NTCAM Collection: Between Arts and Folk Cultures｜403｜Observing the Human Condition

Minjian / Photography│308│Lin Bo-liang│The Ling-An Society Archives

Script of this episode// In the 1970s, traditional opera gradually declined due to urbanization, industrial growth, and the enforcement of the national mandarin language policy. During this period, the Dadaocheng Ling-An Society stood out. Founded in 1871, the Lin-An Society is Taipei’s oldest Beiguan amateur society. It has long participated in deity-welcoming ceremonies at the Xia Hai City God Temple and in local festivals, sustaining the zidixi tradition rooted in temple festival culture.   At the end of 1975, Chiu Kun-liang, who was then teaching in the Department of Drama at Chinese Culture College, led his students to the Ling-An Society to learn Zidixi from folk masters. This was the first instance in Taiwan in which college students sought guidance from the Minjian sphere through an organized approach. The students’ focus went beyond operatic techniques—by engaging with stage movements, singing styles, theatrical makeup, and traditional percussion, they performed on open-air stages to personally re-understand and reconnect with the deep link between traditional opera and local society.   After their first public appearance in 1977, this group of students began performing in various locations, including temple courtyards, neighborhood streets, harbors, and local festivals. Photographer Lin Bo-liang documented their journey starting in 1979, capturing everything from rehearsals and makeup applications to stage performances, and interactions with local audiences. Rather than adopting a purely observational approach, his camera serves as a partner to these young performers—witnessing their evolution from students to genuine performers and their humility in facing the scrutiny of traditional folk masters and local crowds.   Apart from Lin Bo-liang’s photography, Han Sheng (the Chinese version of ECHO magazine) published a special feature on the Ling-An Society in 1976, offering a detailed documentation of this traditional culture of amateur musical societies. In 1977, Chang Chao-tang directed the documentary Archive / Ling-An Society, which captures invaluable footage of their public performance near Taipei’s Water Gate No. 9. The film preserves the unrestored quality of the original celluloid, with visible scratches, a reddish hue, and coarse grain—elements that enhance the viewing experience by reflecting the fluid and energetic outdoor theater live.   This collection of photographs, films, and archival publications invites us to reflect on a significant cultural experiment from the 1970s, created by intellectual youth, documentary filmmakers, and folk artists. They went beyond mere documentation of a tradition; they immersed themselves in Minjian society, took part in it, and, through each rehearsal and performance, critically rethought their relationship to local culture while seeking and reshaping the concept of “the Minjian” in the contemporary world. Minjian / Photography: Documentary Vision and Its Realist Inflection 2026.07.18-11.15 ｜Curator｜CHANG Shih-lun ｜Artists｜MATSUYAMA Kenzo, CHANG Tsai, HUANG Tse-hsiu, HUANG Yung-sung, YAO Meng-chia, CHANG Chao-tang, LIANG Cheng-chu, LIN Bo-liang ｜More Information｜https://ntcart.museum/exhibition_content.aspx?id=H2606003 [https://ntcart.museum/exhibition_content.aspx?id=H2606003]

Minjian / Photography│307│Liang Cheng-chu│Neihu, Taipei

Script of this episode// On March 25, 1982, a tragic explosion occurred at the Futian Coal Mine in Neihu, Taipei. This image before you capture the moment when miner Li Ping-tsai broke down emotionally after finding a deceased colleague’s body and bringing him out of the mine shaft.   The intense grief depicted is more than a momentary reaction to a single tragedy; it reflects the broader context of the 1980s, an era marked by the decline of Taiwan’s coal mining industry. During that time, frequent mine disasters forced many workers to operate in highly risky conditions that rarely drew public attention. Therefore, this photograph serves as crucial testimony to that period in labor history.   Through documentary photography, we see that the “Minjian” encompasses far more than local customs, religious faiths, or the textures of daily life. It also reflects the silent suffering of individuals swept up in historical shifts. The photographer captures the miner’s physical form, the memory of the disaster, and the social reality of the time in a single, undeniable moment.   This work also reflects a significant shift in Taiwanese documentary photography during the 1980s. Photographers began to focus on the darker sides of rapid development, including urban-rural transitions, industrial changes, and their impact on people. Consequently, the Minjian became not only a cultural landscape but also a vital space for understanding Taiwan’s social and historical changes. Minjian / Photography: Documentary Vision and Its Realist Inflection 2026.07.18-11.15 ｜Curator｜CHANG Shih-lun ｜Artists｜MATSUYAMA Kenzo, CHANG Tsai, HUANG Tse-hsiu, HUANG Yung-sung, YAO Meng-chia, CHANG Chao-tang, LIANG Cheng-chu, LIN Bo-liang ｜More Information｜https://ntcart.museum/exhibition_content.aspx?id=H2606003 [https://ntcart.museum/exhibition_content.aspx?id=H2606003]

