| Summary: | 博士 === 國立臺南藝術大學 === 藝術創作理論研究所博士班 === 103 === Although documents often claim that Taiwan’s first “independent curator” was designated in 1998, the term comes from the West and has become a trend in modern exhibition curating over almost two decades. However, as a local “curatorial practice” myself, I would also note that the designation continues to be quite contentious. In order to explore this rapidly changing trend, I will first delineate the history of curating in Taiwan, showcasing the concept of “stand-ins,” which also enables me to use my own experience as a point of reference. While asking the question “what is curating?” I will then examine whether “independent curators” in Taiwan are merely simulacra of their Western counterparts.
Revisiting the history of curating in Taiwan from a local perspective, I discovered that the identity and role of the “independent curator” is imbued with “priority of practice” epistemological character, which takes shape during the curatorial process and serves as a provisional mechanism within the “dynamic operational relations” of art institutions. In other words, the identity of an “independent curator” is revealed during the practice of an exhibition as someone who guides a temporary and diverse project-oriented work team. The establishment of this identity creates a provision arena where the exhibition takes shape, which in turn becomes a cross-cultural platform facilitating public exchange. As such, it creates contemporary artistic and cultural knowledge, though when the exhibition ends that role disappears.
This paper suggests that the socially designated meaning of “independent curator” should not be passively accepted. Rather the meaning of the term should rather be a product of reflection on local historical experience. After deconstructing the “designation alienation” crafted by society and art institutions, the nature and identity of curating can then be “reconstructed” through the prism of local experience.
This paper uses action research and the dual narrative of personal experience and the history of curating in Taiwan, an approach that is most clearly reflected in the chapter headings. For example, the first few chapter titles - Stand-ins, Back in Time, Accidental Encounter, Subjectified Difficulties, A New Framework and Stand-in Politics - represent a discussion of the different periods in my own curatorial experience. In contrast, the titles for the later chapters are questions based on personal experience and focus on several important aspects of the history of curating in Taiwan: Curatorial Experience and Problems, Curatorial Mechanisms, Epistemology, The Position of the Facilitator, Space and the Creation of Commentary, Discussion of “Stand-ins” in Post-Colonial Vision. These seek to reconstruct a more comprehensive view of the development of curating in Taiwan.
It is my belief that given a framework of localization, the concept of “stand-ins” can be used to highlight the way in which “independent curators” in Taiwan have long since transformed the meaning of “stand-ins” to create opportunities for “curatorial practice.” In this way, such individuals have also created a unique path for Taiwanese independent curators to follow that differs from that of their Western predecessors.
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