On the way home
Located in Yilan City in an alley off Zhongshan Road, the red-brick story house is hardly conspicuous, but as soon as you see a few large portrait photos hanging on the outside wall of the two-story building, then you know you’ve arrived at the site.
One photo looks a bit familiar, and upon closer examination it comes to me—this is Taiwanese author Hwang Chun-ming! His torso is unclothed, and he’s lighting a pipe. The interplay of light and shadow create a thought-provoking ambience.
Oh, and that’s Lin Hwai-min, the founder of Cloud Gate Dance Theater. His robust, youthful body and guileless yet focused gaze are entirely devoted to his dance steps.
Some 40 years ago Juan captured images of these personalities, whose names now resonate throughout Taiwanese society. These photos do not simply represent glorious recollections of that era; their display is also the raison d’être for his gallery.
The site formerly housed residences for high-level officials of the post-war county government, explains gallery director Liu Mei-hua. But following the relocation of administrative agencies, the complex gradually deteriorated. In 2015, after Yilan City’s mayor Chiang Tsung-yuan took office, he moved to improve the surroundings and slated three of the original buildings for refurbishment.
In 2017, Yilan Museum of Art invited Juan to return to his hometown and hold a retrospective exhibition. Given his ties to the place, he rummaged through his possessions in hopes of locating shots of Yilan never seen by the public. Themed “On the Way Home,” the exhibition was filled with images of Yilan during the 1970s and 80s.
When the curtain came down on the well-received retrospective, Juan made it known to the museum management that “if there is a suitable place, I’m willing to relocate my atelier here.” Passed on by several people, those words eventually reached the ears of Liu Mei-hua, who immediately thought of the newly renovated buildings in “Fuzhou Lane,”as the alley is known locally, it having once been inhabited mainly by people from Fuzhou on the Chinese mainland.
After examining it firsthand, Juan was very pleased with the space. “If you give me the whole row of houses,” he said to Mayor Chiang, “I can turn them into a gallery telling tales of Taiwan.” This kickstarted their collaboration.
“Portrait of a Soul” (1980), from Man and Land. (courtesy of Juan I-jong)