Minjian / Photography│306│Yao Meng-chia│Puli, Nantou

Script of this episode// This photograph, published in the April issue of Lion Art in 1978, shows a child seated comfortably on a water buffalo as it wades through a fast-moving stream. When Chiang Hsun, the magazine’s editor-in-chief at the time, saw the image, he remarked: “The child sitting on the buffalo in the middle of the rapids looks so natural and at ease, gazing fearlessly at the surging currents.” This straightforward, vigorous vitality has been gradually disappearing from our lives, swept away by increasing commercialization and urban growth.   Yao Meng-chia’s photography not only records rural scenes but also vividly captures the texture of Taiwanese society caught between tradition and modernity. During times of rapid change, the calm, unhurried atmosphere in the images conveys a strong connection to the land and everyday life. At the same time, it subtly hints at nostalgia for a transitioning era, prompting viewers to reflect on traditional lifestyles and spiritual landscapes that are slowly fading into history. Minjian / Photography: Documentary Vision and Its Realist Inflection 2026.07.18-11.15 ｜Curator｜CHANG Shih-lun ｜Artists｜MATSUYAMA Kenzo, CHANG Tsai, HUANG Tse-hsiu, HUANG Yung-sung, YAO Meng-chia, CHANG Chao-tang, LIANG Cheng-chu, LIN Bo-liang ｜More Information｜https://ntcart.museum/exhibition_content.aspx?id=H2606003 [https://ntcart.museum/exhibition_content.aspx?id=H2606003]

Minjian / Photography│305│Chang Chao-tang│Imagined Nostalgia

Script of this episode// Chang Chao-tang’s photography often features musicians, wanderers, and long-distance travelers. Their identities are not always clear, and they sometimes lack detailed backstories. Instead, they appear as transient silhouettes pausing in their journeys, enveloped in silence and mystery, inviting the viewer’s imagination to fill the gaps.   In this vitrine, the first exhibit is a photograph by Werner Bischof, included in the 1977 Life Notes. It depicts a young flute player approaching a village in the Andes. This image was later curated by Chang Chao-tang, copied freehand by Shi Song’s mother, and ultimately transformed into a woodblock print by Shi Song. Over time, the image moved beyond its original context, evolving into a cross-media, ever-changing cultural symbol. In this context, “nostalgia” extends beyond a simple longing for the homeland; it becomes an emotion repeatedly evoked through shifting imagery, text, and memories.   This transformation continues in a seaside group photograph featured in the 1978 edition of Life Notes. Discovered in sculptor Ju Ming’s old photo albums, the photograph’s original creator, subjects, and location remained entirely unknown. Chang contrasted this anonymous image from Minjian society with the classic Taiwanese song “Song of Tobacco and Alcohol”,  imbuing the photo with the drifting mood of a cinematic still.   Years later, the public learned that the figures in the photo were friends from a glove puppetry troupe, taken on the coast of Tongxiao, Miaoli. Because their identities were once unknown, the photo evoked strong feelings of wandering, nostalgia, and life’s journey. It has inspired Shi Song’s woodblock print Winter Seashore, Lin Hwai-min’s dance piece My Nostalgia, My Songs, and the theatrical production *Pirated Version: My Nostalgia, My Songs *by Wang Mo-lin and Wang Jun-jieh — all of which continue to be reinterpreted across diverse art forms.   Since the 1970s, “returning to the native soil” has been a crucial topic in Taiwanese cultural discussions. Nevertheless, these works remind us that “homeland” is not always a physical location one can visit. Rather, it is an emotional realm that is constantly redefined through a mix of images, sounds, and memories.   Consequently, this vitrine does not merely display the pursuit of an “origin.” Instead, it shows how a single photograph can be circulated, appropriated, transformed, and reinterpreted by various creators, constantly generating new cultural significance. It is through this ongoing process of change that the “Minjian” is continuously reimagined. Minjian / Photography: Documentary Vision and Its Realist Inflection 2026.07.18-11.15 ｜Curator｜CHANG Shih-lun ｜Artists｜MATSUYAMA Kenzo, CHANG Tsai, HUANG Tse-hsiu, HUANG Yung-sung, YAO Meng-chia, CHANG Chao-tang, LIANG Cheng-chu, LIN Bo-liang ｜More Information｜https://ntcart.museum/exhibition_content.aspx?id=H2606003 [https://ntcart.museum/exhibition_content.aspx?id=H2606003]

Minjian / Photography│304│Huang Yung-sung│Statue of Mazu at the Grand Mazu Temple

Script of this episode// This image of the Mazu statue before you were featured in an article titled “A Hall of Traditional Sculpture: Grand Mazu Temple,” which appeared in the 7th issue of *Han Sheng *(the Chinese edition of ECHO magazine) as part of “Form-Making in Chinese Culture.” Photographed by Huang Yung-sung and written by Shi Song under the pseudonym “Chiang Sheng,” the reportage is considered a significant early work of Han Sheng.   This feature is important not only for creating a valuable visual record of the Grand Mazu Temple in Tainan but also for documenting the Han Sheng team’s immersive fieldwork within Minjian society. Rather than simply showcasing the temple’s architecture and religious statues, it honestly portrays the photographic process, including how the team communicated with temple authorities, managed lighting and angles in tight spaces, and worked within a sacred site. Throughout, they maintained respect and humility, ensuring that traditional culture was not reduced to a spectacle for visual consumption. Minjian / Photography: Documentary Vision and Its Realist Inflection 2026.07.18-11.15 ｜Curator｜CHANG Shih-lun ｜Artists｜MATSUYAMA Kenzo, CHANG Tsai, HUANG Tse-hsiu, HUANG Yung-sung, YAO Meng-chia, CHANG Chao-tang, LIANG Cheng-chu, LIN Bo-liang ｜More Information｜https://ntcart.museum/exhibition_content.aspx?id=H2606003 [https://ntcart.museum/exhibition_content.aspx?id=H2606003]