(All photos courtesy of Xiao Ru-song
Art Park’s Facebook page)
Chinese name: 蕭如松藝術園區
Located at: Zhudong Township, Hsinchu County
Xiao Ru-song, born in 1922, from Beipu
Township in Hsinchu County, was a Taiwanese Hakka contemporary watercolor
artist. From 1950, his work took in Impressionism, Cubism and Fauvism and
combined them with traditional Far Eastern calligraphy lines and brush strokes
to create a unique style of painting. After Xiao died in 1992, his former
residence went untended for a long time and fell into a state of disrepair.
Later, the Hsinchu County Cultural Affairs Bureau put forward plans for a Xiao
Ru-song Art Park plan and in May 2004 set up a preparatory committee, inviting
academics, experts and local prominent figures to weigh in.
Their research work led to the
restoration of the Xiao Ru-song residence to its former appearance and the
rebuilding of old dormitories around it. The park formally opened in 2008 and
the grounds entirely retain Japanese-era architectural features and gardens.
Today it stands as an important cultural and exhibition space in Hsinchu’s
Zhudong.
The park covers an area of around two
hectares and displays Xiao’s work from each period. It is also a diversified
art space that combines artistic exchanges, exhibitions and relaxation. The
park houses five Japanese-style old dormitories, each of which was originally
an independent residence, and one of which is Xiao’s former residence.
With the architecture restored to its
original appearance, the park displays the way of life from Xiao Ru-song’s
time, showing the kinds of implements, artefacts, documents and scenery that
Xiao would have used.
The park has on display a hundred of
Xiao’s original artworks and reproductions, and regularly invites private and
public art museums to exhibit works from the collection for local art lovers
and members of the public to see and learn from.
The park, as both a fine art museum
and a local cultural center, at times also arranges exhibitions of painting,
calligraphy, sculpture and all forms of art by foreign and domestic artists. It
can be used as a place to show off the results of fine art contests and as a
place for artistic workers to hold seminars and conferences.