Kino UTOPIA 奇影烏托邦

The glory days of Kino UTOPIA 奇影烏托邦  are long gone. It appears like a specter of all those cinemas that once inspired minds with grand ideas, reported on breakthrough historical events, and looked boldly into the future. Today, it exists outside of time and space—much like the projections shown within it, where past and future constantly intertwine.

The exhibition had its first iteration at the BWA Wrocław Główny gallery in 2019. This time, on the screen of Kino UTOPIA 奇影烏托邦 —situated within the historic space of the YMCA swimming pool —we will see the works of three Taiwanese artists.

Ying-Ju Chen’s film, “Somewhere Beyond Right and Wrong, There is a Garden. I Will Meet You There,” takes us on a cosmological journey to meet the mythical Chiron—healer and prophet. It is a moving record of the healing process and a meditation on human suffering, blending found footage, travel documentation, and animation.

Ying-Ju Chen, “Somewhere Beyond Right and Wrong, There is a Garden. I Will Meet You There”

In turn, Kuang-Yu Tsui’s “The Wind from Taipei” reveals the tensions between modernization and local identity in a declining fishing village in southern Taiwan. The artist uses the motif of cyclical monsoon winds as a backdrop for human expectations and conflicts.

Kuang-Yu Tsui, “The Wind from Taipei”

Closing the selection are three video works by Jui-Chung Yao from the extensive project “Republic of Cynic.” In these, the author addresses the collective consciousness surrounding Taiwan’s post-war national identity and its diplomatic relations, utilizing strategies of political parody and the artistic reconstruction of historical events.

Jui-Chung Yao, “Republic of Cynic”

The exhibition will also feature a series of hand-painted movie posters by master Chen Zi-Fu dating back to the 1950s, as well as posters by Paweł Giza inspired by Taiwanese cinema.

Artists: Ying-Ju Chen, Kuang-Yu Tsui, Jui-Chung Yao, Chen Zi-Fu, Paweł Giza

Curators: Nien-Ting Chen, Franek Ammer

We invite you to Kino UTOPIA 奇影烏托邦 on a journey through and beyond time—to places and non-places, and a return to the past and the future!

>> The projection time is around 30 minutes. For full experience we recommend visiting the exhibition at full hour. Last entrance an hour before closing time <<

>> Accompanying events program to be announced!<<

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The exhibition was organised with the support of the Ministry of Culture, Taiwan in cooperation with Middle Art Space.

In collaboration with