Taishin Bank Foundation for Arts and Culture

Comments  on the Finalists

How Romantic: A Guide to Modern Pangcah Life is not a monodrama. Ihot Sinlay Cihek makes use of her own indigenous identity to stage various indigenous situations that can no longer be overlooked and romanticized in the contemporary material environment, which highlights the fact that the performance itself includes the characters that are absent as well as the spiritual states in which the characters in reality collide, split and overlap. Internally, the work conveys the interdialectics of cultural preservation and restoration between the characters; and externally, it utilizes the body to arrange the space maturely. Critically dealing with how the art and aesthetic taste of indigenous people have been specialized by themselves or in theatrical productions, the work refuses the collusion among art, community political arrangement in contemporary Taiwan, and culturally political correctness, making it a remarkable piece informed by performance creativity and strong reflexivity (Commentator / WANG Chun-Yen)

Artwork Introduction  

Since 2018, Ihot Sinlay Cihek has been actively tracing her own cultural roots, attempting to tease out the barriers and contradictions she has experienced as a contemporary Pangcah woman as she revisits the Pangcah tradition, exploring a contemporary indigenous youth’s return to the tribe and the estrangement she experiences. How Romantic: A Guide to Modern Pangcah Life stems from the artist’s return to her own native tribe after living in the city for years. As she observes the trend of cultural revival carried out by young indigenous people who return to their tribes, through their interactions with families and tribespeople, she notices their difficulties and awkwardness when trying to blend in. With poignant humor and sarcasm, the production questions sharply about the negotiation between contemporary indigenous tribes and modern capitalism, as well as the strategies and nostalgia of indigenous cultural workers.

About the Artist 

Ihot Sinlay Cihek is of the Pangcah descent from the Tafalong and Ci Sanasay tribes in Hualien. An artist of performing arts, she is a professionally trained performer and playwright, and has been active in the theatre scene since college, during which she experimented with different forms of performance to explore its endless possibilities. Her research interest lies in identity politics, gender theories, and performance philosophies. Since 2018 onward, she has been actively exploring the indigenous culture of her maternal tribe, embodying and vocalizing the “frustrations” and “transformations” experienced by contemporary indigenous women caught in the entanglements between the tribe and the city as well as the Pangcah tradition and modernity.

Production Team

Producer/Playwright/Director/Actor｜ Ihot Sinlay Cihek

Executive Director｜Peng Hsu

Executive Producer｜Ni-Hsuan Wang,  Hsin-Yu Nian

Marketing Specialist｜ Miling'an Batjezuwa

Visual Designer｜ Navi Matulaian

Stage Manager｜Chi-yi Chang

Set Designer｜Yi-Fang Chung

Lighting Designer｜ Chun-Yen Huang

Live Sound Engineer｜ Hsu-Hua Chen

Featuring Music Artists｜Sung-En Chien、Ping-Heng Tsai、Kacaw Iyang、Sayun Nomin、Yen-Ling Hsu

Dramaturg｜Li-Sheng Chang、Yun-Ting Chu、Hsuei-Ming Li、Yen-Ling Hsu

Still Photographer｜Hsin-Che Li、Marang

Filming｜Yen-Hung Chen