Arts and Culture

Utopia to Dystopia?: On The Failure of Solidarity Among Taiwanese Artists After the Huashan Tragedy

Brian Hioe
Conservative social reactions to the Huashan murder case have continued, with further attempts to pin blame on the residents of the 120 Grassroots Self-Autonomous Zone artistic community by the media and society. As with before, much outrage has been centered on PTT, which has hardly proven to be a progressive social force in this case, and instead an enforcer of a highly conservative social morality. On the other hand, we might note that members of Taiwan’s artistic community have in many cases proven little better, with greater emphasis on pointing fingers, and apportioning blame than rallying together in solidarity... Read More
ArtArts and CultureEnglishJuly 20181 Comment 026 min read

烏托邦成了敵托邦？：論華山悲劇後，一盤散沙的台灣藝術家

Brian Hioe
華山殺人事件至今，社會上保守勢力的反應仍在繼續發酵，媒體及社會試圖將責任推到整個草原居民身上。正如過往歷史，許多憤怒來自於 PTT。在這次事件中，PTT 顯然不是進步的社會力量，反而成了極度保守的社會道德的打手。另一方面，台灣藝術界的成員大多仍呈一盤散沙，互相怪罪、推卸責任。許多人的反應也顯示出台灣藝術界已內化台灣社會的保守態度，當然了，藝術界本身即為台灣的一部分。... Read More
ArtArts and CultureJuly 2018中文1 Comment 05 min read

Of Course The Gay Has To Die: Why The Liberal White Audience Doesn’t Get The Wound

Flair Donglai Shi
The much-anticipated South African film of the year, The Wound, was officially released on the 27th of April, 2018, in the UK. The film was much anticipated because it is indeed one of the very few films that deal with aspects of homoeroticism and homosexuality in traditional African communities. But what to make of the film and reactions to it among white, liberal audiences?... Read More
Arts and CultureEnglishFilm and TelevisionMay 20180 Comments 021 min read

Review: Motherland

Brian Hioe
"Motherland" directed by Ramona S. Diaz, would be an examination of the lives of pregnant women at Dr. Jose Fabella Memorial Hospital, the so-called “baby factory” of the Philippines. In this sense, the film is a look at the overpopulation crisis of the Philippines at the very human level of the conditions faced by the pregnant women living in conditions of poverty who give birth at the Fabella Memorial Hospital... Read More
Arts and CultureEnglishFilm and TelevisionOctober 20170 Comments 05 min read

Review: Path Of Destiny (不得不上路)

Brian Hioe
Yang Chun-Kai's “Path of Destiny” would be a deft evocation of the challenges facing preservation of indigenous tradition in Taiwan. Namely, even in those rare cases in which young people actively aim to participate in traditions which may soon be lost, the trend may be irreversible. And given inescapable social tensions between modernity and tradition, adherence to tradition demands great personal sacrifice.... Read More
Arts and CultureEnglishFilm and TelevisionSeptember 20170 Comments 05 min read