The exhibition "Beyond Our Mind: Taiwanese Literature Between Animals and Humans (成為人以外的—臺灣動物文學特展)" at the National Museum of Taiwan Literature (NMTL) took home the renowned iF Design Award 2023 in the Cultural Exhibitions category, following its previous win at the Golden Pin Design Award.
The exhibition, which officially opened this January, explores the relationships between humans and animals as depicted in Taiwanese literature, including various entanglements and care. Its eye-catching artistic design, novel technology devices, and profound literary connotation have attracted many animal and literature lovers. For the first time, the exhibition made an attempt to project animal silhouettes onto the window glass of historic facades, creating a unique spatial aesthetic. As soon as the audience steps into the exhibition hall, their images will be instantly captured and combined with randomly appearing 3D animal avatars.
Five large-scale paper sculpture installations conceal the evolutionary history of the relationship between human beings and animals. In addition, the bottle-shaped designs and excerpts placed inside cages aim to inspire people to think from the perspective of animals and see the world anew. Following the opening of the exhibition, the NMTL has released several monographs that delve into the subject matter, as well as a board game that encourages players to consider animal-related issues by taking on the role of animals.
The exhibition is currently on display at the Pingtung Library until June 25, and it is scheduled to be exhibited at the Taiwan Literature Base in September.
Since its establishment in 1953, Germany's iF Design Award has gained high international recognition and is considered as one of the most significant design awards worldwide. This year, nearly 11,000 works from 56 countries/regions were submitted.