At the awarding ceremony of the Taoyuan International Art Award, the jury has announced TING Chaong Wen (Taiwan) to be the grand prize winner of the award, while Sara WU (Taiwan), Ana MENDES (Portugal), and Lewis COLBURN (U.S.A) receive Honorable Mentions respectively. The award is organised by Taoyuan Museum of Fine Arts focusing on the promotion of artistic creations worldwide and with the goal of building up an exchange platform for the participating artists.

With the work, Going home, TING stood out from 17 finalists to receive the grand prize. The work is inspired by the story of CHEN Hua Zong, late councilor of Taiwan Provincial Consultative Council, through it, the artist shows the intertwined network of facts and fiction behind a historical site and to discuss how the ideology of the country's rulers can be spread or enhanced by symbols in space. Ana MENDES’ creation is often described as poetic and minimalist, in her award winner work of Taoyuan International Art Award, The People’s Collection (Taiwan), visitors are invited to explore questions about post-colonialism, memory and identity. In Sara WU’s work, Lived Absence of Objects, she tries to explore the hidden information in objects and its relations with the surroundings, to further reflect on the state of life coexisting with the epidemic. Lewis COLBURN also won Honorable Mention with the work, Disposable Monument II (After the Boys Who Wore Gray). With the fragmented statue, he interrogates the conditions of the present, and examines how the artifacts reinforce and shape narratives that persist today.

Chairperson of the finals jury, CHEN Yung Hsien mentioned, ‟ Many of the entries in this competition focused on videos, installations, and concepts, and have developed an international narrative from local viewpoints; the selected artists have shown a sensitivity in their observation toward the culture trend and an incisiveness with the usage of materials chosen, which has strongly impressed the jury.”

The medallist is entitled to a prize of NTD$500,000, Honorable Mention artists will receive a prize of NTD$ 120,000 each. Besides the above winners, Taiwanese artist, CHUANG Li Hao, is selected as Sojourn Award winner, entitled of a subsidy of NTD$150,000 for a tour abroad for field research to nurture his upcoming creation.

The finals jury members include CHEN Yung Hsien (Professor of National Taiwan University of Arts, Department of Multimedia and Animation Arts), LIU Chun Lan (Director of Taoyuan Museum of Fine Arts), ROAN Ching Yueh (Professor of Department of Art and Design, Yuan Ze University), YU Wei (Curator of Taiwan Contemporary Culture Lab), Joan POMERO (Assistant Professor of
Graduate Institute of Plastic Art, Tainan National University of the Arts), LAI Yi Hsin (Director of Chiayi Art Museum) and Robin PECKHAM (Co-Director of Taipei Dangdai). With these art professionals from museums, art institutions, and international art fair, it also provides a unique touchpoint and perspective toward the works and future development of the award.


A new art award to strengthen international exchange from Taiwan to the world
The launch of Taoyuan International Art Award marked a great leap from its predecessor, Taoyuan Contemporary Art Award, set up in 2001. With the goal of creating new dialogue with the international art scene, the award has undergone a serious of transformation from application regulations, form of showcase, working timeframe, to review and reward methods. These changes allow the organizer and the participating artists to have ample time to prepare for the exhibition, and to integrate resources and raise the prizes to make both the competition and the content of exhibition more attractive.

With the entry to the competition not limited to nationality, material, and category, and the participation of international jury members, the award also creates a chance for the international art professionals to see the potential of Taiwanese art creators. “Through the new Taoyuan International Art Award, we look forward to showing the audience the diversity and receptiveness of contemporary art creations. The works and the exhibition intend to enable the reflection on different social issues, the essence of art practices, the trend of our time, and to showcase the energy of Taiwanese art scene.” says the director of Taoyuan Museum of Fine Arts, LIU Chun Lan.


An artistic exchange among artists, professionals, and art lovers
COVID-19 has caused tremendous changes on all industries, including that of art and culture events. Yet beyond the many constrains posed by the pandemic, artists around the world still find their own way to interact with the new world and continue to bring together fruitful projects. This is also the case of the Taoyuan International Art Award participants; the exhibition setup was completed by the artists onsite in the Taoyuan Arts Center or through video liaison with the museum. With the physical distance caused by the global travel ban, it challenges the creator's perseverance and sensitivity to the space, also the museum’s professionalism of curation and exhibition planning. With great effort, the exhibition has successfully opened to public from 13 March 2021, and will run to 18 April. The planning allows different types of artworks to resonate with each other in one hall, and to further interact with the audience of Taiwan.

A series of online and offline programs will be opened to art lovers around the world, including the Audience Choice Award, art talks with interactive Q&A sections, and exclusive onsite tours will be put in place, all details please refer to the Facebook page of Taoyuan Museums of Fine Arts.

Taoyuan museum of Fine Arts bears the mission of becoming a new dialogue creator in the international art scene, with the success of receiving more than 600 applications from over 46 countries for the first edition of the Taoyuan International Art Award, and the solid foundation gained from running the Taoyuan Contemporary Art Award in the past, the new museum looks forward to creating a new and unique art hub in Asia Pacific region with its future projects to come.


Exhibition information:
2021 Taoyuan International Art Award
Time: 13 March 2021 – 18 April 2021, 9:00-17:00 (Close on Mondays and National Holidays).
Location: Taoyuan Arts Center (No. 1188, Zhongzheng Rd, Taoyuan District, Taoyuan City, Taiwan 330)
Website: http://tmofa-tiaa.com/