and developed by the IPCDC emphasizes inheriting and loosening the existing discursive framework, as well as breaking the boundary between the center and the periphery.
Indeed, a paradigm shift is taking place New connections due to these international contemporary art exchanges with Taiwan have allowed more and more Taiwanese indigenous artists to participate in large-scale international exhibitions. This not only proves that Taiwanese indigenous artists have entered the world of international cultural exchange but also shows that diplomatically “indigenous contemporary art is emerging as a strong and advantageous soft power for Taiwan.
Australia and Taiwan are both breeding grounds for rich Indigenous cultures. Due to the diversity of their indigenous artistic expressions, indigenous groups of both sides find commonality and strengthen mutual connections. Indigenous art is not only an expression in the field of art but also the most essential social and human contact process. The 10th Asia Pacific Triennial of Contemporary Art (APT), jointly were promoted by the Taiwanese CIP and Ministry of Culture. Curated and realized by the IPCDC, the exhibition marks the first time that Taiwanese indigenous art to be shown at the Queensland Art Gallery & Gallery of Modern Art (QAGOMA) From the starting point and perspective of joint curators and through the indigenous artworks of different generations and ethnic groups, this exhibition presents to the international art scene the aspects of Taiwan, the mother island of the Austronesian peoples.
