Luchia Meihua Lee is the founding Executive Director of the Taiwanese American Arts Council (TAAC) and the Chief Curator of the exhibition. Since 2014, TAAC has aimed to foster awareness of Taiwanese American Art within the broader community. They have sponsored many events and presented high quality programs in all disciplines of art, while encouraging cross-cultural exchange between Taiwanese Americans and others.

The exhibition will be open free to the public Monday-Thursday from 12-6 p.m. and Saturday from 12-3 p.m. The Institute is closed on Friday and Sunday.

A Cross-Cultural Exhibition of Contemporary Artworks

“Peoples’ Movements” is a cross-cultural exhibition which focuses on the art which embodies and has been borne from particular brave groups of people acting as a whole and taking a stand on contentious issues by refusing to compromise their statements or actions particularly related to corrupt governments and regimes.

This program involves artists’ works celebrating peoples’ political movements — largely youth-led — that took place around the world circa 2014.

TAAC has selected five Movements represented by these artists’ works: Taiwan’s Sunflower Movement, Hong Kong’s Umbrella Movement, the Arab Spring, the Chilean Winter, and the Ukrainian Euromaiden Movement. In the interest of space I will present only two movements in detail. I have provided links below for further information on all movements if you care to take a deeper dive.

Taiwan’s Sunflower Movement

In March 2014, students and other youth in Taipei occupied Taiwan’s legislative body in protest of the plan by the ruling government to strengthen trade ties with China.

Ten years ago, on the night of March 18, 2014, students and activists broke into Taiwan’s Legislative Yuan in an effort to block the passage of the Cross-Strait Service Trade Agreement between Taiwan and China.

The day before, then ruling government the Kuomintang (KMT) led by President Ma Ying-Jeou, had attempted to force passage of the trade agreement in the Legislative Yuan, without giving it a clause-by-clause review.

Those youth knew that a successful clandestine execution of such a plan by the KMT would lead to catastrophic future events that could eventually jeopardize Taiwan’s newfound fledgling democracy. The occupation of the Legislative Yuan lasted over 20 days and came to be known as the Sunflower Movement. In the end, the students and youth activists prevailed with overwhelming support, and a trade agreement between Taiwan and China was blocked.

Most significantly, not only had the Sunflower Movement been successful in blocking the proposed legislation, its byproduct had profound effects, which in time reversed the course of Taiwan’s foreign and domestic policy. The movement led many of its participants eventually to enter formal political life and thus rejuvenating Taiwan’s political culture.

Taiwanese pop punk group Fire EX.’s song Island’s Sunrise became the anthem of the movement.

Participating artists showcasing original works at the Tenri Cultural Institute that embody the indomitable spirit of Taiwan’s Sunflower Movement are:

Island Sunrise Team 島嶼天光團隊 (Portrait painting and video)

Tsung-Jung Liu 劉宗榮 (Paintings and archives)

Enbion Micah Aan 洪延平 (Photography)

Hsin Yi Liu 劉欣怡 (Paintings)

Chia H. Kuo 郭家瑄 (Sculpture)

Hong Kong’s Umbrella Movement

Taking place between September 26 and December 15, 2014, this movement led by Hong Kong youth was sparked by China’s proposed changes to Hong Kong’s electoral system – changes that the movement unsuccessfully opposed and were later imposed unilaterally by the government in Beijing.However, this movement was resurrected on its fifth anniversary in 2019 to protest the bill enabling extradition to China – and trial there – of residents of Hong Kong. Beijing eventually imposed this bill on Hong Kong, further eroding the special status of Hong Kong in violation of the 50-year special administrative status of Hong Kong negotiated by the United Kingdom and China in 1997. September of 2024 will mark the 10th anniversary of Hong Kong’s Umbrella Movement.The participating artist showcasing his original works at the Tenri Cultural Institute that embody Hong Kong’s Umbrella Movement is Kacey Wong (prints, video, helmet, cocktail sculpture)

Exhibition Summary and Links

The “Peoples’ Movements” Cross-Cultural Exhibition demonstrates intriguing installations that celebrate the artworks representing the spirit of youth-led popular movements of approximately 10 years vintage, thus simultaneously highlighting both the similarities and differences between them.

For further listening and reading on all five Movements and their historical impact, below are links:

• talkingtaiwan.com/fireex-10th-anniversary-sunflower-movement-sam-yang-tells-how-island-sunrise-became-its-anthem-ep-278/
• talkingtaiwan.com/eric-chang-on-the-unfolding-situation-at-the-legislative-yuan-during-the-sunflower-movement-ep-231/
• taac-us.org/upcoming-events
• tenri.org/gallery/index.shtml

Link to the Village View article:

“Peoples’ Movements”

KAJU ROBERTO is an accomplished musician, singer/ songwriter, journalist, and an award-winning producer. He is the artist Rad Jet on Spotify.

The post “Peoples’ Movements”: A Cross-Cultural Exhibition Showcasing the Contemporary Artworks of Solidarity and Self-Empowerment appeared first on Rad Jet's Historic Jazz Walking Tours.

