TKG+ Projects is pleased to present the exhibition For for for forest, curated by independent curator Wang Yung-Lin, bringing together numerous visual artists, the writer Wu Cheng, director HuangHao-jie and contemporary photographer Lin Meng Shan. The works on view include a range of art mediums with different approaches. On April 26, a Forum will be held at 3:00 pm, co-hosted with Lee Keng-Cheng (CEO, Citizen of the Earth), Lin Ying-Chun (Founder, Eighty-Eightea), HuangHao-jie (Founder of Kids Film Ltd.), and a special guest to share their experiences of the forest.
With large areas of the island’s towering mountains covered with trees, For for for forest describes the dense lushness of forests that was once a common sight in Taiwan. Forests encompass the world’s major ecosystems and cultivate a variety of organisms—which is representative of the future and refuge for people. The forests of Taiwan have, however, suffered a painful history, from deforestation during the Japanese Colonial Period, to profitable logging when the Nationalist Government arrived on Taiwan’s shores, followed by a series of exhaustive forestry policies which drove Taiwan’s primal forests to the edge of depletion. This situation persisted until the “Logging Ban on Natural Forests” of the 1990s, but was soon diverged with a series of unsound reforestation policies, mining, and illegal logging. To date, Taiwan no longer retains conditions viable for forestry. The policy of “cutting big trees, and planting small trees” has weakened the land conditions in Taiwan’s mountainous regions, especially in times of climate change, severe winds, and floods. Not to mention incomprehensible realities such as the fact that Taiwan’s shitake mushroom industry requires cutting down trees at a rate equivalent to 88 times that of Da-an Forest Park each year.
By involving 60 artists and the environmental research of Citizen of the Earth, we propose an alternative way of thinking about forest conservation through art. The selling price of the works are set below 10000 NTD in hopes of raising public awareness. All proceeds will be donated to Citizen of the Earth under the artists’ names to support and advance forest protection research and related projects.
For for for forest is co-organized with Marie Claire and accompanied by the project “If I have a tree,” which is included in its April Issue, inviting artists, musicians, chefs, and designers to share their memories of trees and the land. Special acknowledgement goes to Eighty-Eightea and its endeavor to eco-planting. This exhibition is dedicated to anyone who has ever walked in the midst of trees, breathed deeply, hopeful that the lush and verdant forests before them would endure.
