Starting from the contextual perspectives raised by the exhibited works, this forum focuses on the often-overlooked yet profoundly impactful "infrastructure" of the creative environment: How do artists' decisions in times of epochal shift shape art history? How do art organizations and independent spaces serve as supporting nodes for cultural publicity? As a new generation faces an uncertain future, how can we reimagining the possible landscapes of the art ecosystem?
Through the convergence of perspectives across different generations and angles, three speakers are invited to share the ecological relationships among artists, institutional policies, and society. SHEN Bo-Chen will approach the topic from a macroeconomic perspective, exploring the logic behind national cultural resource allocation and how grant funding mechanisms shape art production and its environment. TSAI Chun-Jen will synthesize recent developments in cultural policy with key issues from cultural conferences to analyze the institutional challenges and future opportunities facing today’s arts and culture workers. Meanwhile, CHANG Wen-Hao will draw from his frontline experience in independent art spaces and youth curatorial practice to share how the new generation navigates new paths within limited foundations, while offering his visions for future cultural governance and the art ecosystem.
This is not merely a discussion on art policy or cultural resources, but a public dialogue on how the future art ecosystem can be co-constructed. By looking back at the history touched upon in the exhibition, alongside present analysis and future imagination, we hope to collectively reflect on how to build a more inclusive, resilient, and creative artistic infrastructure for "us" in the near future, especially in this era of dynamic change.
Time：08/15 (Sat) 14:00-16:00
Venue：Coworking Space
Speakers：SHEN Bo-Chen, TSAI Chun-Jen, CHANG Wen-Hao, WU Dar-Kuen (Moderator)
▶ Free Admission via Online Registration
Throughout the long river of history, infrastructure has never been merely about roads, bridges, or communication networks; it encompasses the institutional design, resource allocation, and collective imagination that sustain the operation of an era. From the global order established by the post-WWII Yalta System to the profound shifts driven by current geopolitical restructuring, accelerated digital technology, and the wave of artificial intelligence, the world is entering a new round of structural transformation. Amid these rapid and continuous transformations, we must ask ourselves: Why can "art" serve as a force that continuously fuels creativity? How can "art" act as a solid foundation for social resilience?
WE Are Becoming proposes the curatorial perspective of "Art as an Infrastructure," contending that art is neither just the production of works nor merely a mechanism for responding to social issues. Instead, it is a dynamic ecosystem that continuously generates connections among social resources, public perception, and cultural memory. Spanning diverse dimensions—including artists, creative sites, institutional governance, public participation, and cross-disciplinary collaboration—this system collectively evolves into the essential components that sustain artistic and cultural development.
Speaker Bio
▌SHEN Bo-Chen
SHEN Bo-Chen is an independent curator, art critic, and Adjunct Assistant Professor in the Department of Fine Arts at Taipei National University of the Arts. He holds a PhD in Art Creation and Theory from Tainan National University of the Arts.His academic path has been anything but linear. Inspired by MacGyver, he once studied chemistry and worked as a materials engineer. Fascinated by the adventurous spirit of Indiana Jones, he also spent time involved in archaeological research. Later, intrigued by the Austrian School’s idea that economics is fundamentally a science of human action, he joined the Chung-Hua Institution for Economic Research as a researcher.Eventually, however, his true fascination with exhibitions took over. What began as a side interest gradually turned into a parallel career as an independent curator. Over the years, he has also been invited to give exhibition talks and guided tours at institutions such as the National Taiwan Museum of Fine Arts and the Museum of Contemporary Art Taipei.His art criticism has appeared in publications including ARTouch and ARTCO Monthly. In short, his career has moved from chemistry labs to archaeological sites, from economic research institutes to art museums—an intellectual itinerary that perhaps makes curating exhibitions feel like the most natural adventure of all.
▌TSAI Chun-Jen
Chun-Jen Tsai is a board member of the Taiwan Association for Cultural Policy Studies (TACPS) and a researcher at the Taiwan Performing Arts Association (TPAA). He received his master’s degree from the Graduate School of Arts Management and Cultural Policy at the National Taiwan University of Arts. His research focuses on changes in Taiwan’s cultural policy and public cultural expenditure, international cultural exchange, cultural participation and consumption, arts labor, and cultural data and statistics. He has participated in cultural policy research, forum planning, and international exchange projects. His essays and commissioned articles have appeared in Artist Magazine, PAR Performing Arts, and Wen-Hsun Magazine.
▌CHANG Wen-Hao
CHANG Wen-Hao focuses on issues of globalization and queerness, emphasizing the agency of marginal and fragmented affects. Through queer practices, he seeks to develop counter-operational strategies within homogenized and standardized conditions.
Selected curatorial projects include: Objects Remind of You at the Hakka Cultural Center, Taipei City Hakka Cultural Park, in 2023; Technique Queer Theory I: Q.O.O, co-curated at Kuandu Museum of Fine Arts in 2024; Bad Romance: Affective Body with its Misapprehension and Rumours, co-curated with Danson Wong at Waley Art in 2024; serving as co-curator of the Green Island Human Rights Art Festival in 2025; and curating The Limit is The Turbulent Skies with Nn̄g Project in 2025.
He also continues to oversee the content planning and development of Glitch in Taichung, supporting the growth of young artists’ ecosystems and professional networks.
▍WU Dar-Kuen
Curator, 2026 C-LAB Annual Exhibition, WE Are BecomingDirector of the Contemporary Art Platform, Taiwan Contemporary Culture Lab
▶ Free Admission via Online Registration.
▶ A reminder will be sent to your email prior to the event. If you didn’t receive it, please check your Spam or Junk email.
▶ The organizer reserves the right to change, adjust, or cancel the event.