Established in 2002, the Taishin Arts Award (referred to below as “the Award”) is the first of its kind in Taiwan to encompass visual, performing, and interdisciplinary arts. Over the past two decades, not only has the Award crafted a highly iconic laureate of art, but has more importantly combined the operation of art award mechanisms, and the writing of professional art reviews to become a continuous driving force in the development of Taiwan’s art scene.

With the approach of the Award’s 20th anniversary, the Taishin Bank Foundation for Arts and Culture and the Museum of National Taipei University of Education (MoNTUE) have collaborated to present NEXT: Taishin Arts Award 20th Anniversary Exhibition. Featuring works by previous award-winners, the exhibition moves beyond the framework and boundary of a retrospective exhibition, employing a diverse, organic approach which includes brand-new art projects, interdisciplinary collaborations, live performances, live-streamed talks, Podcast, academic forums, and site-specific actions, to collectively inquire into the possibility and future of Taiwanese contemporary art.

From the outset, the Award has been committed to supporting the “here and now” and “future direction” of artists. Upholding an open attitude, the Award has no specific preference for any aesthetic stance, value orientation, and means of expression, but rather prioritizes innovation and breakthrough in concept and form as its key focus. Because of such unique position, it is essential for the Award to look forwards and evolve with the times, as well as engaging continually with artists to reflect on what art is and what it can be. Taking “NEXT” as its title, this exhibition centers on the “present” of the previous recipients, thus

resonating with the spirit of the Award.

Whether in the past, present, or the future, the Taishin Arts Award has been and will continue challenging new ideas and forging new values, as well as generating discourses and dialectics in the process, which testifies to the vitality and unlimited potential of art in Taiwan. Not only does the Award respond to the current state of Taiwan’s art scene, it further serves as a driving force that supports artistic exploration. Since its inception, the Award included the “interdisciplinary” within its field of vision; this decision was not made for the sake of being “interdisciplinary, "but rather to return to the very nature of artistic creation and allow more freedom to the choices and approaches of art-making. In the same spirit, NEXT: Taishin Arts Award 20th Anniversary Exhibition aspires to surpass existing restraints and frameworks, and engender new connections and exchanges in order to step into the realm of the unknown through artistic practices.