An installation by a Taiwan artist in which visitors are serenaded by opera singers is being staged at the prestigious Centre Pompidou in Paris, spotlighting the vibrant talent and international appeal of local creators.
Lee Ming-wei’s “Sonic Blossom,” sponsored by the Ministry of Culture and co-organized by the Taiwan Cultural Center in Paris, is being held Oct.10 through Nov. 4 at the National Museum of Modern Art located inside the Centre Pompidou.
The participatory art project, which has already toured the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston and the National Portrait Gallery in Washington D.C., features vocalists who invite a single visitor to be their audience while they sing one of five lieder by 19th century Austrian composer Franz Schubert.
According to Lee, the inspiration for the piece came from when he and his mother were soothed by listening to Schubert’s music as he cared for her following surgery. The project expresses a love for life as well as highlighting the transitory nature of existence.
Born in 1964, Lee is famous for his participatory artworks. He made his name in 1997 with “The Dining Project,” in which he invited members of the public to eat with him one-on-one in his art studio. Lee’s performing art project “Our Labyrinth” was staged at Centre Pompidou in 2017 as part of a series of special events celebrating the institution’s 40th anniversary. (CPY-E)
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