Taipei Dangdai Builds a Bridge to the World With Sci-Fi and Termite Duets
Despite shrinking ranks of participating galleries, Taiwan’s premier art fair has its heart set on keeping the link between Taiwan’s art scene and the world alive. Save to My Ocula
Taiwan’s premier international art fair returns for its sixth edition from 8 to 10 May hoping to cement its role as a vibrant hub for regional creativity.
Taipei Dangdai co-director Robin Peckham called this year’s programme, which has reduced in size by around a third, both more focused and ambitious.
Emphasising the fair’s contribution beyond its commercial remit, he spoke of its role as a ‘key bridge between Taiwan and the world’ and in forging ‘inroads in global visibility’.
This year’s highlight is the curated programme Pulling the Plug, which features boundary-pushing digital installations by three Taiwanese artists—Shu Lea Cheang, Zhang Xu Zhan, and Su Hui-Yu.
The works of the three artists—all of whom have been featured in prominent European institutional contexts—offer a compelling, if not always overt, commentary on technology and contemporary life.
The exhibition’s trio of immersive installations include Zhang Xu Zhan’s Termite Feeding Show (2024) installed in a corner, its free-standing LED screen coated with soil. Blending absurdist humour and critical commentary through a termite-piano duet, the piece crafts a whimsical yet dark meditation on environmental collapse.
Cheang’s larger-than-life UTTERING (2023), described by the artist as ‘a self-portrait of artificial intelligence’, takes the form of a digital monument in which a human figure is subjected to programmed contortions.
Meanwhile, Su Hui-Yu’s Space Warriors and the Digigrave (2023–2024) revisits Taiwan’s sci-fi genre, weaving together personal childhood memories with political undercurrents.
While the number of participating galleries has decreased to 51 from 78 in 2024, the fair has doubled down on quality.
Notable first-time participants include Almine Rech and Karsten Greve, joining returning global players like Galleria Continua and Galerie EIGEN + ART. They stand alongside leading local galleries such as Tina Keng Gallery, Each Modern, and Asia Art Center.
A highlight leading up to the fair was a research visit in April by Serpentine artistic director Hans Ulrich Obrist, marking his first trip to Taiwan.
His whirlwind tour—comprising over 65 meetings with top artists, curators, and collectors—culminated in a public lecture that Peckham hailed as a turning point for international engagement.
‘We’re creating a platform where the best of Taiwanese art world can have some spotlight on it,’ Peckham said.
Taipei Dangdai runs through 11 May at the Taipei Nangang Exhibition Center. —[O]
Main image: Shu Lea Cheang, UTTERING, 2023. Courtesy Taipei Dangdai 2025.
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