Living Togetherness – 2023 Taiwan International Video Art Exhibition

Since its inception in 2008, Taiwan International Video Art Exhibition (TIVA) has been committed to exploring the versatility of video art in conjunction with various mediums. This endeavor not only reflects the overall climate in society but also addresses pressing issues and trends that shape our path towards the future. For this edition, TIVA has invited independent curator HSU Shih-Yu and Director of Hong-Gah Museum Zoe Chia-Jung YEH to curate the exhibition. Under the theme “Living Togetherness,” the artworks featured in the exhibition center around the concept of “care” as they engage in a profound dialogue about how humans and non-humans take care of each other in varied circumstances and settings—here and now. Through an inquiry into cultural and ecological legacies from a non-anthropocentric standpoint, the audience is prompted to reexamine the significance of “togetherness.”

In “Living Togetherness,” the notion of “care” is discussed through three aspects: Firstly, the artworks delve into the intricate intersections among living beings, substances, environments, and cultures. By embracing an extensive time frame that transcends human life expectancy, they seek to acknowledge ecological and cultural narratives that extend beyond the anthropocentric perspective. Secondly, amidst rapid technological advancements, the definition of life has grown increasingly complex and nuanced. The artworks delicately explore the distinctions and boundaries between “survival” and the state of “being alive,” researching various manifestations of “living” while fostering an understanding and appreciation for the unfamiliarity of each other’s situations and perceptions. Furthermore, certain artworks within the exhibition revolve around the preservation of artifacts and the legacy of cultural memories. They look closely into numerous daily caretaking activities and employ listening and reflection on the subject matter as a starting point. Through this approach, the exhibition is envisioned to become a habitat where diverse perceptions, mediums, materials, and bodies reside together.

As with previous TIVAs, the team invites artists to produce commissioned works; concurrently, the open call received an overwhelming response, with nearly 500 submissions from 55 different countries. The artworks of the finalists which hail from diverse cultural backgrounds confront various circumstances of life and materials, making the fluidity and continuation of images a medium of care. The judging panel for the final selection of the 2023 TIVA Exhibition includes Ruby I-Hsuan HSIEH, film critic, and Women Make Waves International Film Festival programmer; Wan-Yin CHEN, playwright, and contemporary art researcher; Oyindamola Fakeye, Artistic Director of the Centre for Contemporary Art, Lagos, Nigeria, and founder of the Video Art Network Lagos; and Camila Marambio, scholar and curator who curated the Chilean pavilion at the 59th Venice Art Biennale. Their individual contributions enrich this thought-provoking discussion as they offer their insights on the quality of video art works, their relevance to the theme, and how artists infuse their cultural backgrounds into their artistic expressions. Camila Marambio aptly concludes, “So many new aesthetic strategies are emerging out of the need to creatively deal with the complexity of the current environmental consciousness!”