By Charles McHale Translated by Ann Lee

As summer heats up, take a bath in Taipei's rich contemporary arts scene. While painting and traditional sculpture will always have their place, contemporary arts are driven by ideas and explore new media. Installation art, video work and digital photography accentuate what's new in the world around us. Contemporary art provokes us to question the times we live in and leads us to a deeper understanding of ourselves. Taipei has no shortage of air conditioned venues to slip into the wonder of fresh art. Come on in, the water's fine!

Galleries

IT Park & VT Salon
IT Park gallery and photo studio shows some of the best in cutting-edge art, mostly video, installation and photo. Last year's installation by Peng Hung-Chih, "Beware of God", just won the Taishin Arts Award. Part of the installation featured 600-plus deity statues (abandoned for failing to give winning lottery numbers) filling a room watching a video of a white dog writing their story on a wall. Don't miss VT Art Salon, a lounge and a gallery run by video artists and djs, just down the street.
IT Park: 41, YiTong St; (02)2507-7243, a5070677@ms18.hinet.net
VT Art Salon: 47, YiTong St, B1; (02)2516-1060, www.vtartsalon.com

Museums

Museum of Tomorrow (MoT)
MoT isn't really a museum, but a temporary exhibition space curated by Pao&Paws Publishing (PPAPER) in cooperation with JUT architects. The current exhibition, "Happy Living", features five artists from Europe, the U.S. and Japan. Each has designed a home inside the exhibition space. Hurry to this exhibition as the museum closes on May 17, when tomorrow returns to the horizon of events to come.
180, Civic Blvd, Sec. 3, www.museum-of-tomorrow.com

Taipei Fine Arts Museum
TFAM shows a wide range of art, from fine art sculpture, painting and photography to the more eclectic, like Centre Pompidou's New Media Collection ( a diverse selection of video, video installation and more) . TFAM brings in big international shows and the best of Taiwan with the Taipei Biennial and career retrospective shows of major Taiwanese artists. The smaller basement galleries often have interesting contemporary work by mid-career artists.
181, ZhongShan N Rd, Sec 3, www.tfam.gov.tw

Museum of Contemporary Art (MOCA)
MOCA shows some of the best in contemporary art and design with local and international talent. Most of the shows are centered on a theme and take the idea to its extreme limits. The type of work shown at MOCA is decidedly contemporary and idea driven, installations, video work and other not-your-average painting and sculpture kind of art. MOCA opens "Fashion Accidentally" on May 26 and "V2", with digital video works in July.
39, ChangAn W Rd; (02)2552-3720, www.mocataipei.org.tw

Organizations

Taipei Artist Village (TAV)
TAV has a residency program with international artists staying for up to three months. Visual artists, musicians, dancers, thespians and writers all present works and lectures, with an emphasis on community based projects and interaction with the public. The building has a gallery, lecture and performance rooms and housing for resident artists. The Urban Nomad Film Festival finishes up the first week of May. Keep an eye out for their Open House this summer with a chance to meet the artists in their studios.
7, BeiPing E Rd; (02)33937377, artistvillage.org
(trans. note some of this is from Fresh Art TWF0606)

The Dream Community
From their annual parade in October with giant puppets, musicians and dancers of all ages, to educational outreach programs all over Taiwan by their artists in residence, the Dream Community in XiZhi is a lot more than a community arts center. Centered around an open city block with an outdoor stage, the community has four 12-story buildings with a theatre, exhibition spaces, workshops, housing for visiting artists, two restaurants and a bakery. Currently and through the summer, the Ren Jian Bao Puppet Theater (a collaboration of American, Mexican and Taiwanese puppeteers) are performing a bit more than what you'd expect from a puppet show. They just finished an extended run, including a performance at the Underworld, of "The Foreskin Show", a hilarious show about circumcision.

Shin Leh Yuan (SLY) "New Paradise" Art Space
New Paradise Art Space is an artist-run co-op, open since 1995 to show its emerging artist members. The art is often more raw than what you'll see at other galleries, but that's what keeps it fresh and exciting.
15-2, Lane 11, ZhongShan N Rd Sec 2; slyart@etat.com

Chi-Wen Gallery (formerly Taipei MOMA)
Chi-Wen Gallery more than makes up for its small size with the quality of work shown. Director Joanne Huang just returned from New York, presenting five Taiwanese artists at the Digital and Video Art Fair. This month features video and photography from Yao Jui Chung through June. A show featuring three female artists follows through August.
19, Lane 252, DunHua S Rd, Sec 1, 3F; Tel: (02) 8771-3372, Fax: (02) 8771-3421, www.chiwengallery.com

If all this new art has left you craving more it's time to book a flight. TFAM selected the representatives for the Taiwan Exhibition at the Venice Biennale, the largest contemporary art show on Earth. Lin HongJohn curated "Atopia" featuring five Taiwanese artists, including filmmaker Tsai Ming Liang. The Venice Biennale runs from June to November in Venice, Italy.