Periphery as Center: Taiwanese Artists in Xiamen in the 1920s and 30s

• In Event: Periphery as Center: Art and Identity of Taiwan under Japan

Abstract

Recent studies of modern Taiwanese art have revealed intriguing connections between Taiwan and China during the Japanese colonial period (1895–1945), when the island’s cultural ties with China was severely restricted by the Japanese authority. These connections were often portrayed with strong Chinese influence in the perplexing identity issues, which Taiwanese artists in China had faced. Such a view, however, was challenged by a group of Taiwanese artists in Xiamen (Amoy), previously a European treaty port in the 19th century. These artists maintained greater distance from China’s artistic elite circles than their fellow Taiwanese artists in Shanghai and Beijing. They also seemed less concerned with adopting a Sinocentric view in their identity; rather, they transferred fluidly among their Taiwanese, Japanese, and Minnan identities. In the context of the colonial history of Xiamen and the diasporic Minnan culture, this paper argues that, as an epicenter for encountering Europe and homeland of overseas Hokkiens, Xiamen provided a welcoming environment for Taiwanese artists of various backgrounds and interests. This paper further suggests that the diasporic history of Minnan culture allowed Taiwanese artists in Xiamen to easily identify with the culture of their ancestors, without denouncing their close ties to Taiwan and Japan. Xiamen’s historical position on China’s periphery but at the center of cultural exchanges and regional diaspora offered Taiwanese artists an open forum for artistic and cultural expressions not available to those in traditional art centers, such as Shanghai and Beijing.

Author

• Yun-Chiahn Sena, University of Texas at Austin