Tehching Hsieh to Represent Taiwan at 2017 Venice Biennale
By HG Masters
TEHCHING HSIEH,
Hsieh remarked that the Taiwan Pavilion will be, “a rare opportunity to show previously unseen early works that I made in Taiwan, and to develop new understandings of my One Year Performances in New York.” His works before the New York period are less well-known than the One Year Performances, which were given prominence and press in 2009 when the Museum of Modern Art in New York presented Cage Piece and the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum presented Time Clock Piece (1980–81).
Following his appointment as curator, Heathfield remarked: “The historic halls of the Palazzo delle Prigioni Venice, the former prison of the Palazzo Ducale, are an ideal setting for the work of an artist who understands more than most, the meaning and cost of ‘doing time’, and the nature of lives lived at the edges of what we call society.” Located near Piazza San Marco, the Taiwan Pavilion is considered a “collateral pavilion,” rather than a “national pavilion” at the Venice Biennale because China does not recognize the independent sovereignty of Taiwan.
HG Masters is editor at large of ArtAsiaPacific.
