
Civic organizations’ advocacy and coalition-building efforts can reach wider audiences through the power of images. Beyond expressing personal emotions, photography can also transform social issues into works that capture public attention. But how can civic groups from different fields and artists work together to generate meaningful impact?
One of the thematic exhibitions at this year’s TIPF, Dear Taiwan, Outdoor Exhibition, spotlights three civic organizations/communities—the Taiwan Youth Association for Transitional Justice and Kiōng-Seng, the IORG, and g0v—and invites three emerging artists—Chien-Yu Liu, Lin Wei-Lun, and Xhin Toh—to respond to these groups’ core values and civic initiatives through photography.
Moderated by co-curator Elanor Hsinho Wang, this talk is structured in two sessions, bringing together three civic organizations/communities and three artists they collaborated with. The discussion will explore how participants came to understand each other’s languages in the process of cross-disciplinary collaboration; how the three young artists translated abstract values and ideas into visual form; and how, within this co-creation project, photography moves beyond objective documentation or subjective expression to serve as a point of departure for dialogue.
▌Speakers
|Mei Pan (Taiwan Youth Association for Transitional Justice and Kiōng-Seng)
A native of Tainan, Mei Pan has always preferred starting the day with milkfish porridge rather than beef soup. In her first year of university in Taipei, Pan joined the organizing team of “The Kiōng-Seng Music Commemoration,” dedicated to commemorating and promoting awareness of the February 28 Incident—a commitment that has now spanned a decade. Pan currently serves as the Secretary-General of the Taiwan Youth Association for Transitional Justice and Kiōng-Seng, continuing to grow through ongoing civic engagement.
|Pin-Yen Liao (Taiwan Youth Association for Transitional Justice and Kiōng-Seng)
Currently pursuing a master’s degree in History, Pin-Yen Liao is actively involved in public history initiatives, including “The Kiōng-Seng Music Commemoration” and the Taiwan Youth Association for Transitional Justice and Kiōng-Seng. He is dedicated to researching and promoting Taiwan’s modern history, spanning from the Japanese colonial period to the postwar era.
|Chien-Yu Liu
Chien-Yu Liu graduated from National Taipei University of the Arts, Department of New Media Art. She is a visual artist whose work is deeply rooted in the exploration of images. Her photography primarily focuses on the themes of identity, culture, and traditional beliefs in Taiwan, aiming to construct a Taiwanese perspective through visual storytelling. Her current work includes photo books, exhibitions, and projection experiments in theater. Her works have been shown in Taipei, Tainan, Taiwan; Seoul, South Korea; Yogyakarta, Indonesia; and Madrid, Spain.
|Chihhao Yu (IORG)
Chihhao Yu is Co-director of Taiwan Information Environment Research Center, or IORG, a non-government organization based in Taiwan and specialized in data-driven, AI-assisted monitoring of authoritarian influence and information manipulation in the Mandarin-language information environment. Chihhao is also an engineer, designer, and a civic hacker in Taiwan’s g0v (pronounced “gov-zero”) community and Asia Pacific’s Facing the Ocean network.
|Lin Wei-Lun
Lin Wei-Lun is a photographer and visual artist from Taipei, Taiwan. He holds a Master’s degree in Photojournalism and Documentary Photography from the London College of Communication. Gravitating towards research-led and long-term projects, Lin’s work explores a range of social issues in Taiwan, including Taiwan Strait geopolitics, Indigenous rights, and climate justice. His work has been featured in The PhotoBook Museum, Landskrona Foto Festival, Singapore International Photography Festival, and Belfast Photo Festival. He also contributes photography to Condé Nast, Les Échos, and The Light Observer Magazine.
|Che-Wei Liu (g0v)
In 2019, Che-Wei Liu joined the “g0v Jothon” working group, which organizes the g0v community’s bi-monthly large hackathons and smaller introductory hackathons, and coordinates fundraising efforts. The group currently consists of eight volunteers and project collaborators, and has organized the “g0v Civic Tech Prototype Grant,” initiated the “g0v Civic Tech Project & Community Handbook,” and developed the “Sch001” digital citizenship education (including open courses and project incubation initiatives). As a community volunteer, Liu has also participated in various open-knowledge civic projects, including “Dataopener,” “Publicly Owned Property Action,” and “CO2UPtake.”
|Xhin Toh
Xhin Toh, born in 1991 in Johor, Malaysia, is currently based in Taipei. He graduated from the Department of Radio, Television and Film at Shih Hsin University. He formerly worked as a photojournalist at CommonWealth Magazine. During his time in Taiwan, he began exploring photography—pursuing beauty while also using the medium as a way to heal and understand his inner self.
▌Moderator
|Elanor Hsinho Wang
Elanor Hsinho Wang (b. 1992) is a Taipei-based writer and curator. She holds an MA in History of Art and Archaeology from SOAS, University of London, and explores cultural analysis, art history, and museum audience engagement through writing and exhibitions. In 2024, she curated They Told Me It’s Not Your Fault. And I Told Them Everything Will Be Fine. for the German FNF Foundation.