更名者遊途

—— 嘉義文協街區走讀計畫

 

一百年後的今日，這座島上的人們，從未停歇步行在尋找身份認同的道路上。臺灣人在歷經各種政治、文化更名的迷途裡，是否還能在街道上清晰的辨識出彼此？

 

從「嘉美館」出發，這個計畫邀請你踏上這條自武裝抗日轉向以文化行動、結社與社會運動對抗時局的嘉義街區。透過1920年代台灣文化協會（文協）所撐起的本土意識實驗場，我們將以現今的眼光回望，探索未來的新可能。

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在臺灣面對現代思潮而風起雲湧的1920至1930年代，嘉義無疑是最富有政治、文化與藝術能量的地區之一。作為日治時期雲嘉南地區的政經、醫療與文化的重點區域，文協在嘉義地區的發展不僅常跟地方仕紳、醫師與文人緊密相關，也由於坐擁豐富農林業資源，使嘉義地區的文協活動不只具有都市特質，更同時發展出農工運動的特色。面對嘉義地區不同階層的民眾，文協成員也透過演講、發行刊物、編寫歌謠等不同的溝通語言，為嘉義刻寫下本土思潮的軌跡。

 

​​然而，我們必須意識到的是，這些密集的文化活動，不僅僅是一連串的歷史事件而已——它們是對日本殖民「現代性」與「公共性」的回應，也是對於這兩個概念的臺灣主體性探求。透過嘉義街區裡遺留的日治時期地景，「更名者遊途」以散落四個地點的「黑雕塑」，交織探討臺灣自百年前便開始面臨的政治、社會、語言、文化與身份議題，並以虛實敘事混雜的聲音作品，串連、引導這些當代作品與嘉義歷史的對話。而作為一個街區中的藝術計畫，「更名者遊途」將熟悉的歷史物件重新置入城市空間，卻以「黑色」抽象化了它們之於人們的認知，除了企圖成為連接現實與歷史的入口（portal），也希望能藉此促使我們更新看待日常的眼光，找到重新挖掘城市紋理的方法。倘若我們對那個年代已經失去太多的視覺記憶，不妨透過其他的方式重新喚起「真實」。

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[1] 普羅電波 嘉義市立美術館

現今的嘉義崇文國小（舊稱玉川公學校）有著一座1920年代的「播音塔」——這座播音塔在當時用來進行校內的廣播、升旗時的國歌播放，甚至是軍歌教唱。該座播音塔以黑色的形象被復刻豎立於嘉美館古蹟建築旁，透過陣陣「收音機體操」旋律，作為街區走讀探索的起點。然而，這個規訓的聲音將會被另一段訊號覆蓋，取而代之以臺灣政治及文化運動家楊肇嘉用台語演說的「我的希望」，對臺灣的殖民現代性做出對抗。

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作品聲音出自楊肇嘉《我的希望》台語演說與收音機體操《ラチオ体操の歌》

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[2] 社會雜感 嘉義中正公園

位於現在的中正公園內，1920年落成的「嘉義公會堂」在當時不僅設有全臺灣最大的餐廳與時髦的咖啡廳，也具有政治活動集會、文化展覽、藝術表演、圖書室等多重功能。在這個別具意義、但現已被另一種形式與內涵抽換的遺址上，放置著印有字樣的黑色路擋雕塑，而這些字樣皆為文協曾在嘉義舉辦的演講會議題，涵蓋了教育、性別、道德、衛生、農工權益、藝術與文化等各種社會面向。在這些看似宏大的議題裡，如今又遭遇著什麼樣的形式與內涵抽換？

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[3] 肖像會 木更咖啡

 

曾為清朝時期米穀交易集散地的成仁街，最早以「米街」之名為嘉義人所熟知，更因此區來往的對象皆為商賈地主，使得米穀買賣也連帶促進了當地的藝文風氣。而在這條保留昔日傳統裱褙技藝的街上，有著一支印有「東洋水泥製品廠製」字樣的黑色的老街燈，貼著各種肖像貼紙。這些貼紙是日治時期在不同職業中懷抱各式理想的人物肖像，其中的QR Code則是與其相關的各種事件、聲響、或遺址的入口。

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[4] 逮丸民報 臺灣圖書室

《逮丸民報》以1923年創刊的《臺灣民報》為參考文本，轉渡其報紙編排形式，重新思考所謂「台灣人唯一言論機關」所隱含的各種框架。設於嘉義市區的「台灣圖書室」內，《逮丸民報》以街區走讀藝術設置概念及其相關史蹟點為索引，選摘部分歷史文獻如社告、連載小說與各式刊登廣告，並將當今日常生活風景、網路流行用語錯置其中，呈現臺灣人持續經歷的各種政治和文化更名迷途，試圖擴展對日治時期嘉義文協讀報社的想像。

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A Portal To

—Seeing Taiwan Cultural Association in the Chiayi Street Art Project

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Even a hundred years later, the people of the island of Taiwan have not stopped looking for their own identity. Struggling through all kinds of political and cultural changes, can the people of Taiwan still recognize what they have experienced on the streets?

