Jane`s澎湖紙雕藝術巡禮

[wuarts]

Jane Ingram Allen
Made In Taiwan
Penghu Islands
Nov. 22- Dec. 5, 2004

Host Organization:  Penghu Aquarium, Marine Biology Research Center, T.F.R.I., C,O,A
Web site: http://www.ph.tfrin.gov.tw
Email: luy...@mail.ph.tfrin.gov.tw

The Aquarium staff has produced this beautiful poster to promote Jane's visit. We are looking forward to our visit to the very special place.
We have arrived in Penghu and the aquarium is much more beautiful than we expected. We met with some of the museum staff and volunteers. They are helping us get settled and start to work.

We have started to install "Made in Taiwan" in the aquarium's cafeteria that is closed for a couple of weeks. It is a great space that will make it possible to show the work to lots of people. The photos are of Jane and some community volunteers installing some of the "site maps".  Also. there is a photo showing Jane looking around outside the aquarium buildings to find materials and one photo showing feeding of the fish at the aquarium.  The aquarium is an amazing facility with beautiful views of fish and ocean life.  Penghu is a very interesting place with 64 islands, and the aquarium is located on one of the larger islands "Baisha" which means "white sand".  There is lots to see and many different plants that Jane will be using in her work.

Tuesday was a day to go out into the fields around the Aquarium to gather plants. Jane and her assistants found six plants that she believes would be good for making paper. Once picked, the plants were stripped of their bark, cut up and soaked. We had four pots and burners so that it is going to be quicker to see how the plants will do for making paper. We also found an abandoned traditional Penghu house and a more modern house built behind it on our plant-gathering trip.

Jane and community volunteers prepared the fibers that were cooked yesterday. They continued to cook additional plants. Jane had a visit from the local Junior High School students. There were about 50 students. They got to see the aquarium, pick flowers to put into their paper and then make paper. They made some very good paper. Afterwards, Jane talked to them about her "Made in Taiwan" project and the art exhibition she made at Penghu Aquarium. They were very interested to hear about the Penghu "site maps" Jane plans to make using local materials.

Jane got up early this morning and went to out to collect sea weed at low tide. There were a number of people out to find clams. The water goes down almost 2 meters. She then started to make paper using the plants that were collected and prepared. The one in the photo is Mallow. It not do so well as the fibers are not dispersing well. She later gave a lecture to the art students from the Junior and Senior High Schools at the Bureau of Cultural Affairs auditorium.

Jane talked with both a print and TV reporter today. She continued to prepare paper pulp from the local plant fibers and got ready for the two-day public workshop Saturday and Sunday. We also went in search of the best fish to cook for tonight’s dinner. Yi-lin had asked the local market to call him when the fishmonger came selling his fish. We arrived after he had left. David, one of the employees at the Penghu Aquarium, drove us around the northern island in search of the fishmonger. No luck, we went to the main city Makung's vegetable and fish market. We did buy two of the slices of fish shown in the picture below, and dinner turned out great.

Jane led a papermaking workshop for 25 people. She had a lot of help from volunteers. Everyone seemed to have learned about the plants that make paper and then collected some on a field trip lead by Sherry. They came back and started making paper.

The two day workshop ended today with the students producing some very good works. They learned to make a large work (200 cm x 100 cm) using the pouring method. They also learned about and made paper from the local plants. Overall, it was a successful two days.

Jane started out the day making paper from plants collected around the island. One of those plants was elephant grass. It made beautiful green paper but did not have much wet strength. She had to put it with paper mulberry to give it enough strength to be used for embossing on the coral walls. After putting the paper on the walls, used as wind blocks, she went on a tour of the western or Fisherman's Island. She stopped at the temple that has the oldest banyan tree, over 350 years old, that has spread to over 100 down shoots and covers over 1,000 square meters. She also saw interesting sea coast villages and watched the sunset from a fort built in the 18th century.

Jane spent a busy day getting up early to visit the fishing port where they sell fish and other goods. Some of the fishermen who are from mainland China are not permitted off the boats. She then went to the temple where the oldest tree is located, prayed, and donated to the god before putting up her paper on the trunks. She also found the symbol of the temple interesting and put paper on that as well. She returned later in the afternoon to find the paper on the symbol dry but not on the tree. She removed the paper on the symbol. Returning to the Aquarium, she began laying out her round-shaped Penghu Sitemap based on the round map of the islands she saw at the historical exhibition in Penghu about the Portugese exploration of the islands..

Today we returned to the largest tree on the island and removed the paper. Jane continued to work on her round Penghu site map and began to create a new one useing a fish net as a base to work. We are beginning to wind down on the collecting, cooking and preparing samples of paper from the plants we have found on Penghu. So far we have tried 13 plants, and some are excellent. Others are very resistant to being broken down to make paper. This may be due to the salt levels, hot sun in the summer and the high winds in the winter. Only the most hardy plants survive here year around. People in Penghu are beginning to put out Christmas decorations, and it is strange to see this happen in a non-Christian country.

We are spending our last couple of days here at the Pengu Aquarium. Jane is trying to complete her three Penghu site maps. One of the site maps is round, an unusual shape for her and the other was put together on a fishing net. As you can see from the pictures, they are different from her past work. She also has a public lecture tonight 12-4-04.

Jane spent the final full day at Penghu completing her three Penghu Site Maps. She has not named them yet. Tim was able to photograph two of the three maps. She also gave a lecture at the cultural center. Although the day began with much wind and rain, it finished with one of the most beautiful days that we have spent here. The sun was shining, and the wind was a gentle breeze.