Mipa Wetland Installation Art Camp Officially Launched

What is "Mipaliw"? Mipaliw means "mutual help," and it is an important part of Pangcah life (also commonly known as the Amis people), and the traditional spirit of Pangcah society. Whether building houses, farming, or harvesting, the people of the tribe help one another, and this is especially common in cultivation. When one family is ready to harvest, everyone pitches in together, and the landowner gives back to the tribal members who came to help.

After twenty years of fallow land, the Port Tribe finally, through gatherings of tribal members to discuss ideas and in cooperation with the Forestry Bureau of the Council of Agriculture and the Hualien County Agriculture Department, built the irrigation channel back, and the gurgling water flowed back to our terraced fields. On this land, we will once again see the scene of Mipaliw, and the beautiful culture and people will, like sea rice, flow back again wave after wave.

This year, after the sea rice harvest, the tribe will once again hold the "Mipaliw Wetland Installation Art Camp" at the Shitiping Wetland Restoration Area, hoping that in addition to learning from one another, the creators can also embody the spirit of Mipaliw by completing works through mutual help. The art camp began on September 28 and runs through October 18, with a total of eleven creators using local materials and, after integrating into tribal life and the land, creating a rare artistic landscape.

There are four local creators this time, including Danai Dalif, Sapu Gazhao, Galing Liwai, and Malang Uwariz, each rekindling childhood memories of beautiful scenery, showing the spirit that "art comes from the land," and also hoping that this land can nurture new life. In addition, Tabiyuran Guljelu, who has just won first prize in the "Pulima Art Award," is participating for the second time. He hopes to create a series of works here and tries to remind people how to view this land. Also from the Paiwan people, Livayero Shishile believes that the greatest mission of people who come to this land is to protect it, so that the next generation can continue to enjoy endless life.

The art camp also features creators from the north, including scrap-metal artist Zheng Binghe, who advocates environmental protection concepts, and Su Lizhen, who loves natural materials. Among them, tea art creator Zhou Renzhi will combine oolong tea with the tribe's distinctive sea rice and large-leaf tianxiang to create a uniquely flavored "Shumi tea," and, with the concept of offering tea, convey a kind of social care and gratitude.

International artists include Jean-Paul Richon from France, who considers himself a son of the wind; his creation will use the element of wind and bamboo materials to create a completely new visual and auditory experience. There is also Harimoto Takashi from Japan, who will communicate with heaven and earth and converse with the mountains and sea, creating a "rice tower" that can look out over the entire water-terrace field.

Music is the most important daily entertainment in the tribe. The art camp also arranges a concert at night, performed by tribal singer-songwriter Anu Kaliting Salipongan, and also invites singer Michelle Gio from Liyu Lake and performer Dongdong Houwen from the Mugumuyu Tribe. On the one hand, this relieves the creators' fatigue, and on the other hand, it also gives thanks for the beautiful gifts brought by the land and art.

At the autumn equinox, we sincerely invite media friends to join the journey of dialogue between land and art, and we also hope to invite friends broadly to participate together. We hope that the "Mipaliw Wetland Installation Art Camp" can be held every year, that the spirit of Pangcah Mipaliw can continue from generation to generation, bringing life to this land and hope to the people on it.

Time: October 20, 2012, 2:00 p.m. press conference; event from 2:00 p.m. – 9:00 p.m.

Location: No. 117-2, Shiti Bay, Gangkou Village, Fengbin Township, Hualien County

Art camp schedule:

Afternoon

2:00-2:10 Opening ceremony, Port Tribe chief: Zhang Shushao

2:10-2:20 Curator Rebeca

2:20-2:30 Lin Huaqing (guest speech)

2:30-2:40 Wusai Gulas (guest speech)

2:40-3:00 Teacher Zhou Renzhi - Shumi "Moonlight Tea Drama" performance / Indigenous original guzheng piece (Teacher Pan Jiaqing)

3:00-3:30 Guest time ~ tribal tea banquet (Teacher Lu Haobai)

3:30-4:30 Work guide / media time

Evening

6:30-7:30 Art picnic

7:30-9:00 Jumping... singing... playing...

Press contact: Shumi Runi (03)8781533, 0910867276