Starting with the Chiayi Art Museum, this project invites you to set out on a journey through events in Taiwan that took place a century ago, when armed factions that fought against Japanese colonial rule transformed into cultural and social associations and movements along the streets of Chiayi. Through the lens of the Taiwan Cultural Association’s local ideological experimentation in the 1920s, we look to the past in order to explore the possibilities for the future.

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In the 1920s and 1930s, while the island embraced thoughts of modernity, Chiayi was one of the most energetic places for the political, cultural, and art movements in Taiwan. As a critical nexus of politics, medical practice, and culture in southern Taiwan, the activities of the Taiwan Cultural Association in Chiayi were often tied with the local gentry, doctors, and scholars, while Chiayi’s rich agricultural and forestry resources also featured in labor-characterized, often-urban cultural events. Addressing people of different social classes, members of the Cultural Association in Chiayi also communicated with speeches, publications, and songs that marked the trajectories of their thoughts.

 

However, we must realize that these cultural activities were not merely historical events—they were also events in reaction to the colonial modernity and publicness of the Japanese regime and the exploration of Taiwan’s subjectivity toward the two ideas. Against the background of the landscapes of the streets of Chiayi left behind from the Japanese period, “A Portal To” discusses issues of politics, society, language, culture, and identity that Taiwan has been struggling with for the past century with four black sculptures scattered at different locations in Chiayi’s city center. In addition to the sculptures, this project also attempts to navigate possible conversations between these contemporary artworks and the history of Chiayi through an audio work that integrates both fictional and actual narratives

As an art project for the streets, “A Portal To” re-embeds those once-familiar objects from history into the space of the city and abstracts people’s perceptions of them using the color black. While being a portal that connects reality and history, this project also seeks to update our views of daily scenes and to offer new ways to see the city. When we have lost the visual memories of history, why not try to evoke another sense of reality?

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[1] The Radio Wave, Chiayi Art Museum

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A broadcasting tower, which was built in the 1920s, still stands at the Chong Wen Elementary School—the former Tamagawa Public School. The tower was used to broadcast radio programs, play the national anthem at flag-raising, and even teach war songs. Erected next to the historical building of the Chiayi Art Museum, a duplicate tower has been painted black and is broadcasting the melody of the “radio exercises” as the starting point of the street art project. However, that sound of bodily discipline is soon overridden by the voice of the Taiwanese political and cultural activist Yang Zhao-Jia, enthusiastically proclaiming to the audience the renowned speech “My Hope,” on fighting against the colonial modernity imposed on Taiwan.

(The sounds of the work are Yang Zhao-Jia’s speech “My Hope” in Taiwanese and the Song of Radio Taizo.)

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[2] Thoughts on Society, Chiayi Zhongzheng Park

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Located in modern Zhongzheng Park, the “Kagi Kokaido” (Chiayi Assembly Hall), founded in 1920, was equipped at the time with the island’s largest restaurant and a fashionable café, while also functioning as a place for political assemblies, cultural exhibitions, and art performances and as a library. At this historical site, whose old appearance and interpretation have already been replaced, black roadblock sculptures have been installed, printed with the speech topics that were organized by the cultural association in Chiayi. The topics covered various aspects of society, from education, gender, morality, and sanitation to farmers’ and workers’ rights, art, and culture. Among these seemingly grand topics, what appearances and interpretations have also been replaced?

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[3] The Encountering of Portraits, Mugeneration

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Once the center for rice and grain trades during the Qing dynasty, Cheng-Ren Street was known as “rice street” to the locals of Chiayi. As a place dealing mainly with landlords and tradesmen, the grain business also brought the art industry to the street.

On this street, where traditional painting mounting techniques are still practiced, stands an old, black streetlamp, with engravings that say, “Made by Toyo Cement Factory,” beside staggered stickers of portraits. These portraits are of people with different occupations and ideals during the Japanese period, and the QR codes on the stickers are portals to the related events, sounds, and sites.

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[4] Tâi-uân bîn-pò, Tâi-uân Tôo-su-sik

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Taking the 1923 Tâi-uân bîn-pò (Taiwan People’s Newspaper) as the reference, this Tâi-uân bîn-pò has adapted the original’s style and reflected on the premise of the declaration of being “the only speech institution of Taiwanese people.” Installed in the Tâi-uân Tôo-su-sik in the city of Chiayi, Tâi-uân bîn-pò uses the concepts of the artworks in this project as a source of content, excerpting historical literature, such as newspaper statements, novels, and commercial advertisements, and juxtaposing it with scenes of contemporary life and internet slang, along with hints to the historical sites in Chiayi. Presenting the political and historical struggles of the Taiwanese people, this work attempts to expand the imagination toward the newspaper-reading facilities of the Cultural Association under Japanese rule.

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