Foreigners in Beitou – Performance at Hong-Gah Museum

IMCCI Ｘ 許生翰 Sean Hsu
那些在北投的外國人們，Foreigners in Beitou
Beitou Local Postures Collecting Project

Date: 21st March 2020 (SAT)
Time: 17:00
Venue: Hong-gah Museum (11F, No.166, Da-ye Rd., Beitou Disc., Taipei)

The International Master of the Arts Program in Cultural and Creative Industries at the Taipei National University of the Arts comprises international students from around the world. Immersed in an environment of different languages and cultures, students attempted to learn about Beitou via their observation and understanding. Supported by Ministry of Education’s USR (University Social Responsibility) project of TNUA, IMCCI hosts a series of field researches for students. With the assistance of a choreographer, they combined their own cultures with contents full of Taiwanese features and present it in the form of performance art.

To the present day, the history of Taiwan is engraved with diverse marks, entangled with the stories of various peoples. A group of foreigners, entering or perhaps soon becoming residents of Beitou, now bring their cultural backgrounds from different nations, and use their bodies to sculpt their impressions of Beitou. Drawing from histories, the quotidian, poetry, and landscapes, their process of explicating Beitou morphs into a discussion of various critical issues in their contemporary global contexts. Their work remakes the concept of ‘diversity’ using bodies of difference, and in so doing, aims to rediscover what we all have in common.