Appel à projets : 2014 Cheng-Long Wetlands International Environmental Art Project

2014 Cheng Long Wetlands International Environmental Art Project in Taiwan

Fishing for a Better Environment

Artists from all countries are invited to send a proposal for a site-specific outdoor sculpture installation that will celebrate the seafood producers and fishermen of Cheng Long area and raise awareness about environmental issues relating to seafood production, the main livelihood of Cheng Long residents.  The artworks will be created during a 25-day artist in residency in Cheng Long, a small rural village near the southwestern coast of Taiwan in Kouhu Township,Yunlin County.

2014 will be the 5^th year of this annual environmental art project that involves the selected artists working with elementary school children and community residents to create large-scale sculpture installations using local natural and recycled materials that will raise awareness about environmental issues. The selected artists will involve the local school children as active participants in the creation of their artwork, and each artist will have a classroom of 8 – 15 students from grades 1 – 6 to work with one afternoon per week and at other informal times during the project.  For 2014 the focus of the project will be on the life of fishermen and raising awareness about caring for the environment. In this community the main occupation of the villagers is traditional fish farming and the production of clams, shrimp and milkfish. Fish farmers in Cheng Long always grow these 3 together: clams are the main product; the shrimp and milkfish are like workers who help farmers to deal with algae and little tiny things in the water. The whole fish farm is like a small eco-system. Kou-Hu Township is the most important place for growing clams, shrimp, milk fish, mullet roe and eel in Taiwan. Many people in the Cheng Long area also work in oyster farming. The Forestry Bureau, Yunlin Government and the Kuan-Shu Educational Foundation are trying to encourage more “Environmentally Friendly” fish farming here, in order to prevent land subsidence and find a way that fish farmers and birds and other wildlife can coexist well.

This year we are asking artists to create their art works on, around and in the existing fishing huts in Cheng Long.  We hope the artists and their artworks will also improve the fishing huts, or maybe some artist will propose to build a new fishing hut for a fisherman in Cheng Long. The fishing hut is very important to the local fishermen and is used to house their supplies and tools, and it becomes the center of the work of the local fishermen.  It is also used for relaxing and chatting with friends while waiting between working activities.  The fishing huts are sometimes in poor condition and need repair, but they are always an important part of the fishing life and an important symbol of this industry. The work that artists do will be coordinated with the local fishermen and not interfere or interrupt their work of caring for the fish farms. The 2014 art project will include the creation by selected artists of sculpture installations reinterpreting and modifying fishing hut structures as contemporary sculptures that encourage keeping the Wetlands clean and recycling waste and promoting other good environmental practices in the community.

The 2014 art project will help to promote awareness of how our seafood is produced and the importance of sustainable and organic practices in aquaculture.  Artworks will be site specific and located in or around the Cheng Long Wetlands on existing fishing related structures. The artists will need to coordinate their work with local fishermen and reduce the disturbances to the fish farms and the fishermen.  There will also be issues about safety since some fish farms have very narrow pieces of land around them, and so consideration has to be made about installation methods and artists, children or visitors being in these areas.  Also the artworks are expected to be biodegradable and go back to nature eventually so that nothing will harm the fish farms or the Cheng Long Wetlands nature preserve area. The artworks will be made with recycled and natural materials that are part of the daily lives of the village residents.  The artworks should be made to last for one year or more. Artists will work alongside other international artists and Taiwanese artists and with children and village residents in Cheng Long, Kouhu Township, Yunlin County, Taiwan.

Deadline for Entries: January 18, 2014
Artists will be selected and notified by February 15, 2014
Installation and Residency in Cheng Long, Kouhu Township, Taiwan: April 10 – May 5, 2014
Dates of the Exhibition: May 2, 2014 (opening ceremony), May 3 and 4

Opening weekend activities with the artists. The exhibition will stay on display through 2015, and we hope the artworks can continue to be enjoyed into the next year.

DOWNLOAD DETAILED CALL FOR ENTRIES HERE.

For more information and to apply, see the Blog at artproject4wetland.wordpress.com or contact Curator Jane Ingram Allen at allenrebeccanjanei@gmail.com