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Part 5 of the photo tour of Sharjah Biennial 11: Re:emerge. Towards a New Cultural Cartography, 13 March - 13 May 2013. Curator: Yuko Hasegawa. More than 100 participants.
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Hair Dance. 2012
Colour video with sound (4 min)
Lanyu Seascapes. 2012
Colour video with sound (4 min)
Shi Na Paradna. 2012
Colour video with sound (4 min)
At once highly personal and broad in concern, Charwei Tsai’s work is grounded in a sense of Taiwanese identity. In this series of three videos, Tsai continues her exploration of the relationship between nature and spirituality through an examination of the Tao tribe from the Lanyu Island of Taiwan. Each video illustrates a different aspect of the island’s tradition and its intimate relationship with the sea.
Hair Dance focuses on the ritual dance performed by the tribe’s women, in which they use their sensuous long hair to emulate the movement of the waves in order to ensure the safe return of their men from the sea. Lanyu Seascapes captures the unpredictability of the sea, to which the natives have learned to adapt from moment to moment. Shi Na Paradna tells the tale of a boy who lost his soul to the sea. His grandfather performs a ritual to call back his soul.
© Stills: Charwei Tsai
Photo: Haupt & Binder
© Text: SB11 Guidebook
Part 5 of the photo tour of Sharjah Biennial 11: Re:emerge. Towards a New Cultural Cartography, 13 March - 13 May 2013. Curator: Yuko Hasegawa. More than 100 participants.