【策展人的話 ——為了在此相遇】
在隔離時代探索群體的意義
相遇是一種行動的想像、記憶的方案
和地方相遇，為未來備忘。
一開始，土地沒有名字。經由人的層層經驗和歷史的累積，界定空間，因而有了地名，有了地方。透過經驗，我們獲得空間的意義，以身體為中心，持續建構出自己的「地方」。於是，同一座城市，有無數個個人和集體的「地方」相互重疊交錯，並朝向不同的時空。
這些地方亦是相遇的地方，記憶在此被喚起或更新。如同人類學「接觸地帶」（contact zone）的概念，這是不同文化相遇、交流、衝突、對話、拉鋸的空間，因為相遇、接觸而能產生多元的互動。疫情之下，我們思索城市漫遊的精神、藝術節的移動意義。全球化的隔離時代，人們更渴望重聚與連結，一場仍在持續的瘟疫，揭示過度豪取與監控早已是日常的危機。我們應該放慢速度、學習與萬物共存的智慧，連繫彼此的存在。
透過對於隔離與接觸、相遇與地方的思考，我們探問，藝術節是否能成為異質群體、眾聲喧嘩的相遇地帶，讓記憶與夢想、歷史傳說與社會事件在此交匯，述說各個被分隔的主體如何掙扎和包容、甚至是遺忘和離散的敘事。透過不同的創作和行動計畫，藝術節是否也能成為一種檢索和分享地方記憶的檔案群。
在每日更新的疫情數字和多變局勢之間，我們面對不確定的變動，時刻推演藝術節發生的可能版本與接續應對的方案，暫緩了原有的計畫，於短時間內，擬定社區的藝術行動計畫、徵件節目的升級陪伴，共創可能的視野。基於此，今年臺南藝術節的主題「為了在此相遇」，一方面延續去年重劃城市地圖的漫遊概念，帶領觀眾進入鹽水、柳營、後壁、安南、中西區等不同場域，另一方面則從以下三種相遇意涵，展開創作對話。「傳說相遇」，改編傳統經典進行當代的歷史翻案，重新詮釋不同的精神定位。「社會相遇」，以世代處境、社群關係、科技時代的情感結構、資本社會裡的消逝為題，省思當代的存在。值得一提的是，無論是傳說新詮或社會議題的深入反思，這些節目都是頗具實驗精神的台灣原創。
此外，「地方相遇計畫」是今年策展上特別發想的社會參與，將藝術帶入非城中心、非都市地帶的地區，與當地具有活動自組能量的族群會面與共創，思考藝術如何進入具有包容性的縫隙空間書寫。此計畫包含長者與小孩兩個世代，分別以訪查紀錄、工作坊共創影像檔案和身體語彙、流動式展演，以及地方刊物編採土地智慧和收集民眾的策展倡議。經由群體的踏查、發現身體的實踐，思考生態變遷、提出共同生活的可能，讓地方以開放的藝術形式現身。
移動是為了相遇，藝術節期望提供不同角度的相遇，帶我們造訪地方與歷史、身體與記憶，從藝術出發，共同經驗與思考，以相遇創造多重的探訪路徑，無論是尋回舊有卻抹消的路，或是另闢新的契機和隱藏之路。在隔離時代探索群體的意義，相遇是一種行動的想像、記憶的方案，和地方相遇，為未來備忘。
策展人 周伶芝
From the Curator of Tainan Arts Festival 2020
在隔離時代探索群體的意義
相遇是一種行動的想像、記憶的方案
和地方相遇，為未來備忘。
As we explore the significance of groups in an era of distancing,
encounters become a highly mobile method for sparking imagination and memory.
Among interactions with this land, we compose a memo for the future.
At the beginning, this land had no name. As human experience grew and history progressed, our space became defined and the places around us labeled. Through experiences, we grasped the meaning of space. With our bodies as a focal point, we continuously built upon this “land.” Within just one city were to be found innumerable, overlapping individual and collective pieces of “land”—each facing toward a different angle of space and time.
These “lands” are also where encounters are to be had—where memory is awakened and renewed. Similar to anthropology’s “contact zone,” this is where cultures meet, interact, come into conflict, communicate, or see-saw between each other. And through such encounters and contacts, a wide range of possible interactions are born.
Under the cloud of this pandemic, we’ve reflected upon our city’s roaming spirit and the mobile significance of this art festival. In an era of social distancing, we thirst for connection and contact. As the pandemic continues, however, it reveals the already present dangers of overconsumption and surveillance. We need to slow our footsteps to learn how to coexist and connect with the world.
Reflecting on social distancing vs contact, and encounters vs space, we inquired if the Tainan Arts Festival could become a meeting place of heterogenous groups and a container for a range of voices—thus allowing memory, fantasy, historical legend and social events to converge. We pondered if we could, in turn, narrate the stories of struggle and acceptance, or even the experience of being forgotten and scattered. In the end, we hoped that by applying a wide range of creative and mobile projects, the festival could serve as a medium through which to explore and share the memory of this land.
As pandemic numbers continued to change and the situation on the ground remained fluid, we faced a time of uncertainty, forcing us to prepare and plan for different eventualities. Postponing our original plan, we drew up a community art action plan in the short time still available to us. Tightening the requirements for participating groups, together we looked to create a new vision for the festival.
Upon this foundation, the theme of this year’s festival, Encounter—Here and Now, was born. The festival continues last year’s “site-specific” concept of redrawing the city’s map and leading audience members to various districts in Tainan such as Yanshui, Liuying, Houbi, Annan, and Zhongxi. New this year, however, is the division of the festival program into three creative dialogues, themselves based on three separate encounters.
The first, “Encounters with Legend”, features contemporary adaptations of traditional classics and a reinterpretation of various spiritual positioning. Following, “Encounters with Society” reflects on contemporary existence through issues such as generational plight, social connections, emotional structure in a technological era, and the disappearance of the individual within a capitalist society. Whether traditional stories interpreted or a reflection on social topics, all performances feature original Taiwanese creations brimming with the spirit of experimentation.
The third creative dialogue, “Encounters with Community,” is this year’s curatorial program and a social participation platform that looks to inject art into non-urban centers and areas. Meeting and co-creating with local groups with existing self-organizational abilities, this creative platform considers how art can take root in previously empty, but fertile, ground. The platform is multigenerational, with senior citizens and children both participating. Their participation is introduced through interviews and recordings, workshops in which videos or body languages are created, mobile performances, public participation, and curatorial initiatives featuring local publications and homegrown wisdom. Through group-based investigation, participants engage in a process of discovering the body, join in a reflection on ecological changes, and find hope for possibilities of co-existence. Similarly, the land itself is brought to light in the use of these unstructured art forms.
Mobility is for encounters. The Tainan Arts Festival hopes to offer encounters with different vectors of experience that allow us to dive deep into an understanding of each piece of “land” and its history, as well as the individual body and its memory. Ultimately, these encounters are an opportunity to use art to experience and reflect together as a community. They are the key to opening up differing paths of investigation—searching for old ways previously erased or unsealing new opportunities and hidden roads.
As we explore the significance of groups in an era of social distancing, encounters become a highly mobile method for sparking imagination and memory. Among these interactions within this land, we compose a memo for the future.
CHOW Ling-chih, Curator of Tainan Arts Festival