The Pingtung Land Art Festival Kicks Off – Check Out Ten Must-See Installations

By MOOK Scenic Spots Editorial Team

The Pingtung Land Art Festival kicks off in October in Shengli New Village, Pingtung City. Ten large-scale installations are either standing tall or hidden away in street corners and alleys, adding creative flair to the city and bringing delightful surprises to both residents and visitors. To preserve the culture of military dependents' villages, the county government has preserved a total of 71 buildings housing 110 households. This year, an additional 12 buildings in the Chongren Military Dependents' Village Tonghai area have been added, all of which have been registered as historical architecture. The layout of the former Japanese-era air force dormitory complex in Pingtung City remains remarkably intact. Against this cultural and historical backdrop, initiatives such as the “Revitalizing Historical Sites” project have been launched to help these villages regain their former vibrancy through innovation.

The urban landscape of Pingtung City has been gradually transforming in recent years, infused with more elements of culture, art, and tourism to enrich the city’s character. For the first time, the county government is hosting a land art festival, selecting a military dependents’ village steeped in retro city memories. Through the creative works of artists, the past and future are connected, breathing new life into the atmosphere of bygone eras.

The ten installations at the land art festival include: “Modern Threads,” “Collecting Memories,” “Victory Frontline,” “Little Tigers Squad,” “Void Space,” “Enclosure,” “Building a Fence,” “Border Variations,” “Cat Play,” and “Helmet Explorers.” They are located in alleys near the General’s House and the Military Song Museum. Some stand prominently by the roadside, while others are tucked away in lanes, waiting to be discovered. Strolling through the area is a delightful experience.

These artworks reflect themes related to the history, culture, or environment of the military dependents’ villages. For example, “Enclosure” draws inspiration from how children in the villages used to visit each other’s homes, reflecting the close-knit and united emotional bonds among residents. The artist used cheerful red plastic stools to construct a stool tower. “Modern Threads” features sculptural furniture and house-shaped installations made of iron rods, evoking the passage of time in the history of the dependents’ villages. “Victory Frontline” arranges bent pipe structures in a regular rectangular pattern, mimicking the National Day aerial performances where planes soared across the sky, evoking memories of the villages’ former glory.

“Helmet Explorers” features an oversized helmet modeled after a pilot’s cap, expressing the desire to adventure into the sky and ride the free currents of air. “Collecting Memories” uses ceramic to recreate the doorplates of military households, gathering the memories of home. In the early days, military dependents’ villages were primarily temporary residences, initially built mainly with thatch and bamboo before later incorporating bricks and cement. “Building a Fence” not only echoes the history of the villages in its name but also artistically reconstructs the former landscape of the dependents’ villages.