The 2008 Taipei Biennial, one of the largest exhibitions of contemporary art in Taiwan, will run from Saturday through Jan. 4 at the Taipei Fine Arts Museum and other locations in Taipei, with artists from 26 countries addressing themes concerning globalization in their artworks.
The public will be able to view a remote-controlled car dancing along to music on the large screen in front of Taipei Arena and find artwork, including a new brand of beer called “Free Beer Taiwan” produced by Danish artist group Superflex in cooperation with the North Taiwan Brewing Company.
The group will invite visitors to join their beer-brewing project — part of an international project that offers the recipe free of charge to anyone who wishes to produce “Free Beer” — and discuss the issue of intellectual property rights.
Besides the beers displayed in the museum, a total of 8,000 bottles of “Free Beer Taiwan” will also be sold in venues including Cafe Odeon, Mei’s, Booday, Caffehands, Luguo Cafe and Bravo Beer, Taipei City’s Cultural Affairs Department said.
One-third of the world’s biennials take place in the Asia-Pacific region, and the Taipei Biennial is one of the more respected and prestigious as it is international in scope, the department said.
Department commissioner Lee Yong-ping (李永萍) said the exhibition this year will not be limited to the museum. The public will be able to find art in public places in Taipei such as the Chien-Kuo Brewery, Zhongxiao Xinsheng MRT station and Taipei Artistic Park in Zhongshan District (中山).
A total of 47 artists will participate in this year’s biennial.
Manray Hsu (徐文瑞) from Taiwan and Vasif Kortun from Turkey are joint curators for the exhibition, the department said.
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