Introduction: Making Space

An essay introducing the 256-page publication Making Space: Independent Artist Initiatives in Taiwan since 1988.

Making Space: Independent Artist Initiatives in Taiwan since 1988 builds on the long-term research and archiving project ‘Independent Art Spaces of Taiwan’ (2022–25), led by Asia Art Archive (AAA) to document and preserve the legacy of artist initiatives that emerged across Taiwan beginning in the late 1980s. The three-year project produced digitised archives and transcribed interviews with participating artists. Access to these primary materials formed the basis for this book’s ‘archive’ section: case studies comprising interview extracts and archival materials of eight independent artist initiatives established in Taipei / Taoyuan, Kaohsiung and Tainan between 1988 and 2000. The art spaces considered in the book include IT Park (1988–2025), Space II (1989–94), Up Art Gallery (1990–95), Corner Culture (1992–95), Shin Leh Yuan Art Space (1995–ongoing), Bamboo Curtain Studio (1995–2021), Sin Pin Pier Art Space (1997–ongoing) and Paint House Studio (2000–18). Artists’ recollections – of how the various independent art spaces were created in their localities, what types of art they showed, and what discourse or energy or community they generated – are placed in dialogue with archival materials, including photographic documentation of the physical spaces, selected exhibition views, ephemera and news clippings. Many Taiwanese artists returned to post-martial law Taiwan having studied abroad and gained insights and hungers, and many found themselves, once back in Taiwan, in new phases of art education and social justice movements.