The curatorial axis of Memories with(in) Boundary strings together three aspects regarding the region of Chengpei (Taipei’s northern region) – “material,” “labor” and “migration” – to delineate the interlaced relations produced by the people-environment interaction.
This region, once benefited from the shipping industry of Tamsui River and the Taipei-Tamsui railway, overlaps with the inhabitation landscape of Taiwanese and Japanese since the period of Japanese rule, the clusters of maintenance industries and mechanical components shops, and modern creative industries. Today, people can still find distinctively fluid characteristics in the region. After the war, temporary communities, old markets, wedding industry along Zhongshan Road and the cityscape of Southeast Asian ethnicities have undergone vicissitudes driven by different forces, and the historical traces they have created are worthy of further examination in terms of the various practices and policies carried out today.
The curatorial concept of Memories with(in) Boundary is based on the idea that people’s ever-going journey and continuous memories can envelop existing restrictions of roads and regions. The concept is inspired by several writers and scholars. Wang Wan-Jiuan’s writing, informed by her sensibility, delineates the memorable dynamic of Chengpei. Yin Pao-Ning’s research about Chifeng Street reminds us that we need to adopt a diachronic perspective to evaluate the development of street blocks in this era of rapidly changing cityscape. Historian Pierre Nora, on the other hand, directs our attention to the question: what stories are still told, forgotten, or have become imagery and symbolism in the interweaving process of history and memory?
Art is one of the mediums for social practice. It not only carries functions of cultural translation and conveying aesthetics; it can also evoke people’s imagination and reflection of reading street blocks. Amidst the continuous changes and interweaving of the new and the old, the exhibition reflects on the origin of the current prosperity of Chengpei, and more importantly, encourages the “absentees” that can substantiate memories to express their silence while assisting citizens to feel the “blankness” of certain things and memories, along with the cause of such “blankness.”
What are the factors that affect people’s perception and thinking when discussing the landscape and memory of “Chengpei”? Through artistic creation, the exhibition aims to point out the importance of citizens’ autonomous choices, life stories and imagination of street blocks. Meanwhile, it is hoped that the stories of Chengpei, which have gradually silted up in time, could continue to flow and carry the sand of time to preserve and reinterpret the nourishment of the past and present.