Taipei Travel

The exhibition title, Rehearsal for Re-her-sal: Preview, is derived from the homonymous project “Rehearsal for Re-her-sal.” Drawing inspiration from the English word “rehearsal,” the title intentionally incorporates “her,” the female gender object and pronoun, by appropriating the noticeable misspelling, while the affix “re-” denotes “repetition” as well as “repair.” Also, the title signals a curatorial intent to expand gender performance into a contemporary artistic experiment and practice. The “performance” of gender and the “exhibition” of an art museum are conceptually interwoven. At the same time, “repetition” is associated with everyday life, learning, practice, and drill, along with repeated experiences in artistic creation. In fact, every form of creative work requires endless rehearsals, or in this case, “re-her-sal.”

“Preview” in this context refers to a theatrical preview, which is an informal performance or a state that occurs between a work’s final presentation and its rehearsals. A “preview” signals possibilities—it is incomplete, adjustable, and filled with potential momentum.Rehearsal for Re-her-sal: Preview foregrounds women’s life experiences, identity, and sites, engaging the audience in exploring the idea of being “on-stage.” Meanwhile, the exhibition sets out to re-explore the gender and body in the site of an art museum, as well as the curatorial and creative possibilities therein, destabilizing the preconceived idea that the presentation of an exhibition/performance should be finalized as well as the rational framework of art museums and art exhibitions. Instead of being an exhibition that simply showcases women artists, Rehearsal for Re-her-sal: Preview highlights the life experiences of women through the artists’ creations. The exhibition and the featured artworks are organized around two curatorial themes: “Women’s Experience and Body” and “Spatial Sites and Identity.”

The exhibition features five artists. Chao Man-Chun focuses on the topic of the body and specializes in site-specific creations to connect MoCA TAIPEI’s space and its changing surroundings with her family stories, creating her work after her field studies. Li Shiou-Fen concentrates on the formalization of art institutions and artistic creation to critique review mechanisms and misogynist culture. Cheng Shih-Yung and Genn Lau are actors who fluidly transform themselves into different characters to explore the reality and stories of romantic relationships. Lin Pei-Yao’s video installation draws from her experiences to explore women’s self-examination and how performance consciousness emerges.

Lighting Designer: Lin Ping-Hsin
Exhibition Support: Zi-Zhao, Wu Yu-Li, Lin Pei-Ju, Chen I-Hsun, Shigeta Seiji, Haung Hong-Xu, Blend Co., Ltd.