Symbiotic arts village
Because the buildings on Treasure Hill were originally illegal structures, many are haphazard, crumbling affairs that raise safety concerns. To bring them into line with current building codes, the city will begin helping residents strengthen and renovate their homes beginning in the second half of 2006. During this period, residents will have the choice of receiving a subsidy to move away for a time, or staying in shared temporary housing. Once the renovations are complete in 2008, they'll be able to return as tenants.
The Treasure Hill Symbiotic Arts Village blueprint is a four-point plan developed by OURs and the Department of Cultural Affairs that calls for homes for disadvantaged residents, for the participation of the arts in the community, for the construction of an international youth hostel to provide inexpensive housing to students from around the world, and for study of the unique features of the village and its environment.
Kang says that the name of the game in establishing art villages is to create a symbiosis. In Treasure Hill's case, this means getting the village's underprivileged residents, its resident artists, and those who rent rooms in the youth hostel to come to respect one another in the long term. "Living together will gradually break down the barriers between them," says Kang.
Lin likewise stresses that even if Treasure Hill becomes an "art village," disadvantaged residents will still account for at least 40 households and remain the heart of the community. The resident artists and youth hostel guests, meanwhile, will make up about 20 households each. "We can't let the artists become the center and make the community into something other than it originally was--a home for underprivileged people," avers Lin.
In the past, Taiwan's art villages have usually come into being when the government let out some empty homes to artists, providing them with a space in which to create on their own. This approach has led to a lack of interaction between the artists and the surrounding neighborhood. Treasure Hill is being planned in such a way that the artists will have to learn to interact with the residents, and the residents will have to respond appropriately to the fact of having art "stationed" in their midst. "What it amounts to is that Treasure Hill has nominally latched onto 'art' as a means to preserve itself," says Kang.
At the village's highest point sits a row of mottled homes offering a fantastic view of the surrounding area. These days, however, the only person who lives up there is a retired old soldier from Jiangxi named Mr. Wang. "All my neighbors have either died or returned to their home towns," says the 82-year-old Wang, who has been living here on the margins of the city for more than 30 years. "I couldn't care less about these art or not-art games," he says, responding to the years-long debate down the hill over whether to preserve or raze the village. His only hope is that this time they resolve the issue for good. "Let us finally have a home," he says.
Three hundred years ago, the Hsintien River brought temple-building Han to the land. They have been followed by Japanese, Nationalist soldiers, immigrants from southern and central Taiwan, foreign brides, poor students, and artists. Only time will tell how the story of Treasure Hill will play out from here.
Treasure Hill's residents make excellent use of their living space--there is a shared garden along the path through the village.
Most of the residents' homes are illegal structures without a formal street address. Residents therefore use a shared number on the mailboxes at the entrance to the village.
The village's weekly outdoor film screenings bring the community together.
Artist Lo Song-ce designed a work that allows people to hear the village's soundscape by listening at large water pipes.
Lights sparkle on Taipei's Treasure Hill, located in the foothills in the city's Kungkuan district.
Lights sparkle on Taipei's Treasure Hill, located in the foothills in the city's Kungkuan district.
The majority of the village's residents are retired soldiers born in mainland China. Most have been living here in poverty for more than 20 years.