Dear Taiwan, Outdoor Exhibition

Since 2006, Taiwan has frequently ranked among the top countries in the Economist Intelligence Unit’s annual Democracy Index. For those living in Taiwan today, democracy may seem like a given, woven into the fabric of everyday life. Yet, when we ask what democracy actually means, or how it should be lived out in daily practice, the answers diverge widely, taking on countless forms.

For this exhibition, TIPF invited three young artists — Chien-Yu Liu, Xhin Toh, and Lin Wei-Lun — to collaborate respectively with the Taiwan Youth Association for Transitional Justice and Kiōng-Seng, g0v (gov-zero), and Taiwan Information Environment Research Center (IORG). Through image-making, they attempt to reflect the core values and civic actions embodied by these groups, which in turn represent three indispensable dimensions of democratic society: transitional justice, democratic innovation, and democratic defense.

To preserve the memory of the February 28 Incident and ensure it is never forgotten, a group of young people launched the Gong Sheng Music Festival in 2013. Six years later, drawing on this long-term engagement, they founded the Taiwan Youth Association for Transitional Justice and Kiōng-Seng, creating a space where advocates could learn and grow together, with a focus on history education, youth empowerment, and transitional justice. As a member of the association, Chien-Yu Liu turns her lens away from familiar portraits and historic landscapes toward objects like squid congee, fruits, fish, and Japanese rice balls. These ordinary foods carry the memories and stories of earlier generations who fought for Taiwan’s democracy. In the darkroom, Liu experiments with material transformations, evoking the erosion of memory and emotion over time.

Founded on transparency, openness, and collaboration, g0v seeks to bring change to Taiwanese society through decentralized, collective creation. Born in Malaysia and having studied and worked in Taiwan for years,  Xhin Toh views the g0v community through the perspective of a new immigrant. Inspired by the community’s motto, “Nobody knows everything, everybody knows something,” his images of stark, unpeopled landscapes connect to various g0v projects. Into these scenes, Toh inserts fleeting facial-recognition grids — traces of the people who once worked there, and at the same time, open invitations for viewers to step in, reflect, and take part in building a better society.

The Taiwan Information Environment Research Center (IORG), grounded in evidence-based data and scientific research, not only publishes reports on information warfare but also strives to enhance the public’s ability to interpret information and to encourage civic dialogue. In collaboration with IORG, Lin Wei-Lun developed the concept of an “Information Environment Calendar,” transforming complex datasets into a clear, communicable visual form. Each entry on the calendar is a reminder of the ongoing gray-zone conflicts we may be facing. Time itself takes on political significance, whether in the cycles of information warfare or in the days that deserve remembrance. Each moment reflects the constant struggles among competing narratives, systems and powers.

“Dear Taiwan,” serves as both a greeting and an invitation to dialogue. The exhibition reflects not only the exchanges between organizations and communities, but also the ongoing process of discussion and thinking each group shares with its collaborating artist. It is as if someone is sitting down to write a letter to Taiwan, sketching out shared visions for the country’s future. The three participating groups, the Taiwan Youth Association for Transitional Justice and Kiōng-Seng, g0v, and the IORG, each bring distinct concerns and approaches. In response, artists Chien-Yu Liu, Xhin Toh, and Lin Wei-Lun engage with these issues through their lens of inquiry and visual languages. Intriguingly, all three projects ultimately return to the everyday.

As an open platform for dialogue, TIPF invites audiences to reflect together: What is democracy? What does it mean to you? How can we practice it in our everyday lives? Beneath the quiet routines of daily life, can you sense the pulse of democracy at work? And in your own way, are you also taking action to safeguard this shared landscape?

We look forward to your reply.