On September 5, 2018, the official opening celebration for Taiwan Pavilion at London Design Biennale 2018 was held at iconic London landmark Somerset House. The launch of the Taiwan Pavilion - titled "Invisible Calls" - was attended by representatives from institutions including the London Festival of Architecture, London Craft Week, and the Finnish Cultural Institute, alongside other important members of UK and European art circles.
With the support of Taiwan's Ministry of Culture, this marks the second occasion that Taiwan has participated in London Design Biennale. Curator of the exhibition Cheng-pu Su and participating artists Cheng-chang Wu and Che-yu Hsu also attended the event, and introduced the concept behind their works.
Sumantro Ghose, Executive Director of the London Design Biennale, was especially supportive of Taiwan Pavilion. Addressing the guests, he mentioned that he is very happy not only that Taiwan is participating in one of the most important events in the global design calendar, but also that it offers the opportunity to the artists to communicate and share ideas with other participants from around the world, including East Asia, Africa & Europe.
Representative David Y.L. Lin in his introductory speech stated that he is very grateful to people from all walks of life for for attending the opening celebration of Taiwan Pavilion, and that the pavilion offers members of the public the opportunity to garner a greater understanding of Taiwanese society and Taiwan's art and culture.
The curators and artists of the Taiwan Pavilion said that it echoes the theme of the exhibition fits well in the greater concept of the Biennale, which this year is "Emotional State", and felt that is shows the different emotions of Taiwan in this exhibition through different angles such as macro, micro, external and internal.
Artist Cheng-chang Wu said that this work was inspired by the changes he has observed in Taiwanese society, specifically highlighting everyday habits, political issues, and economic development . Other artist Che-yu Hsu spoke about the 40-minute film which is part of the exhibition, explaining that it revolves around three characters and presents the intertwined relationship between personal memory and public media.
Taiwan Pavilion is open to the public from September 4 to September 23.