Hantoo Ark: Visual Symbols of 13 Cabin Scenes (悍圖方舟：13艙景的視覺符碼)

To enhance public understanding of Taiwanese contemporary art, the Yilan County Government Cultural Affairs Bureau has specially invited the "Hantoo Art Group" (悍圖社), a flagship Taiwanese contemporary art group founded in 1998, to curate "Hantoo Ark: Visual Symbols of 13 Cabin Scenes" (悍圖方舟：13艙景的視覺符碼) at the Luodong Cultural Working House (羅東文化工場). As one of Taiwan's most representative long-standing art groups, Hantoo Art Group members include 13 contemporary artists: Yang Mao-lin (楊茂林), Wu Tien-chang (吳天章), Lu Hsien-ming (陸先銘), Kuo Wei-kuo (郭維國), Lee Ming-chung (李民中), Yang Jen-ming (楊仁明), Lien Chien-hsing (連建興), Lai Hsin-lung (賴新龍), Tang Tang-fat (唐唐發), Tu Wei-cheng (涂維政), Teng Wen-chen (鄧文貞), Chang Ling (常陵), and Chen Ching-yao (陳擎耀). They have not only participated in but also witnessed the trajectory of Taiwan's contemporary art development and democratization process over the past 30 years.
This exhibition cleverly transforms the long and transparent space of the Sky Gallery into an "Ark" carrying the artistic spirit. The Ark (方舟) symbolizes shelter and rebirth in the torrent of the times, and also carries belief and continuity. This Ark not only responds to the exhibition space but also symbolizes the Hantoo Art Group's firm search for an independent artistic navigation method in the contemporary world, like a ship continuously breaking waves. The 13 artists demonstrate rich and diverse creative vocabularies through various cross-disciplinary media such as painting, installation, video, textiles, and sculpture. "Hantoo Ark" is precisely the presentation and continuation of this context, jointly constructing a deep dialogue about the individual and the collective, time and space.