Jointly organized by the National Dr. Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hall and the National Hsinchu Living Arts Center, both under the Ministry of Culture, the "10th Anniversary Collection Touring Exhibition of the Chung-Shan Youth Art Award" is on display from June 18 to July 19 at the Aesthetic Hall and Yihai Gallery of the National Hsinchu Living Arts Center. The grand opening ceremony took place this morning (June 18) at the Aesthetic Hall. Distinguished guests in attendance included Yeh Yu-cheng, Director of the National Hsinchu Living Arts Center; Professor Lo Zhen-xian from the Department of Painting and Calligraphy Arts at the National Taiwan University of Arts; Wang Lan-sheng, Director of the National Dr. Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hall; and several past grand prize winners ("Chung-Shan Award" recipients) including Lin Cheng-han, Deng Jun-hao, Chen Hong-qun, Chen Shi- hang, Wu Shang-wei, Hu Xian-wen, Liao Min-ru, Su Zi-jing, Ke Lin-yan, and Jian Hong-ming.
Director Wang Lan-sheng of the National Dr. Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hall remarked that there are two crucial reasons for choosing the National Hsinchu Living Arts Center as the very first stop of this touring exhibition. First, the National Dr. Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hall is a designated municipal historic monument in Taipei, while the Hsinchu Living Arts Center is a recognized historical building; bringing art from a historic monument to a historical building creates a beautiful synergy. Second, the "Chung-Shan Youth Art Award" perfectly aligns with the long-term vision of the National Hsinchu Living Arts Center, which actively cultivates young artists through programs like the "Unpolished Jade Shines" initiative. The highlights of this exhibition are the exceptional young artists who have clinched the top grand prizes and their ultimate creative fruits. It is hoped that this exhibition will allow the public to witness the abundant creative energy of Taiwan's youth. The Memorial Hall also looks forward to supporting more creators to continue shining brightly and elevating their works onto a broader international stage.
Director Yeh Yu-cheng of the National Hsinchu Living Arts Center stated that the National Dr. Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hall has achieved remarkable success over the past ten years in promoting the "Chung-Shan Youth Art Award," nurturing numerous outstanding talents and becoming an indispensable driving force for art development in Taiwan. Creative artists are like "mountain builders," laying a profound foundation for Taiwan's cultural environment, while various art awards continuously discover new talents, spreading the light of art throughout society. He expressed hope that after the Memorial Hall's ongoing renovations are completed and it reopens to the public, it will provide even more performance and exhibition platforms to jointly advance Taiwanese art and present more exceptional creations to the public.
Representing the selection committee, Professor Lo Zhen-xian from the National Taiwan University of Arts noted that since the Memorial Hall launched the Youth Painting and Calligraphy Competition in 1973, it has nurtured countless creators. In 2016, it transitioned into the "Chung-Shan Youth Art Award," targeting young artists aged 20 to 45, demonstrating strong support and encouragement for the creative energy of the younger generation. He highly commended the Memorial Hall for its commitment to collecting past winning works and leveraging platforms like art fairs to promote creative output, opening up more career opportunities for young artists. He also congratulated this year's awardees, encouraging them to deepen their creative practices and further amplify artistic values.
The National Dr. Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hall has organized the "Chung-Shan Youth Art Award" competition since 2016, inheriting the core mission of the "National Youth Painting and Calligraphy Competition" established in 1973. Amid changing social trends, the award has not only adapted to modern artistic developments but has also remained steadfast in its original intent to support young creators. This commitment has endured through a decade of submissions, collections, and touring exhibitions. The current exhibition showcases a total of 40 works by 29 past Chung-Shan Award (Grand Prize) winners, featuring prominent artists native to or associated with the "Windy City" (Hsinchu), such as 2016 Ink Wash Painting Grand Prize winner Lin Cheng-han, 2019 Oil Painting Grand Prize winner Tsai Han-ting, 2023 Oil Painting Grand Prize winner Liao Min-ru, 2024 Ink Wash Painting Grand Prize winner Liu Xin-yi, and 2024 Calligraphy Grand Prize winner Su Zi-jing.
Lin Cheng-han's work, "Vanishing Countenance" (逝顏): Centered around the disappearance of old urban houses, it illustrates the fragmentation of memory caused by urban renewal and modern anxieties surrounding old urban spaces, successfully integrating public issues into the landscape of ink wash language through a powerful reflection of social reality.
Tsai Han-ting's work, "The Bluebird of Happiness IV" (幸福的青鳥IV): Uses portraiture as a metaphorfor individuals bound by civilization or society, suggesting that the bluebird before our eyes represents the fundamental meaning of existence, and that absolute spiritual freedom is the core existential value of humanity.
Liao Min-ru's work, "Stranded on a Lost Path" (在迷途擱淺): Takes human portraiture as its subject, depicting a sorrowful scene in shallow waters to interpret humanity's predicament in modern society, prompting deep reflections on the survival of human civilization, environmental destruction, despair, and hope.
Liu Xin-yi's work, "Gaze Through" (凝視穿透): Focuses on the displacement of faces and facial features, overlaying images through the semi-transparency of silk. It precisely reflects upon contemporary "spectacle society," echoing the permeability and nihilism of the digital age to establish a profound dialogue with contemporary visual culture.
Su Zi-jing's works: "Po Weng's Dragon Boat Festival Tour of Various Temples, Attaining the Word 'Zen'" (坡翁端午遍游諸寺得禪字) is a grand hanging scroll in cursive script, displaying a dynamic, sweeping brushmomentum reminiscent of Shangu (Huang Tingjian) alongside the tranquil, serene line quality of Bada Shanren. Another piece, "Bright Moon Amidst Mountains and the Modern Moon Palace" (山間明月與現代廣寒宮), is written in small regular script, breaking away from traditional aligned arrangements to create a fresh, ingenious visual composition.
The "10th Anniversary Collection Touring Exhibition of the Chung-Shan Youth Art Award" serves as an important retrospective of the Memorial Hall's ten years of dedication, as well as a fresh departure toward the future. By touring across northern, central, and southern Taiwan, it aims to deepen and expand artistic exchanges among young creators. Following the exhibition in Hsinchu, it will move to the Xinying Cultural Center in Tainan from July 24 to August 16, and subsequently to the Taichung Dadun Cultural Center from September 12 to September 30.