【Museum Island Column】Encountering Memories of Affordable Housing: ‘Freedom of Movement’ Exhibition Preserves Stories of a Vanishing Community
The key visual design of the ‘Freedom of Movement’ exhibition is a collaborative creation by Onion Design Associates and residents of Ankang. It features a collage of residents’ calligraphy and documents showcasing the community’s memories. (Provided by Atelier a Better Tomorrow)
Author：Deng, Hao Yun (Postgraduate, Graduate Institute of Museum Studies, TNUA)
Translator: Hsieh, Chia Chun (Executive Column Editor, Museum Island by the Ministry of Culture)
Affordable Housing was a social welfare measure provided by the government in the 1960s and 70s. The largest of these housing projects was known as “Ankang housing," which accommodated refugees from Vietnam and Cambodia who came to Taiwan during the Vietnam War. Over the years, it has confronted a variety of social challenges and has persevered in the face of prejudice and discrimination from both external sources and within its own community.
Since 2012, the Taipei city government has been planning to gradually rebuild Ankang into the ‘Xinglong Public Housing,’ addressing issues of overcrowding and deteriorating buildings while endeavoring to transform the ambiance of the area.
‘Freedom of Movement – Encountering the Last Landscapes of Ankang Housing’ is an interim exhibition of the ‘Xinglong Social Housing Public Art Project.’ This project is based on the Taipei City Government’s Urban Development Department’s social housing public art discourse ‘HOME TO ALL’.【Note 1】
The ‘Atelier a Better Tomorrow’ (AABT) team extended this concept to ‘WenShan Encounter,’ a plan for artistic creations and activities from 2022 to 2026. The aim of the campaign is to inspire both local residents and future tenants to envision communal living in social housing.
‘Freedom of Movement’ stems from observations and experiences accumulated during the year-long residency of AABT’s art station ‘Xinglong Living Room’ in the public housing area. By creating a public space within the housing complex, the daily needs and stories of the residents could be converged together. This initiative supported residents through the psychological changes of relocation and allowed outsiders to gain insights into the multifaceted lives of the inhabitants.
The exhibition connects artworks with living spaces and residents’ belongings, spread across three vacant public housing units. ‘Meeting You in the Living Room’ features representative objects from residents to narrate their life stories, the spirit of community mutual aid, and their journeys of encountering each other.
For instance, when the ‘Xinglong Living Room’ art station was established, they invited Liu, Yi Yin, an art therapist from Heard Corner Art Therapy Studio, to lead residents in creating plaster casts of their hands. The plaster casts of resident Feng Ling’s hands allows visitors to understand her memories of China’s communist revolution, jungle life in Laos, and the Vietnam War through the weathered traces on her hands.
Another vacant unit showcases the home of the late Grandma Liao. The documentary ‘Monologue in the ruins’ by Scenery Film is being shown in this space. The furniture and belongings left behind interact with the space and the documentary, piecing together the personality and life of the original occupant.
Grandma Liao left in an ambulance two or three years ago and never returned. Her family didn’t clear out her home, leaving traces of her life intact. ‘Monologue in the ruins’ captures the state of the abandoned public housing, interspersed with interviews of residents. Through these interviews, visitors can have a glimpse of how the Ankang housing community feels about environmental changes, relocation, and their own lives.
Chen, Po I’s work ‘Hundred Blessings’ is named after a door couplet he found in Ankang: ‘May all blessings arrive.’ As a form of companionship, he takes photographs of residents with their homes before relocation, offering blessings. These photos also document the relationship between residents and their living spaces.
The exhibition reveals each person’s choices regarding ‘movement’ and ‘home.’ Not all residents will relocate to the new social housing, and the existing network of interactions will inevitably change with Ankang’s demolition. This exhibition accompanies the community in remembering fleeting moments and serves as a starting point for different communities to come together, share space and envision daily life together in the upcoming mixed-residence future.
【Note 1】 ‘HOME TO ALL’ was developed by the Taipei City Government’s Urban Development Department in 2019-2020, commissioned to Artfield（禾磊藝術）. For more details, see ‘Taipei City Social Housing Public Art Installation Preliminary Planning.’
❚ English Editor: Cheung, Billy Chi-Yiu （M.A., Graduate Institute of Museum Studies, TNUA）
❚ Executive Editor: Hsieh, Chia Chun
Sources, Related Links:
- Facebook Fan Page of ‘WenShan Encounter’
- Zi Wu, Zhang (July 24, 2018). Taipei’s Last Slum: The Past, Present, and Future of Ankang Community. The Reporter.
- Zong Han, Hsieh (February 19, 2023). When the Ferry is About to Dock: Housing Security for Ankang Housing Residents Facing Xinglong Social Housing Reconstruction. Eyes on Place.
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