Two art villages in the United States and Australia have selected a total of three Taiwanese artists from the eight recommended by the Ministry of Culture following a three-stage review.
Liao Chi-yu (廖祈羽) and Lin Yi-hsuan (林亦軒) will travel to California's 18th Street Arts Center in July and October respectively, whereas Chen Yin-ju (陳瀅如) will be stationed at the Art Space in Sydney starting September. This brings the total number of artists sponsored by the Ministry's Overseas Residency and Exchange Program to 17 this year.
The 18th Street Arts Center provides local and international artists a friendly space for creation and networking. Through its artist-in-residence program and activities such as public exhibitions, exhibitions and lectures, the Santa Monica-based art center supports avant-garde art, encourages local productions and fosters cultural exchanges and collaboration among international artists.
The Art Space, which is the center of contemporary art in Sydney and South Wales, helps to bring together local artists, writers, curators and international artists.
Liao, who has a master's degree from the Taipei National University of the Arts, specializes in photography and videos. She was the Taipei Arts Award nominee in 2011 and the top winner of the 2012 Taipei Digital Art Awards.
Lin, who graduated from the Fine Arts Department of the Taipei National University of the Arts, has worked and lived in Central and SouthAmerica over the last four years; he was previously featured in several joint exhibitions in Brazil.
Chen, a graduate of San Francisco Art Institute's New Genres Department, produces video art and mixed media. Her works have been collected by the Taipei Fine Arts Museum, the Netherlands Media Art Institute and the Dutch Royal Academy of Visual Arts (Rijksakademie van beeldende kunsten).
The Ministry's subsidies will cover the artists' accommodations, transportation and living expenses as well as expenditures related to exhibitions and networking.
Taiwanese artists who have received residency at the 18th Street Arts Center in Santa Monica include: Liu Shih-tung (mixed media, 2010), Chen Ching-yao (photography, 2010), Chung Yen-ting (animation, 2011), Nat Niu (video, 2012), Tsai Kuen-lin (installation, 2012) and Lin Huang-ti (mixed media, 2012).