Museum of Contemporary Art, Taipei

The COVID-19 pandemic that hit Taiwan in 2021 brought collective panic to the society and impacted economic activities in daily life in Taipei’s Chengbei area. During those days, the media coverage reported suspected positive cases based on hearsay, social media overflowed with speculation of transmission route, and rumors of the city’s lockdown led to panic-buying and hoarding of commodities. The business district lost its popularity to this frenzied situation, forming a sharp contrast with the streets that used to be crowded and noisy. With the implementation of prevention measures, social distancing has repositioned the relationship between people. The Zero-contact economy has spurred the development of technological application demand and service innovation. The post-pandemic era has forced us to face drastic changes in the lifestyle that we were accustomed to, constantly stimulating evolution in business operations. The pandemic’s new norm has become a model for us to learn to live symbiotically.

The curatorial theme of “Epidemic Distance” aims to present artists’ observation of the impact of the pandemic on the daily life of Chengbei, reflecting the adjustment and transformation of neighborhood business, community ecology, and personal physical and mental status under the effects of preventive distancing. Artists conducted field research in Zhongshan and Shuanglian and interviewed various businesses — including Nanxi Commercial district, lodging operators, niche shops on Chifeng Street, and Shuanglian Market — to understand their hardships and struggles. They also listened to the chiefs of sub-districts sharing their toils at the local level, who had put aside their scruples of the risk of getting infected to soothe anxious people and devote to public affairs, including supporting the minorities, distributing epidemic prevention materials, and preparing name list for vaccine injection. During the pandemic, the interference of man-made factors has been reduced, offering the ecology of the community’s open space a chance to breathe and repair. Hence, the clear water and swimming fish once again visited the stone masonry ditch of Miyamaecho. In addition, the pandemic also unexpectedly slowed down the pace of urban lifestyle, allowing us to compose ourselves to examine the management of close relationships and come again to think about the essence of life.

This exhibition invites artists to record the survival resilience of the neighborhood in response to the epidemic crisis, including WANG Wen-Shin, CHIANG Chi-Yang, Lee Chengtao, mamaisun(LIU Shang-Hsuan/SUN Yu-Nin), CHENG Wan-Chien, and CHUNG Ping-Hung. With sound, light and shadow, videos, installations, architectural landscapes, texts, and images, artists hope to deliver a stable power in the crack of uncertainty.

│ Museum-School Cooperation Project │
MoCA and Jian Cheng Junior High School have launched the Museum-School Cooperation Project since 2007. The project centers on performing art for the second half of 2020 and the first half of 2021. Puppet artist Hsueh Mei Hua and dance artist Willie Lin are invited to cooperate with two teachers from the junior high school, Chang Chiao Ming and Zhang Zhuo Li, to lead the ninth-grade students to explore today's influencer phenomenon and feel the emotional energy released by the body through puppet shows and swing dance.