Chinese Name : 星濱山-正濱港町藝術共創 | 林書豪
Date of Establishment: 2017
Location: Keelung City, Taiwan
Did You Know?
Zhengbin Harbour Museum of Art is a studio that was conceived, promoted, and brought to life by a group of young people from Keelung, taking concepts of art, design, and local culture and using the experience economy, cultural and creative products, and design services to foster local consciousness, dialogue, and creative action. The founder, Lin Shu-hao, may not have been born and raised in Keelung, but his love for the sea has inspired him to devote himself to this local creative effort which has not only given the struggling fishing port of Zhengbin a new lease on life, but also helped bring Taiwan's island people into a closer relationship with the ocean around them.
Zhengbin Art was founded in 2017 by Lin Shu-hao, a native of New Taipei City and graduate of the Graduate School of Architecture and Design at Shih Chien University. In 2016, he interned with Taiwanese culture movement pioneer Chiu Ru-hwa at the Setouchi Triennale in Japan, discovering the "Creator In Residence" (CIR) concept, through which creators are invited to come in and create together with local residents. This process of "co-creation" not only brings people closer to each other, but also produces many unexpected results.
Artistic co-creation is broadly defined as the presence of creators in villages, including artists, designers, architects, musicians, and sociologists, and other creative talents who combine local characteristics with different media and interdisciplinary cooperation to push cultural boundaries and create interactive works of collective participation, placing emphasis on the value of passing down cultural memories from generation to generation in the process.
This experience influenced Lin's view on co-creation. He believes that sincerity should be at the core, doing things like reaching out to local elders through idle conversation and even inviting them to participate in activities so as to let their ideas spread naturally and help both parties build rapport to realize the true values and meaning of community building.
After returning to Taiwan, Lin came to Keelung's Zhengbin Fishing Port by chance. Along the way, he realized that Keelung lacked a solid platform for art and culture, and, inspired by his love of the ocean, he decided to stay, starting his work thinking about how to have his experience with art co-creation take root in Keelung.
Later, Lin applied for a grant under the Ministry of Culture's "Youth Village Cultural Development Project," using this initial funding to invite local Keelung youth, including animation, music, and illustration artists, to move into Zhengbin. At the same time, he conducted a field survey of local culture, helping the artists better understand the history of the fishing port over the past hundred years and integrate it into their works.
To promote the works of these young creators, the studio mobilized the funds and manpower of the entire city through public fundraising and sponsorship from local enterprises to create and organize the 2018 "Taike Landing (苔客上岸)" Zhengbin Port Creative Art Festival and 2019 "Here Comes the Big Fish(大魚來了)" Zhengbin Port Illustration Festival. These efforts aimed to not only preserve the story of this fishing port in artistic and literary form through the works of artists, but also attract people from all over the country to visit the area or enjoy it through the Internet or publications. In addition, they have helped the local community revitalize a declining fishing port through organizing such large-scale events, building a sense of local unity.
Over the past few years, the studio has been chosen for programs such as the Ministry of Culture's 2017 Operation: Youth Village Culture/Nostalgic Zhengbin Pier—Artistic Participation and Co-creation Program; 2018 Youth Village Culture/Recreating the Memory of Keelung Bay—Zhengbin Artistic Participation and Co-creation Program 2.0; the Shopping Design 2018 Best 100 "Local Cultural Promotion Awards" for the 2018 Taike Landing Zhengbin Port Creative Art Festival; the Ministry of Economic Affairs' 2018 Urban Rural Next Local Managers Project in 2018 for the Keelung Zhengbin Port Town—Fishing Net Co-creation Rejuvenation; and in 2019, the Ministry of Culture’s Cultural and Creative Industries Entrepreneurship Dream Project/Let's Go! International Seaport Art Co-creation Field School (ISACFS).
While Taiwan may be an island nation, Lin found that there remains a notable sense of distance between her people and the ocean. This is part of what motivated him to stay in this fishing port and try a variety of artistic approaches to expressing his feelings about his homeland, working to bridge that distance and create new experiences. However, he also admits that it remains to be seen how effective this will all be, and that only time will tell. Nevertheless, he feels that he has built a group of reliable supporters around him, and so he is not ready to give up any time soon.
Lin says that while the studio was founded by himself alone, there are now four core partners, joined by more than ten young members and 20-30 volunteers. He believes that the team will only grow stronger in the future, and the people involved in Zhengbin Art will prove to be a driving force behind the cultural and artistic development not of the long-dormant port, but the entire Keelung area.
(Photo courtesy of Zhengbin Art)