Ocean Taiwan:

As part of the Taiwan Cultural Year in Europe initiative, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs invited Liao Jen-i, former director of the Taiwan Cultural Center in Paris, world-renowned designer Apex Pang-soong Lin, and art historian Liu Pi-hsu to curate Ocean Taiwan: Landscapes and Paintings. Taking place concurrently at 23 of Taiwan’s representative offices across Europe, the exhibition features the works of six creatives: Chao Kuo-tsung, Ko Hung-tu, Lee Cheng-ming, Lin Chang-hu, Chuang Lien-tung, and Apex Lin. Together, they transport the sights and sounds of Taiwan’s seascapes to Europe.

Cultural diplomacy

“A country surrounded by sea has to be open-minded. It cannot isolate itself,” Liao Jen-i says. For a long time, Taiwan has actively absorbed international influences, even while gradually establishing and reinforcing its subjectivity. At Ocean Taiwan, for example, we see paint media that bear witness to this process: watercolor and oil painting originated in Europe and were imported to Taiwan through Japan, while ink wash painting, despite its origins in East Asia, has borrowed the use of perspective from Western art, demonstrating an aesthetic of intercultural fusion. “This island has always embraced the world and engaged with European cultures in a spirit of openness.”

Artistic exchanges have a long, rich history. Liu Pi-hsu says that in the 15th century, Renaissance painters such as Michelangelo, Leonardo da Vinci, and Raphael often left their homelands to visit other places. They were all, in a sense, “cultural diplomats.” Today Taiwan, presenting itself as a “people of the sea,” is bringing its maritime culture and art to Europe to continue the tradition of intercultural exchange in a gesture rich in historical significance.

Co-curator Liao Jen-i says that Ocean Taiwan aims to bring the charm of Taiwan’s natural environment and culture to European audiences. (photo by Jimmy Lin)

 Ko Hung-tu, Fugui Cape Lighthouse, 2024.

Chuang Lien-tung, Yehliu Geopark, 2024.

Ocean Taiwan features paintings depicting Taiwan’s North Coast from different angles and in different styles, each with its distinctive charm.

Taiwanese seascapes

The painters selected for the exhibition come from different generations and work in different media. They all portray Taiwan’s North Coast, but their paintings demonstrate distinct viewpoints and sensibilities, each delightful in its own way.

Born in 1940, Chao Kuo-tsung is the eldest artist at the exhibition, where his Guanyinshan and Yehliu Geopark are on display. Chao specializes in oil painting and porcelain painting in a distinctive style that evokes childlike playfulness. His Yehliu Geopark renders the Queen’s Head in a way that is both abstract and realist. Viewers who have seen this iconic rock in situ will immediately recognize the shape, and smile. The painting will also arouse the curiosity of those who have never been to Taiwan. When they visit Yehliu, they’ll see how vividly the colorful mouth-shaped patches in Chao’s painting capture the spirit of those striking wind-carved mushroom rocks.

Ko Hung-tu (b. 1950), a watercolorist whose local visions have graced many a postage stamp, adopts a realist style steeped in poetry. His Fugui Cape Lighthouse and Eagle Flapping Its Wings have been selected for Ocean Taiwan. The Fugui Cape lighthouse is the northernmost landmark on the island of Taiwan, not only serving to guide ships at sea, but also carrying cultural symbolism. Liao explains, “Lighthouses stand for illumination and maritime guidance, just as Taiwan continues to be a beacon of democracy and freedom for the world.”

Both born in 1955, Lin Chang-hu and Lee Cheng-ming are known for their ink wash paintings, though their styles are very different. Liao tells us that Lin, a disciple of the famous painter Lin Yushan (1907–2004), is “adept at using ink wash techniques to render atmospheric seascapes composed of waves and rocks.” His Looking Out at Yi Mountain, Heping Island Geopark and Twin Candlestick Islets are modern ink wash paintings that pay lovingly detailed attention to wondrous landforms along the rugged Northeast Coast of Taiwan.

As for Lee, who explores the natural environment through art, Liao comments that “his works give rich expression to an ecological aesthetic.” “He closely observes how creatures survive in harsh environments in Taiwan’s wetlands. His paintings demonstrate Buddhist compassion for life.” Lee’s Shimen (Stone) Arch and Yehliu Geopark embody his appreciation for nature’s mysteries and the beauty of life. 

Co-curator Apex Pang-soong Lin (b. 1957) is another artist featured in the exhibition. Known for his use of refillable pens to create pointillistic effects, Lin has contributed two paintings to the exhibition: Water Fairies Casting Waves, the Tamsui River Round and Glossy Like a Pearl, Guanyinshan and Rhythms of Nature, Laomei Green Reef (the Stone Troughs) at Shimen. Through countless small dots, he evokes the grandeur of mountains, the fluidity of water, and the lively contours of rocks, distilling the essence of Taiwanese landscapes.

Chuang Lien-tung (b. 1964), an eye-catching artist who sports orange hair, specializes in ink wash painting. Rather than giving pride of place to graceful cranes as traditional ink wash painters do, Chuang prefers to paint black-crowned night herons, which breathe a grassroots energy into his works. His paintings for Ocean Taiwan—Yehliu Geopark and Heping Island Geopark—derive inspiration from the fantastic rock formations along Taiwan’s northern coastline, combining the forces of wind, water, earth, and rock into a visual symphony.

Co-curator Liu Pi-hsu tells us that there is a long tradition of artists serving as “cultural diplomats.” The Ocean Taiwan exhibition is an international cultural exchange through which Taiwan presents its identity as a “people of the sea.” (photo by Jimmy Lin)

Apex Pang-soong Lin, Rhythms of Nature, Laomei Green Reef (the Stone Troughs) at Shimen, 2024.

Every spring, we find Taiwan’s North Coast attired in delicious verdure. (MOFA file photo)

A cordial invitation

Through Ocean Taiwan, the artists bring Taiwan’s celebrated coastal landscapes overseas, inviting European audiences to feel the vitality of the island and the charm of its culture.

However, as Taiwan’s representative offices are not designed for exhibiting art, curating Ocean Taiwan has proved to be challenging. Liu Pi-hsu says that considering both the safety of the paintings and the limitations of the venues, the curators have opted for giclée prints, rather than putting the original works on view. This print technology faithfully reproduces the fine brushwork and textures of the paintings, helping viewers enter the artists’ original visions.

“Taiwan is a technological powerhouse, but we also pride ourselves on our artistic prowess,” Liao Jen-i says. The exhibition aims to show Europe that while Taiwan is a globally renowned producer of semiconductors, it also provides fertile soil for art.

Ocean Taiwan not only transports Taiwan’s seascapes to Europe but also represents a cordial invitation. If you’re visiting Taiwan’s representative offices in Europe for consular services, why not spend some time taking in the island’s coastal views and imagine the waves crashing against the shores and the briny breeze caressing your cheeks? Perhaps next time, you’ll find yourself on “Ilha Formosa,” experiencing these beautiful sights and sounds at first hand. 

Lee Cheng-ming, Shimen (Stone) Arch, 2024.

Lee Cheng-ming’s painting depicts Shimendong, a ten-meter-high sea cave in New Taipei’s Shimen District. (photo by Kent Chuang)

Lin Chang-hu, Looking Out at Yi Mountain, Heping Island Geopark, 2024.