Alfredo and Isabel Aquilizan-The Left Wing Project

Alfredo & Isabel Aquilizan "The Left Wing Project" in Taiwan

Artist: Alfredo & Isabel Aquilizan

The Left Wing Project: Reviewing Local Agricultural Issue

The nourishment of contemporary art always comes from the society and the environment in which we live. Filipino artist couple Alfredo and Isabel Aquilizan usually have collaboration with local community in their projects, including workshops and other cultural exchange events. “The Left Wing Project” has been started since 2015, which focuses on agricultural issues in Southeast Asia in historical and geographical perspective. After Yogyakarta, Indonesia and Tabaco, Philippines, they take Taiwan as the next stop of their project in 2018.

The artists have learned that the most serious problem now in Taiwan is “the inappropriate usage of farmlands (note.1)”. This could be attributed to unclear regulations and flipping real estate. In Taiwan, the so-called developed country, still has a large part of farmers that could only use sickles to farm and harvest. This condition not only manifests the congenital problem of separated landform which deepens farmers’ inability to expand their farming fields, resulting in the limitation of machinery manipulation, but also shows that the predicament is becoming worse now.

Creating with local farmers in Taiwan

The key point of The Left Wing Project in Taiwan will discuss local land problems mentioned above with sickles.

SICKLE is an essential tool for farmers when they harvest crops annually. Also, it could be interpreted to multiple meanings in economic, historical, social and cultural contexts. As an artist group who are familiar with blending used objects with memories into works, Aquilizan would like to collect second-hand sickles, which contain the original owners’ using experiences, from farmers and agricultural-related institutions in Taiwan, and then start a discussion about agricultural issues in the context of contemporary art.

Thus, "The Left Wing Project in Taiwan" will launched the event "Second-hand Sickles Recruitment" with agricultural-related foundations and social enterprises such as "Buying Directly with Farmers (note.2)" first this year. A series of workshops and lectures will also be held along with the opening in Oct. 2018 for the sake of real interaction between Taiwanese farmers (note.3) and International artists Aquilizans.

Note 1: Datas surveyed by the government

Note 2: Buy Directly From Farmers” (BDFF) is a group dedicated to Taiwanese farmers since 2010 and officially registered as a social enterprise in 2014.Our goal is to provide a solution for a sound environment,creating a harmonious relationship between the city and countryside.

Note 3: Second-hand Sickles Recruitment

1. Type: 30-40cm used sickles

2. Duration: From now to March, 2018

If you are interested in participating in “The Left Wing Project”, please fill the form below or call (02)3322-6207, email gallery@nunufineart.com. We are grateful for your participating.