Wu Ma-li has built a career using her artistic vision to champion social justice and bring change to
local communities.
Asia (Maze), wood, 1989 (Courtesy of Wu Ma-li)
Over the past decade, National Taiwan Museum of Fine Arts in the central city of Taichung has published 31 documentaries focusing on the careers and lives of distinguished local artists. Sculptor and performance artist Wu Ma-li (吳瑪悧) was among the creative talents featured in the museum’s latest production published in December last year.
Entitled “The Process of Being Us,” the film explores Wu’s artistic pursuits and accomplishments. It provides an insight into the artist’s rise to prominence culminating in her receiving a National Award for Arts, Taiwan’s most prestigious honor in the artistic and cultural arenas, in 2016.
Wu’s work is known for its political and social commentary, a fact that captured the judges’ attention alongside her support for community arts programs. Among the issues Wu has examined are environmental protection and gender equality, and she has been a tireless advocate for promoting a unique Taiwan identity.
Strong Beginnings
Studying sculpture at the Arts Academy of the City of Dusseldorf in Germany in the early 1980s had a profound influence on Wu’s subsequent career path. In particular, she was inspired by German avant-garde performance artist Joseph Beuys, from whom she learned that art should originate in an individual’s personal experiences yet also address universal artistic, political and social ideas.
“I found Beuys’ social sculpture theory—‘everything is art; every aspect of life could be approached creatively; and everyone has the potential to be an artist’—highly thought-provoking,” Wu said. “It made me reevaluate the meaning of art and its purpose.” Her conclusion: art should strive to structure and shape the world around it.
After earning her degree, Wu returned to Taiwan in 1985 and embarked on an artistic journey that began when the country was still under martial law but was also undergoing a period of gradual liberalization, which saw the first wave of social movements seeking to defend the rights of consumers, indigenous peoples, students and women, in addition to protecting the environment. After numerous protests by farmers, laborers, political prisoners and military veterans, martial law was lifted in 1987.
Wu’s 1989 work Asia (Maze) portrayed the political atmosphere in the region during this time and the country’s painful transition toward democracy. Another 1990 creation Love to the Highest Point took the form of a cake depicting the ROC (Taiwan) national flag, which gradually turned stale over the period of a few days, representing the madness of blind patriotism.
Chang Ching-wen (張晴文), an art critic and assistant professor in the Department of Arts and Design at National Tsing Hua University in northern Taiwan’s Hsinchu City, has been a keen follower of Wu’s evolution as an artist. “Early on and in the 1990s, Wu largely used everyday objects like books and newspapers as her materials, and many of these works reflected political and social concerns,” Chang said. “But in the 2000s, she changed her art style from a critical stance to one that is more socially engaged.”
The Library, 1995 (Courtesy of Wu Ma-li)
While Wu’s works may not be considered beautiful, Chang argues their appeal stems from the powerful messages they convey. Her use of unconventional materials and impermanent installations was especially unique in the 1980s and 90s, the critic said. “The recurring motifs suggest that art is ultimately inseparable from everyday life,” Chang said. “Her switch to performance art reflects this—she rejects the art world’s increasing commercialization in favor of creating ephemeral, time-based events.”
Positive Difference
In 1999, Wu was invited by nongovernmental organization Taipei Awakening Association to host workshops for local women, an assignment that would ultimately alter her artistic direction. “My creations used to be based on my own field research among groups such as female factory workers and housewives, but these didn’t really have a meaningful impact on people’s lives,” Wu said. “I decided I wanted to help the women in these workshops by cultivating a self-awareness and belief in their own worth using creative and fun means.”
“Secret Garden,” 1999 (Courtesy of Lee Zhi-hu)
Wu asked participants to share their life stories and feelings while participating in the creative process, allowing them to become what she terms “co-authors” of the work rather than passive viewers. That marked the beginning of Wu’s promotion of participatory arts—aiming to generate dialogue and community mobilization through shared ownership of art.
The concept is best demonstrated by the “A Cultural Action at Plum Tree Creek” project initiated by Wu in Zhuwei neighborhood of New Taipei City’s Tamsui District in 2010. The two-year undertaking was designed to raise environmental awareness and solicit community involvement in achieving ecological sustainability.
Industrialization and urbanization led to erosion of the natural environment around the neighborhood’s Plum Tree Creek. Wu’s idea was to restore the forgotten stream to its former glory in order to support native flora and fauna as well as enable residents to reconstruct their collective memories of the area.
Follow the Dream Boat, 2004 (Courtesy of Wu Ma-li)
The environmental art project saw a host of activities organized, encompassing arts and crafts classes, breakfast meetings, drama performances, exhibitions and workshops. Residents, community organizations, farmers, students and teachers all joined in to discuss and reflect on their relationships with the local environment and how to tackle ecological preservation.
According to Chang, the creek project succeeded in empowering the community, demonstrating art’s potential to transform society. It also compelled New Taipei City Government to include Plum Tree Creek in its 2030 Vision of Grand River Program aimed at establishing ecologically friendly and publicly accessible waterways through regeneration efforts and removal of concrete structures.
“Edible Landscape Taipei,” 2008 (Courtesy of Wu Ma-li)
One of a Kind
Wang Pin-hua (王品驊), an assistant professor in the Department of Fine Arts at National Changhua University of Education in central Taiwan, is another expert who has been impressed by Wu’s dedication to effecting social change. “Her projects expand the scope and functions of art and change our understanding of aesthetics,” Wang said. “They also reveal her concern for the environment and underprivileged groups, as well as her strong desire to use art for good.”
Unlike artists who focus on producing their own works, Wu’s art is collaborative, inviting individuals and institutions to join in exploring new possibilities, Wang said. Her artistic practice emphasizes action-oriented events and creativity as well as the process, not just the result, the assistant professor added.
“Empress’ New Clothes,” 2004 (Courtesy of Wu Ma-li)
Wang is effusive in her praise for Wu’s talent and contribution to Taiwan. “As an artist, curator, educator, feminist and translator [of Western art books], Wu has taken on many roles and excelled in all of them,” Wang said. “She truly is an icon of the country’s contemporary art scene, as is reflected in the numerous honors garnered throughout her career.”
Wu, however, is not allowing the plaudits to distract from her goal of using art as a tool for social activism. “I don’t want my art sitting on a shelf to collect dust in some museum,” she said. “Does my art have meaning, and can it inspire others? That’s how I measure success.”
Write to Kelly Her at kher@mofa.gov.tw