21/08/2025
The project "All the narratives are the retold of recollections" applied the texts from “All the writings are the writings of memories” written during Cheng’s artist-in-residency at Konstmuseet in Sweden in 2024. The residency explored the concept of migration while focusing on two subjects particularly - the Taiwanese political refugee in Sweden, Peng Ming-Min and the Swedish explorer Sven Hedin who specialized in Central Asia.
On her way from Taiwan to Sweden, Cheng chose to follow the steps of Peng, stopping by Hong Kong, Bangkok, Copenhagen, Stockholm, London, and then back to Stockholm. And inspired by the travel journals written by Hedin, Cheng documented her journey with texts. Through recollecting and narrating, Cheng intended to examine the line between personal experience and public knowledge, as well as how it was converted into one another, especially the roles gender and nationality played in the process.
For the project here, commissioned by curator Hung-Fei Wu for the exhibition “munus II: Immunity and Community for Contemporary Healing” at 本事藝術 Solid Art. Cheng considered the writings above as a process of externalizing her personal experiences and trauma. She invited nine participants, from professionals to amateurs, from family, close friends to strangers, to re-enact her journal. Through role playing and re-enacting, Cheng intends to apply the concept of Speech Act and Narrative Therapy to discuss the possibility and the methods of externalizing personal discomfort experiences. Under the context of “seeing everyone as nested living entities”, the project can be considered an experiment to see if we can live with our wounds through sharing.
Apart from the video that documented the re-enacting, in the installation, there was a table with personal items mentioned in the storyline, pen and papers with an acrylic box, and a recording microphone on a stand. The audience was invited to share their personal discomfort experiences, and also re-enacting others’ through audio recording.
本創作計畫利用藝術家鄭亭亭於去年至瑞典Skövde美術館駐村時的部分創作－《所有的書寫都是記憶的書寫 All the writings are the writings of memories》，其以遊記的形式，藉由回憶（re-collecting）與敘事來檢視個人經驗與公眾知識的界線，以及兩者之間轉化的過程與媒介，和性別與國族在該權力架構下所扮演的角色。在此次的創作中，藝術家將上述文本視為他個人經驗與創傷外部化的過程，並希藉由邀請參與者重新演繹，以扮演（role-playing / re-enacting）的形式，以及 Speech Act 與敘事治療的概念，來討論將個人創傷外部化的方法與可能性，並在以將「個人視為整體社會中鑲嵌的一部分（seeing everyone as nested living entities）」的情況下，實驗我們是否可以藉由共享創傷來與傷口共存，並觀察在過程中，分享者與扮演者外部化及內部化敘事的情形。
《所有的敘事都是回憶的重述》目前正在 本事藝術 Solid Art 展出中，直到 8/30
"All the narratives are the retold of recollections" is currently shown at 本事藝術 Solid Art, Taipei until 30 Aug.
Photos by ANPIS FOTO 王世邦
