Taishin Bank Foundation for Arts and Culture

Comments on the Finalist

In Wang Yu-Pang Solo Exhibition, image was represented as an everlasting question—it persisted in sustaining its life that was not proven, not allowed to “be proven,” and could not be proven, an event that awaited confirmation. The subtle production of the exhibition bypassed the ethics issue of documentary photography, and converted Wang’s photography, in which he has invested his life and time, and his return to his native tribe into a tangible, perceptible space and materials. At the same time, the exhibition succeeded in transforming the aesthetic as well as other categorical limitations of documentary photography and portrait photography into clues and documents for the audience to collect, and through which, conduct their journey of imagination. (Commentator: GUO Jau-Lan)

Artwork Introduction

In May 1991, Wang Yu-Pang visited Kucapungane (the old tribe) for the first time. Through the explanation of his guide, the Rukai historian Auvinnie Kadresengane, he embarked on a journey of photographic and textual documentation of the Rukai tribe. Kucapungane, considered the oldest Rukai tribe, is known as the origin of the West Rukai tribe, whose history and mythology, traditional culture, lifestyle and customs have been passed down for generations through oral history by tribal elders for nearly 600 years. 

In 1978, Kucapungane was relocated to Tulalegele (the new tribe). In 1991, among the 110 households in the tribe, there were two centenarians, and fifteen elders over the age of ninety. The Rukai elders are like a treasure vault of living wisdom, life experience, and resilient life force. The passing of these elders symbolizes the disappearing of the Rukai history, and has thereby made the photographic documentation a race against fleeting time. 

As of today, having joined the harvest festival for the twenty-third times, Wang still continues to  document the Rukai tribe. Whether it is the life history of an elder, a family, a tribe, or a geographical environment and space, the artist sees time and history as the vertical axis to carry out a long-term documentation of the changes happening to the Rukai people. Their resilient life force and rich culture have never ceased to impress and move the artist. Driven by a passion of doing and being moved by things he really enjoys, Wang has discovered the true dignity and confidence in life as well as the value of existence through his documentation. To him, Kucapungane is like the nurturing maternal body. There, he has undergone a journey of being born and starting learning to walk and talk. Photography, on the other hand, provides a window to glimpse into life itself, in which he has discovered and understood himself—photography, to him, is the reflection of life. 

From 1991 to 2015, Wang documented his life journey to the tribe, along with the various spots and scenes along the way, from the trailhead to Kucapungane, the first valley, the second valley, the great cliff, the historical battlefield, the red beech trees, the single-log bridge, to the fan firms. Every resting stops have connected different decades, people, as well as natural environment and space, and have stored life, history, and never-ending stories. Through the eye of the artist, the vicissitudinous history of the Rukai tribe is unveiled, together with their most precious life force. 

About the Artist

Wang Yu-Pang works at Nan Ya Plastics. He visited Tulalegele (the new tribe) in 1999, and has since begun his twenty-three-year-long journey of photographic documentation and writing about Tulalegele. His works have been included in the collection of the Kaohsiung Museum of Fine Arts, and he has written feature articles about the life history of Tulalegele for Art Accrediting since 2009. He has presented exhibitions at indigenous harvest festivals, has held more than twenty exhibitions of different scale, and has also participated in the nation-wide touring exhibition of Takao Labor. His book Descendants of Cloud Leopards is published by Morning Star Publishing. In 2015, he presented Wang Yu-Pang Solo Exhibition at Fotoaura institute of photography in Tainan.