Every act of creation is a renewed conversation with the way we see the world. The 2026 Taiwan Emerging Art Awards held its opening and awards ceremony today (September 13), where the results were officially announced. This year’s Taiwan Emerging Art Award went to Yu-Yu Chen for “Floral Amber: The Emergence of Memory”, while Shih-Ho Fang, Yueh-Tung Shih, and Li-Jung Lin received Grand Jury Prizes. The exhibition is on view from today through October 11 at Taichung City Seaport Art Center. Through diverse media and cross-disciplinary creation, it presents a rich and free creative landscape of contemporary Taiwanese art.

Deputy Director-General Ying-Chun Yu of the Cultural Affairs Bureau said that since the Taiwan Emerging Art Awards removed restrictions on medium, two-dimensional and three-dimensional works, and age in 2016, the awards have continued to support creative experimentation through an open call system. They have accompanied many artists as they began their creative journeys and have gradually become an important indicator for observing the development of contemporary Taiwanese art. The 36 selected works this year span painting, sculpture, ink art, calligraphy, ceramics, fiber art, metalwork, mixed media, spatial installation, digital technology, interactive art, and other forms. As media flow into one another and the traditional and contemporary come together, the works reflect the ongoing cross-disciplinary development of contemporary Taiwanese art.

The Cultural Affairs Bureau of Taichung City Government noted that this year’s jury was convened by Tzu-Kuei Hsu, who was joined by five professional committee members, including Pu Chuang, Ching-Yuan Chang, Yen-Nuan Fan, and I-Fan Chen, in selecting the winners. The jury said the most impressive feature this year was the diversity of the creators’ backgrounds. In addition to participants from professional fields such as fine arts, crafts, design, and multimedia, creators from literature, medicine, museum studies, and other backgrounds also took part. They brought their accumulated knowledge, experience, and cultural perspectives into art, turning creation into a space where ideas are exchanged and life experiences converge, while giving the works richer layers of thought.

This year’s Taiwan Emerging Art Award winner, You-Yu Chen, received the jury’s recognition for “Floral Amber: The Emergence of Memory”. The work uses glue color painting to delicately portray the layered interweaving of plants, time, and memory, and interacts with viewers through its lighting environment, making the act of viewing part of the work itself. The three Grand Jury Prizes also show distinct creative languages. Shih-Ho Fang’s “Sheath-Speak : The Emergence of Source” responds to the living texture of natural materials. Fang also participated last year and received a Jury Prize. Yueh-Tung Shih’s “The Gaze of the Mountain” rethinks the relationship between people, forests, mountains, and landscapes. Li-Jung Lin’s “Ink Permeation: Between Leaves and Hair” combines silverpoint technique with the spirit of Eastern ink painting, reflecting the cycle of life and the flow of time through delicate strokes.

From bodily perception, family memory, and local culture to land, ecology, technological civilization, and the media environment, artists respond to changes in contemporary society through different media, continuing to explore the relationships between people and nature, people and technology, and people and the world. This year’s works also show a clear shift in ways of seeing. Traditional media such as ink, glue color, bamboo, and paper reveal renewed contemporary expressive power. Artificial intelligence, digital images, and interactive installations are gradually entering creative thinking, while visual experiences shaped by photography and social media are also filtering into different media. Together, they open up new ways of perception and reading.

The Cultural Affairs Bureau of Taichung City Government said the Taiwan Emerging Art Awards have grown together with the city’s culture over the years, accompanying young artists as they explore creation and witnessing the continuing evolution of contemporary Taiwanese art. Every creator shapes their artistic language through their own unique life experiences. Each work is also like a new act of developing an image, continuing to expand the boundaries of seeing through the intersections of disciplines, media, and cultures, while reflecting the rich and free generative power of contemporary Taiwanese art. For more exhibition information, please visit the Taichung City Seaport Art Center official website (https://tcsac.taichung.gov.tw/).