The Museum of Vancouver inaugurated the photography exhibition “Mirage: Disused Public Property in Taiwan” on May 30, showcasing Taiwanese artist Yao Jui-chung (姚瑞中)’s works exposing Taiwan’s “mosquito halls,” a nickname earned by abandoned public construction projects.
Starting in the 1970s, Taiwan invested in convention centers, sports facilities, schools, and other public structures, only to abandon them—leaving them to breed mosquitos, waste money, and add to urban decay. Yao Jui-Chung, Taiwan’s leading contemporary artist and photographer, and his team the Lost Society Document (LSD), photographed and researched these haunting modern-day ruins, showing that photography is a form of social activism.
This exhibition marks the second collaboration between the Taiwan Academy in Los Angeles and the Museum of Vancouver, following the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding in 2022.
The exhibition will be open for three months, from now until late August. For more information, please visit the Museum of Vancouver’s website.