She used this talent with high efficacy by introducing practically every song during her February 15th early show performance at the world-renowned Blue Note Jazz Club in NYC. There were moments where her stories equally elicited a deep contemplation or had the audience frolicking with laughter.

However, such an unusual trait for a Grammy Award winning soul-pop artist was simply the bonus. The main payday is that Bailey Rae’s latest album, “Black Rainbows” marks her triumphant return with her most versatile work to date.

“Black Rainbows:” A Work Seven Years in the Making

“Black Rainbows” is Bailey Rae’s first album in seven years, and it is a riveting display of raw power and musical versatility, with original new songs mimicking the rawness of post-punk, the strangeness of futuristic psychedelic jazz, and the comfort of old school sweet soul.

As I watched her perform, immediately my senses were viscerally bombarded with a wide variety of sounds, from the buzzing of post-punk driving guitars on the song “New York Transit Queen,” to the pounding off-beat rhythms of “Erasure,” the futuristic whistles of “Earthlings,” and the whimsical musings of “He Will Follow You With His Eyes.”

The songs on this album are raw and sexy, as well as whimsical and deeply contemplative. Several songs are over five minutes and “Put It Down” is over eight minutes long.

All of Bailey Rae’s original compositions from this musical project were inspired by the objects and works by contemporary artist Theaster Gates at the Stoney Island Arts Bank in the South Side of Chicago. This incredible man bought a destitute bank for several dollars from the government and saved it from demolition, instead transforming this space into a Black history repository by raising several million dollars selling his art.

“Engaging with these archives and his practice has changed how I think of myself as an artist and what the possibilities of my work can be. I knew when I walked through these doors, my life had changed forever,” recounted Bailey Rae.

The Remarkable Story that Inspired “Peach Velvet Sky”

My favorite story told by Bailey Rae was one of a child slave named Harriet Jacobs. Many years later she became an African-American abolitionist who founded two schools, which inspired the song “Peach Velvet Sky.”

In the early 19th Century, she was sexually harassed by her enslaver in North Carolina. When he threatened to sell her children if she did not submit to his desire, she escaped by hiding in a tiny crawl space under the roof of her grandmother’s house, so low she could not stand up in it.

Remarkably, Harriet stayed in this tiny space for seven grueling years. She was able to bore a small hole through the wooden house, just enough for sunlight to come through and to view her children outside. She finally managed to escape to the free North where she was reunited with her children. This amazing story about Harriet Jacobs was based on objects Bailey Ray discovered at the Stoney Island Arts Bank.

“Peach Velvet Sky” is my favorite song on the album. It’s a melancholy jazz ballad comprised of piano and voice only, with long pauses and unexpected dissonant bursts. The melody is both beautifully sublime and haunting.

A New Album, Yet a Return to the Old

In many ways, writing these songs inspired by archived historical objects and works allowed Bailey Rae to return to musical genres from earlier in her career. What many casual fans don’t know is that she began her career as a singer/ guitarist in an all-female indie post-punk band called Helen in 1998. They played many gigs around Leeds in the U.K.

Although the band was courted by U.S. heavy-metal label Roadrunner Records, they were never signed. When the band broke up, it would take three years for Bailey Rae to regain her footing and embark on the successful soul-pop musical career she is most known for.

“Black Rainbows” marks a return to Bailey Rae’s post-punk musical roots with the songs “New York Transit Queen” and “Erasure.” This album may not be as accessible to everyone compared to her past work. There are heavy esoteric and avant-garde elements. However, I really respect Bailey Rae for pushing the boundaries of her art.

She took tremendous risks composing this new material and releasing it to the world. She clearly wrote these songs to pay homage and educate others of the deeply buried and long-forgotten past people and vestiges throughout Black history.

I would highly recommend seeing Corinne Bailey Rae perform in concert with her terrific band on the “Black Rainbows” tour live. She is a true artist, who refuses to fall into the trap of complacency.

However, if you still have a craving for classic Corinne Bailey Rae, listen to her past albums, “Corinne Bailey Rae” (2006), “The Sea” (2010), “The Heart Speaks in Whispers” (2016), and her featured work on Herbie Hancock’s “River: The Joni Letters” (2008).

For “Black Rainbow” Tour dates, go to corinnebaileyrae.com

Link to the Village View article: 

Corinne Bailey Rae: Grammy-Award Winning Artist Marks Her Triumphant Return with “Black Rainbows” Tour at the Blue Note

______________________________________________________________________

Kaju Roberto is an accomplished musician, singer/ songwriter, journalist, and an award-winning producer. He is the artist Rad Jet on Spotify. https://open.spotify.com/artist/32si7c4nk210HPuqbXvhJg

The post Corinne Bailey Rae: Grammy-Award Winning Artist Marks Her Triumphant Return with “Black Rainbows” Tour at the Blue Note appeared first on Rad Jet's Historic Jazz Walking Tours.