Art speaks louder than words.
Outreach for Taiwan was asked to help hold an outreach event, in which we would help artist 劉宗榮 (Liu Tsung Jung) from Taiwan utilize his artwork to spark curiosity amongst individuals here in the NYC area, and create awareness about Taiwan’s current situation.
Liu was one of the young individuals who first broke into the Legislative Yuan chamber during the Sunflower Movement, and stayed inside it for several nights. He has participated in a number of student/social movements, and utilizes his unique art as a way to promote certain causes and movements, to encourage other individuals to pay more attention to current events in Taiwan.
Our event with Liu took place on Sunday, May 18th in Washington Square Park, NYC. While Liu worked on his art, OFT and friends were actively reaching out to passer-byers, and giving them a brief rundown and explanation about Liu’s art, the Sunflower Movement, as well as Taiwan’s current situation. It was very encouraging to have so many people show interest about Taiwan!
The slogans that were put onto shirts were the following:
Slogan: 官逼民反
Pin yin: guan1 bi1 min2 fan3
Translation: “Government Oppresses, Civilians Revolt”
Significance: This is the name of a song by the Taiwanese band, Kou Chou Ching. This song and slogan portrays young Taiwanese people’s sentiments and how they should not be afraid to make noise about their opinions to spark changes.
Slogan: 拆
Pinyin: chai1
Translation: To tear down
Significance: This refers to the injustice that occurred in Dapu, Taiwan in which the government tore down people’s houses in order to construct an industrial complex.
Slogan: 為政不仁
Pinyin : wei2 zheng4 bu4 ren2
Translation : The government isn’t representing the people.
Significance: A majority of the people in Taiwan feel the government isn’t listening to the people, which is why citizens are angry and why the sunflower movement had such a big turnout. Taiwan’s democracy is on shaky grounds. Many feel the government doesn’t have the people’s best interests as first priority.
Liu is a great example for all of us because he is a reminder and an excellent example of how there is more than one way to portray and express your concern and love for Taiwan and Taiwan’s future. He is a role model for all of us! Thank you Liu!
(Please note all the #art4tw artworks represent each artist’s individual voices and not ours. If you wish to submit art for #art4tw, feel free to.)
OFTaiwan 