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M+, Hong Kong. Gift of Chang Chao-Tang, 2021, © Chang Chao-Tang. Music by Lim Giong
Chang Chao-Tang 張照堂
Lim Giong 林強
The Boat Burning Festival+ 王船祭典+
1979/2019
Shot in Sucuo Village, in Tainan, Taiwan, by Taiwanese artist Chang Chao-Tang and Australian cinematographer Christopher Doyle, The Boat Burning Festival captures a ritual that takes place every three years. The work opens with villagers preparing themselves for the festival; they apply make-up, gather ceremonial objects, dance, or simply wait. At the centre of the activity is a boat covered in intricate decorations, including miniature figurines. As the festival progresses, participants carry the boat through the village to its grassy outskirts. Others carry lanterns, brooms, and other symbolic objects. When the procession stops, villagers raise a sail and begin burning the boat as a religious offering. Chang scores the work to ‘Ommadawn’, a progressive rock–folk song by the English musician Mike Oldfield.
Chang is one of Taiwan’s pioneering experimental image-makers, and The Boat Burning Festival exemplifies his turn to a form of realism that explores Taiwanese identity. He produced the work for the Kuomintang party-owned China Television Company. In its combination of traditional rites, Western music, and local conditions, The Boat Burning Festival points to the complex interaction of influences in 1970s Taiwan.
Chang is one of Taiwan’s pioneering experimental image-makers, and The Boat Burning Festival exemplifies his turn to a form of realism that explores Taiwanese identity. He produced the work for the Kuomintang party-owned China Television Company. In its combination of traditional rites, Western music, and local conditions, The Boat Burning Festival points to the complex interaction of influences in 1970s Taiwan.
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