In the last few years Taipei has really been pushing culture and arts forward with the establishment of various arts villages art districts across Taipei. In my recent visit to Taipei I counted atleast five new such areas, all bustling with with creativity, ongoing festivals and interesting visiting exhibitions. A good example of such a district is the Songshan Cultural District, not too far away from the Taipei 101 and Sun Yat Sen Memorial Hall.
Songshan was a Tobacco company factory up till 1998 and after it closed down Taipei (AKA Chen Shui Bian) decided to designate it for public use as a creative/sports district. Reopened in 2011, it now hosts an array of galleries, museums and exhibitions. During the time that I was visiting there were four different exhibitions, of which I saw two – a Lego Exhibition and a Holography 4D exhibition, both very well done.
I’ll start off with the Lego exhibition, which I thought was absolutely brilliant. I probably spent years during childhood messing around with these things and it’s amazing that Lego has survived this long crossing generation gaps and appealing to both young and old. To me, this exhibition offered a new look at both art and the reuse of this simple toy as a tool for art.
The Facebook event page explains :
American artist Nathan Sawaya "builds" portraits and sculptures with LEGO blocks, a favorite pastime of kids around the world. The 33-year-old abandoned his career as a lawyer in 2004 to become a full-time artist working with LEGOs. He has found success, inspiring many adults to play with the creative bricks alongside their children. His touring exhibition "Art of the Brick" has came to Songshan Cultural and Creative Park in Taipei.
I’ll let you just enjoy it…
Looks like good things are happening in Taipei. May there be many more such events to come…
More on the exhibition :