▍Exhibition Concept
 

We conducted the 8 months research onTaiwanese indigenous culture by ACC (Asian Cultural Council) fellowship in2019-2020. This time, we stay in Kaohsiung to conduct research on the Makataoand Saaroa tribes. The Saaroa people, who live in the mountainous area, holdthe Miatungus (sacred shell festival).

In the past, the plains of Kaohsiung Citywere the sea, and the Neiyu Xiaoxi Shell Mound was located on Gushan Mountain.Kaohsiung was originally inhabited by the Makatao people, and the name"Kaohsiung" comes from the Makatao word "takau," meaningbamboo forest. The Makatao built a bamboo bridge across the site of a publicsacrifice place (shrine) that had been relocated due to repeated flooding, andthey worshiped a fairy egg.

We visited the Kaohsiung City Museum ofHistory to see the Kaohsiung lion dance and the Himi lion dance that wasdamaged in the 2024 Noto earthquake.

We think of the ship as a metaphor for anisland separated from the continent. We collected shells in Kaohsiung and wereinspired by this research to create a shell boat. It is a boat that evokes theancient memory of Kaohsiung's sea, overlapping with the image of the damagedNoto Peninsula, the bridge supported by bamboo, and the fairy egg. It becomes ametaphor for the irreplaceability of our islands built on a precarious balanceof disasters and memories of migration and others.

We also made the Takau lion, inspired bythe Kaohsiung's closed-mouth blue lion, and invite members of the PrimitiveSenses Company from Japan to perform an impromptu performance in front of theshell boat.