Lovely Taiwan Foundation Chishang Barn Art Museum

In 2009, Lovely Taiwan came to Chishang with the mission of 'Lovely Taiwan starts from towns and villages.' They unearthed local stories and depth, working together with residents to transform Chishang from Taiwan's highest 'grain-priced' rice town into a domestically and internationally renowned arts and culture village. The 'Chishang Art Village,' which attracts artists for residencies every year; the 'Chishang Barn Art Museum,' Taiwan's first professional art museum converted from a granary; and the 'Chishang Autumn Harvest Rice Ear Festival,' which has repeatedly garnered international media attention, have made Chishang more than just 'above Dapo Pond' – it has become a model that many small towns and villages aspire to emulate. I. Local Facilitators: Nurturing the 15-Year Autumn Harvest Rice Ear Festival After Lovely Taiwan arrived in Chishang in 2009, they created year-round cultural activities reflecting the four seasons: spring plowing, summer weeding, autumn harvest, and winter storage. Among these, the 'Chishang Autumn Harvest Rice Ear Festival' has evolved from Chen Kuan-Yu's piano solo to performances by the Cloud Gate Dance Theatre seemingly growing from the soil itself. Every year, thousands of people gather to enjoy performances amidst 175 hectares of golden rice paddies, a cultural landscape. The 'Autumn Harvest' has become Chishang's signature brand and a major event, mobilizing a large volunteer team of over 300 people. Lovely Taiwan also fostered the establishment of a local association, ensuring that the team's experience is passed on to the local community. This is a successful example of local revitalization and has made Chishang a benchmark for a good life in Taiwanese towns. II. The Advancing Rice Town: Taiwan's Barbizon Art Village To deepen the roots of culture and art, Lovely Taiwan launched the 'Chishang Art Village' in 2014. This initiative revitalized idle rural spaces and invited artists for residencies, bringing new inspiration to the small town with the aim of achieving the vision of localizing art. Master aesthete Chiang Hsun was invited to serve as the chief consultant and the first resident artist. Barbizon is a small village on the edge of a forest in France that attracted numerous artists, pioneering the rural landscape painting style. Similarly, the 'Chishang Art Village' has attracted many aspiring artists for residencies. Over the past decade, 48 artists have resided there, enriching Chishang with artistic nourishment, promoting regional artistic and cultural development, and spreading the beauty of Chishang through their works! III. Taiwan's First Art Museum Built on Resident Consensus With the anticipation and support of local residents, the 'Chishang Barn Art Museum' opened in 2017. This is Taiwan's first art museum born from local consensus, with private sector efforts invested independently from its derelict state, through reconstruction, to its inauguration. In 2019, it received both the grand prize and the owner's award for the 'Far Eastern Architectural Award – Special Award for Old Building Renovation.' To date, it has hosted 17 diverse exhibitions, including large-scale joint exhibitions by resident artists, a retrospective of Hsi Te-chin, a heavyweight figure representative of Taiwanese fine art culture, and collaborative exhibitions involving 300 local residents. The art museum has become an important artistic highlight in the Huatung Valley and a key aesthetic education base for schools in eastern Taiwan. IV. Students Enter the Rural Area: Learning Chishang, Learning from Chishang Because Lovely Taiwan has deeply rooted itself in the local area, it has attracted the influx of resources. Starting in 2021, Professor Hsiao Yu-chih of Shih Chien University's Department of Architecture Design, on a 5-year term, has led students to collaborate with 'Lovely Taiwan' and the 'Chishang Township Culture and Arts Association' on a resource integration project. This allows students' research and plans, generated through fieldwork, to be transformed into reference cases for local development and revitalization.