The Sea of Invisibility · The City of Proliferation—2025 Tainan New Art Award

Tainan is a city that continuously expands: due to natural sediment accumulation, the Taijiang Inner Sea of the 17th century has gradually disappeared. The lagoon formations once depicted in old Dutch maps have long vanished along with environmental shifts. In 1655, when Fort Provintia (now Chihkan Tower) was completed by the Dutch East India Company, the coastline of the Taijiang Inner Sea still lay west of the fortress. However, by the late 18th century, the coastline had receded far from the Chihkan Tower district. The five old waterways—Xingangqian Port, Fotou Port, Nanshi Port, Nanhe Port, and Anhai Port—known collectively as the “Five Channels” (Wu Tiao Gang), continued to serve as Tainan’s primary external trade routes. The maritime traffic of these channels converged at Tainan’s old canal, providing passage for merchant ships to the sea.

In the 1860s, with the opening of Anping Port, Tainan’s trade port once again shifted outward. Despite the establishment of foreign trading firms and customs facilities in Anping, the problem of port siltation persisted. From the Japanese colonial period onward, southern Taiwan’s port hub gradually relocated to today’s Kaohsiung Port. By reviewing Tainan’s geographical history, we can see that its unpredictable coastline has been in constant transformation—signifying that Tainan is a city expanding ever toward the sea. Looking north from Yanshui Creek, from Sicao and Annan to Qigu Lagoon and Beimen, lagoon formations still exist, and the boundary between land and sea remains fluid and ambiguous.

In fact, Taiwan’s entire west coast shares a similar geographical phenomenon, causing the coastline to expand seaward year by year. However, as Taiwan’s first modern city in a historical sense, Tainan’s urban development and historical records allow us to study its coastline changes in greater detail and their relationship with urban expansion. Walking through the narrow alleys of Tainan’s old town, one might unknowingly be treading on what was once an open sea or shallow waters. Given that the positions of the ocean, lagoons, and waterways have shifted throughout history, we might even ask: which era’s waters once covered today’s city streets?

Over time, many cities grow and expand. But Tainan’s unique natural history makes it appear to be continuously “proliferating,” organically replacing its former lagoons in the process. While Tainan may not be as renowned as Tenochtitlán (now Mexico City), the city built on a lake, or Venice, the famous lagoon city, the richness of life that has accumulated in Tainan over centuries is no less significant than that of any historic city closely tied to water. This year’s Tainan New Art Award aims to capture Tainan’s organic and proliferative characteristics as the central curatorial theme, while also responding to Tainan’s dynamism and aquatic cultural history through the invited artworks.

The 2025 Tainan New Art Award follows its established tradition of including both an open-call competition and an international invitation section. This year, 390 artists submitted their works, from which 10 winners or groups were selected. Among them, three artists will also participate in Art Tainan, Tainan’s art fair. The selection process this year deliberately included a younger generation of art professionals as judges, including museum staff from southern Taiwan, gallery workers from Tainan (who were not participating in this edition), as well as artists and curators. The aim was to select emerging artists who balance unique artistic perspectives, market awareness, and a distinct southern Taiwanese viewpoint.

From the results, the winning artists demonstrated a keen sensitivity to materials, reflections on the external environment, a passion for exploring the possibilities of painting, and an engagement with playfulness through irony and humor.

Winning Artists and Their Works

• Ding Guan-Yun used fiber materials to create toy-like building blocks and containers, transforming materiality to achieve unique visual effects.
• Lai Ko-Wei adopted a similar approach, producing ceramic vessels resembling plastic bottles through kiln firing, challenging the meaning of both ceramic and plastic materials.
• Chen Chao-Tong, known for large-scale sculptural installations, created Depth Calculation of a Crevice, which examines the flow and pathways of water, casting sculptures that reflect these movements. He skillfully employs “negative space” to materialize hidden voids into tangible forms.
• Chang Yun-Chia and Wu De-Xin took on the challenge of painting, a traditional medium, yet infused it with material exploration. Chang’s plein air paintings depict overgrown plants engulfing old buildings, highlighting changes in urban space over time. Wu’s layered paintings, visible only in person, create an immersive starry-sky effect.
• Li Ying-Jen combined painting with ceramics, crafting openwork ceramic landscapes that change under different lighting conditions.
• Weng Chen-Ling, with a background in ink painting, transitioned to etching and printmaking, using absurd and grotesque imagery to depict alienation in modern society and family life.
• Chiu Chi created interactive installations, requiring viewer participation to complete the work—such as Self-Service Barbershop, which humorously demands awkward poses to operate a coin-operated “haircut” machine.
• Chang Chun-Tzu focused on sound-based installations to explore Tainan’s environment.
• Lan Yu-Tang observed Tainan’s urban spaces, relocating a vintage window from his home to Tainan Park to question the concept of framing and landscape history.

Invited Artists and Their Works

This year’s invited section emphasized interactivity, encouraging audience participation. Given Tainan’s renowned culinary culture, food became a key curatorial strategy:

• Luo Yu-Qi, a self-proclaimed “food artist,” creates edible food sculptures.
• Li Pei-Yu plans to develop ceramic tableware inspired by childhood market experiences and India’s disposable clay plates.
• Hoo Fan Chon (Malaysia) will research the local mudskipper (Hua Tiao) culture in Tainan, including the disappearing dish Hua Tiao Soup, integrating his past research from Malaysia and Japan into workshops.
• Li Kui-Pi explores Taiwan’s banana industry, its colonial agricultural roots, and its economic ties.

The passage of time and its spatial implications were another curatorial focus:

• Tsai Tsung-Hsun will examine the attic space of San Gallery, exploring the “gaps” of the historic building.
• Suzuki Takahiko will continue his Global Store Project, displaying miniature paper models of small shops from Tainan and Mongolia, allowing visitors to locate the real stores through exhibition clues.
• Lin Yi-Chun, known for sensory experiences, will create an installation that engages body temperature and spatial awareness.

International artists were invited to explore themes related to aquatic cultures:

• Hoo Fan Chon will investigate Tainan’s mudskipper tradition.
• Almagul Menlibayeva (Kazakhstan) will present fashion-forward works on the shrinking Caspian Sea.
• Lim Sokchanlina (Cambodia) will exhibit new works exploring Cambodia’s water culture, resonating with the exhibition’s theme.

Conclusion

The Tainan New Art Award has always maintained a unique strategy in Taiwan. While museums continue to be established nationwide, this award integrates the concept of a “neighborhood museum,” bridging young artists with commercial spaces—an approach rarely seen in other cities. As the award enters its 13th edition, it remains a platform connecting local and international artists. We look forward to both the fresh perspectives of emerging and international artists, as well as inviting all visitors to embark on an art walk through Tainan’s vibrant spring season.

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