Events|PulimaENG

The 2018 Taipei Biennale was organized around the theme of "post-nature", raising questions around the continuous evolution of our ecosystems and the ways they are embodied in the operating mechanisms of arts and institutions. The exhibition set out to eliminate the binary opposition between human and nature, and reflected current approaches of taking nature as creative object. Two years later, the 22nd Biennale of Sydney was titled NIRIN (Wiradjuri language, Australia), which translates to 'edge’in English. It sought to re-open multiple pathways that have been marginalized by Western intellectual systems, yet remain the real subject of human history. Both exhibitions moved beyond human-centered thinking and re-examined human-nature relations through artistic collaboration and co-production. NIRIN also drew attention to First Nations Peoples’role as gatekeepers between humans and the land, guiding peoples’ return to nature.

Before the colonial division of nature and culture, Indigenous peoples interacted closely with their environment, generating a series of symbiotic knowledge systems. Through age group practices and the division of labor between men and women, people maintained a balance of supply and demand with nature, and in doing so extended multiple forms of life. Indigenous peoples believe that every living thing has a soul and should be treated with dignity and honor. This means that any damage done to the land in the course of human life must be offset with other relational practices and forms of respect. Such accumulated, experiential wisdom is precisely the type of tradition that Indigenous peoples today are pursuing after centuries of colonial rule and capitalist dispossession. However, after surviving ecological shifts and profound ruptures of place, the traditions that have been picked up and pieced together carry a new significance. The elders therefore say: “Young people, you are destroying what we have followed in the past; now we expect you to create your own traditions.”

The fifth Pulima Arts Festival in 2020-2021 proposes that our actions no longer follow fixed definitions of ‘tradition’, nor fixed definitions of ‘curation.’ The Festival takes a decentralized approach, delegating power and responsibilities to six young curators from different tribes. They conducted field studies in different communities beginning in April 2020, with all dialogue and connections between curators channeled as a dynamic, fluid force between the margins and center. The Body of Forking Paths (July-Sept 2020), curated by Miru Xiumuyi, sparks new understandings of place by bringing contemporary dance to the unfamiliar forests in Mekarang Village, Hsinchu. In Beyond Sensation (October 2020), Terudj Tjucenglav returns to his hometown in Pingtung to co-create a work with local young people, grounded in everyday life and traditions in the village. Akac Orat's Real men series: action (October 2020) links the extensive meanings of body postures with the many positions and conditions of Indigenous life. Dondon Hounwn takes Dowmung Village as a base in Mtukuy: be a sower (November 2020), using residency, exhibition, and performance to explore multiple historical sites that integrate war and culture. In Dungku Asang (March 2021) Labay Eyong gathers together weavers in a mining area in Ihownang Village, Hualien, to bring to life the complex relations between people and mountains. Finally, Talum Isbabanal’s documentary film and performance Truku of tomorrow: Dgaiyaq Uking is vanishing (March 2021) focuses on the mining operation in Bsngan Village, drawing public attention to how the modern economy destroys the land's regenerative powers. Each of these six curatorial projects takes on the role of gatekeeper, working to restore land and peoples’ hearts through the power of art.

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