Japanese sculptor Hiroto Kitagawa examines the psychology of Japan’s urban youth in Post New Type: Super Terracotta Sculptures, a solo exhibition of more than 30 works. Having spent 14 years studying and working in Italy, where he was influenced by Italian masters such as Alberto Giacometti and Marino Marini, Kitagawa brings a unique perspective to his subject matter and acts as a filter of the social preoccupations of his homeland. Issues such as socially withdrawn children and bullying work thematically into the drooping and languid sculptures made of acrylic paint on terracotta. Along with these anxious creatures, Kitagawa also examines a “new type” of youth whose penetrating expressions and confident postures suggest an alternative to the frail youth depicted in the popular media. Kitagawa’s sculptures are a complex blend of Eastern and Western aesthetic elements combined with a desire to express the essence of the sometimes emotionally distant and other times self-assured youth of contemporary Japan.
■ Eslite Xinyi Bookstore (誠品信義店), 11 Songgao Rd, Taipei City (台北市松高路11號). The gallery is open Tuesdays to Sundays from 11am to 7pm.
Tel: (02) 8789-3388 X1588
■ Until Jan. 31
Contemporary artist Yang Mao-lin (楊茂林) combines Buddhist mythology with pop culture icons in Lost in Wonderland (我的夢幻島). The sculptures and paintings on display suggest that people no longer project their yearnings onto spiritual idols. Instead, cartoons and superheroes are the symbols by which people make sense of their lives.
■ Lin & Lin Gallery (大未來林舍畫廊), 13, Ln 252, Dunhua S Rd Sec 1, Taipei City (台北市敦化南路一段252巷13號). For a viewing, call (02) 2721-8488
■ Until Jan. 24
Vanishing Ground is a video and paper sculpture installation by Julie Bartholomew that documents the impact of commercial development and the forces of modernization on communal spaces that are integral to cultural identity. The installation constructed for the show draws on the art of Taiwanese funerary paper sculpture, while the video shows the burning of these ritual objects.
■ Barry Room, Taipei Artist Village
(台北國際藝術村百里廳), 7 Beiping E Rd, Taipei City (台北市北平東路7號). Open Tuesdays to Fridays from 10am to 6pm. Tel: (02) 3393-7377
■ Until Jan. 31
Paintings of blossoms and flowers serve as contemporary painter Lin Yueh-shiar’s (林月霞) central symbol in Touching — The Origin Point (觸動•原點). The paintings metaphorically explore the growth and decay of contemporary ideas about the environment.
■ Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hall (國父紀念館), 505, Renai Rd Sec 4, Taipei City
(台北市仁愛路四段505號). Open daily from 9am to 5pm. Tel: (02) 2758-8008
■ Until Sunday
Hsu Yang-hsu (徐永旭) attempts to eradicate MOCA’s time and spatial limitations with the outdoor exhibit Iteration — In Between (再•之間). The eight small- and large-scale clay sculptures on display employ an abstract expressionist mentality to explore the public and private spaces of body and mind.
■ Museum of Contemporary Art, Taipei (MOCA, Taipei), 39 Changan W Rd, Taipei City (台北市長安西路39號). Open Tuesdays to Sundays from 10am to 6pm. Tel: (02) 2552-3720
■ Until Jan. 31
Metropolitan Wonderland (都會美樂地) is a series of technicolor paintings by Yu Way-shin (余威欣). The works depict city scenes such as the interior of a restaurant or coffee shop and are rendered in a surrealist style.
■ Julia Gallery (雅逸藝術中心), 3, Ln 166, Zhongcheng Rd Sec 2, Taipei City (台北市忠誠路二段166巷3號). Open Tuesdays to Sundays from 1pm to 9pm.
Tel: (02) 2873-9190
■ Until tomorrow
Climate change, political headwinds and diverging market dynamics around the world have pushed coffee prices to fresh records, jacking up the cost of your everyday brew or a barista’s signature macchiato. While the current hot streak may calm down in the coming months, experts and industry insiders expect volatility will remain the watchword, giving little visibility for producers — two-thirds of whom farm parcels of less than one hectare. METEORIC RISE The price of arabica beans listed in New York surged by 90 percent last year, smashing on Dec. 10 a record dating from 1977 — US$3.48 per pound. Robusta prices have
A dozen excited 10-year-olds are bouncing in their chairs. The small classroom’s walls are lined with racks of wetsuits and water equipment, and decorated with posters of turtles. But the students’ eyes are trained on their teacher, Tseng Ching-ming, describing the currents and sea conditions at nearby Banana Bay, where they’ll soon be going. “Today you have one mission: to take off your equipment and float in the water,” he says. Some of the kids grin, nervously. They don’t know it, but the students from Kenting-Eluan elementary school on Taiwan’s southernmost point, are rare among their peers and predecessors. Despite most of
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A few years ago, getting a visa to visit China was a “ball ache,” says Kate Murray. The Australian was going for a four-day trade show, but the visa required a formal invitation from the organizers and what felt like “a thousand forms.” “They wanted so many details about your life and personal life,” she tells the Guardian. “The paperwork was bonkers.” But were she to go back again now, Murray could just jump on the plane. Australians are among citizens of almost 40 countries for which China now waives visas for business, tourism or family visits for up to four weeks. It’s
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