Since its establishment in 1995, Bamboo Curtain Studio has been dedicated to artistic creation, cultural exchange, and local engagement, accumulating extensive experience in exhibition projects and community collaborations. This year, Bamboo Curtain Studio published a retrospective book series, Rooting Locally, Reaching Globally: Bamboo Curtain Studio (1995–2021) and Afterwards. Drawing on nearly three decades of development and archival materials, the publication revisits the artistic actions and practices that unfolded across different periods, tracing the paths shared by Bamboo Curtain Studio, artists, and local communities. At the same time, a selection of paper-based archival materials has been authorized for digitization by Asia Art Archive (AAA), contributing to the establishment of the digital archive Independent Art Spaces in Taiwan.
This lecture brings together Anne YAO, Catherine LEE, and Heidi CHEN, who have participated in different stages of Bamboo Curtain Studio’s development, alongside AAA researcher Tzuman TSENG. Beginning with archival materials held by both Bamboo Curtain Studio and AAA, the speakers will revisit artistic practices and spatial experiences from different periods. Through the interplay of archival documents, images, audio recordings, oral histories, and other media, the lecture seeks to piece together artistic actions and experiences that once took place, but were not necessarily preserved in their entirety.
DATE｜2026/10/31 (Sat.) 14:00-16:00
VENUE｜KONG ZONG CULTURAL BASE C3 CREATORS’ Space Coworking Space
Speakers｜Heidi CHEN, Catherine LEE, Anne YAO, Tzuman TSENG (Moderator)
Registration｜ACCUPASS
SPEAKERS
▍Anne YAO
Co-founder, Fortune House Studio; Advisor, Bamboo Curtain Studio
Anne Yao is a senior arts and cultural practitioner whose work has long focused on connecting international research and practices in artist residencies and the revitalization of underused spaces with the development of Taiwan’s arts and cultural ecosystem. Working closely with Bamboo Curtain Studio founder Margaret Shiu, she helped build networks for artistic and cultural exchange in Taiwan and internationally, deepening her belief in art as a tool for bridging cultural boundaries and fostering meaningful dialogue.
In 2010, she co-founded Fortune House Studio, where she has developed and implemented a wide range of projects in public art, artist residencies, workshops, and other forms of artistic and cultural engagement. Through these initiatives, she seeks to create interfaces between art and society, bringing art into closer dialogue with everyday life.
▍Catherine LEE
Director of Beitou Eco Museums, Taipei Culture Foundation
Catherine Lee is the current Director of Beitou Eco Museums, Taipei Culture Foundation. She was the former Director of Taipei Artist Village and Treasure Hill Artist Village during 2017-2023, and the Associate Director of Bamboo Curtain Studio (2011-2017). She got her master degree in Museum Science Program at Texas Tech University. After graduation, she worked in different research institution, public museum and artist village. Since then, she has collaborated with curators, artists, designers, researchers, historians, scientists, ecological experts, environmental activists and community groups who are dedicated to sustainable and environmental issues through cultural actions.
▍Heidi CHEN
Heidi Chen was born in Yunlin, Taiwan. She is a semi-freelancer in the fields of art administration, civic technology, environmental art, and archiving collections. Chen graduated from the Department of Cultural Heritage Conservation at the National Yunlin University of Science and Technology. Chen is currently Operations Director at Bamboo Culture International and studies at the Graduate Institute of Building and Planning at National Taiwan University. She has inadvertently accumulated experience in art administration for over a decade and has long been wandering alongside the boundaries of art and culture while pondering the relationships between humans and environments and exploring social justice and humanistic values. She has recently dabbled in archival science owing to her experience working at Bamboo Curtain Studio, striving to archive documents about it and improve their public accessibility.
▍Tzuman TSENG
Project Researcher at Asia Art Archive Taipei Office, working on theIndependent Art Spaces of Taiwan Phase II, coordinating archival research with outreach and educational programmes. She has contributed to several exhibitions at AAA, including “At 25: Artists’ Early Worlds, Part I”.
▍Asia Art Archive
Asia Art Archive (AAA) is an independent non-profit organisation dedicated to preserving and promoting the recent histories of art in Asia, and to facilitating the circulation and exchange of knowledge. Through its website and onsite library in Hong Kong, AAA provides access to its continually expanding collection, supporting research and knowledge production. AAA develops cross-regional knowledge networks through research projects, residencies, and educational programmes, with a focus on art writing, transnational contexts, the relationship between tradition and contemporary practice, and ephemeral forms such as performance art, while also addressing gaps within art history. Its collection includes artists’ archives, exhibition documentation, and a wide range of publications, and continues to grow through research and digitisation. AAA also engages artists, scholars, and the public through talks, workshops, and research initiatives, fostering exchange and contributing to a more diverse and inclusive understanding of art.
▶Organizer｜Ministry of Culture, C-LAB, Bamboo Culture International, Asia Art Archive (AAA)
▶ The organizer reserves the right to adjust and change the activities according to the emergency situation.
