About the Center-Our Director

Taichung’s annual art event returns! The 28th Taichung Contemporary Artists Invitational Exhibition opened at Taichung City Dadun Cultural Center in 2026. Deputy Secretary-General Ta-Chun Chang attended the opening ceremony on behalf of Mayor Shiow-Yen Lu, joining artists and members of the arts and culture community to mark this annual art event. Deputy Secretary-General Chang said the Taichung Contemporary Artists Invitational Exhibition has been held since 1999 and is now approaching its 30th year. It is not only an important annual event for Taichung’s art community, but also a citywide cultural platform that connects artists across generations. This year’s exhibition welcomes young artist Yu-Zhen Huang, first-place winner in the ink wash painting category at the 28th Da Dun Fine Arts Exhibition of Taichung City, bringing fresh creative energy from a new generation.

Deputy Secretary-General Chang said this year’s exhibition brings together 356 artists and features 11 categories of works, including ink painting, calligraphy, Gouache painting, oil painting, watercolor, prints, seal engraving, sculpture, crafts, photography, and others. From traditional brush and ink to contemporary media, the exhibition shows Taichung’s diverse and vibrant creative energy, allowing the city’s culture to continue building and growing through this annual gathering of art.

The Cultural Affairs Bureau said Yu-Zhen Huang, currently studying in the Department of Painting and Calligraphy Arts at National Taiwan University of Arts, not only won First Place in the ink wash painting category at the Da Dun Fine Arts Exhibition of Taichung City, but also received the Newcomer Award at Japan’s 2025 International Open Call Art Mirai Exhibition. Huang is an emerging artist attracting growing attention. Huang works with ink wash painting and mixed media, and has long focused on themes of life, using animals as an important vehicle for emotion and reflection. Huang’s exhibited work “A Silent Vow” centers visually on a dog. Through flowing, interwoven ink tones and colors, it creates an atmosphere where reality and imagination merge, conveying the silent yet profound companionship, protection, and commitment between lives. From emerging at the Da Dun Fine Arts Exhibition to being invited to join the Taichung Contemporary Artists Invitational Exhibition, Huang shows the creative energy of young Taichung artists through a new generation’s perspective and artistic language.

The Cultural Affairs Bureau explained that 11 artists are joining the exhibition for the first time this year. In addition to Huang, who represents a new generation of creators, calligraphy artist He-Shan Zhou, who is still creating at age 78, is participating after winning the Bronze Award in the calligraphy category at the 2025 National Art Exhibition. One is an emerging young creator, while the other is a established artist who has worked in the art world for many years. When two generations meet in the same exhibition space, “contemporary” becomes more than a form of artistic expression. It also becomes a chance for different life experiences to speak to one another.

Looking back at recent exhibitions, the Taichung Contemporary Artists Invitational Exhibition has continued to broaden its creative vision. Starting from early foundations in traditional art forms such as painting, calligraphy, and sculpture, the exhibition has gradually expanded to include photography, mixed media, 3D modeling, digital image output, and other forms of creation. Artists today focus not only on form and technique, but also bring life experience, social issues, memories of the land, and personal emotions into their work. For example, seal engraving artist Lian-Yong Gao presents “Emblems of Classical Taiwanese Street Food”, turning everyday foods such as ding bian cuo and minced pork taro rice cake into seal engraving art. Photography artist Yong-Shun He’s “Guardianship” depicts rural daily life, bringing farming, cattle, bamboo-woven farm tools, and folk procession groups into the frame. The work links land, production, and faith, presenting the memories and emotions of everyday life in Taiwan. The accumulation of these diverse works makes the exhibition more than an annual gathering of artworks. It also continues to record how artists view life and respond to the times, bearing witness to Taichung’s cultural pulse.

The Cultural Affairs Bureau added that Taichung has abundant artistic talent and a diverse arts and culture environment. The Bureau will continue to support artists’ creation and exchange through exhibitions, talent development, and arts platforms, giving creators of different generations a place in Taichung to be heard and to show their creativity. For 28 years, the Taichung Contemporary Artists Invitational Exhibition has continued to bring together artists from different generations and present the many faces of artistic creation in Taichung. The exhibition runs from today through September 9. Residents are warmly invited to visit Taichung City Dadun Cultural Center and enjoy 356 outstanding works, experiencing the artistic appeal that comes from the meeting of tradition and the contemporary, the classic and the emerging. For more information, please visit the website of Taichung City Dadun Cultural Center at www.dadun.culture.taichung.gov.tw.