Screening & Talk｜Viewing 1990s Taiwanese "Art Documentation" Video through Huang Mingchuan’s Avant-Garde Liberation

DVD Cover of Avant-Garde Liberation (2002). Image courtesy of Huang Mingchuan.

Director Huang Mingchuan's contemporary art documentary series, Avant-Garde Liberation: The Huang Mingchuan Image Collection of the 1990s (2002), took him ten years to produce independently. Upon its release, it was immediately recognized by the "Taishin Arts Award" as a "Visual Arts" work and granted the Grand Prize. This identification and recognition expanded Avant-Garde Liberation's categorization beyond that of a “Culture and Arts Documentary” on Taiwan Public Television, bringing to the fore a critical question: when defining "art documentation" videos, is “art” the subject matter (theme) that the film documents, or is it an adjective (attribute) describing its cinematic aesthetic? In short, a question of content or form. 

As the first collection of independently produced "art documentation" videos in Taiwan, Avant-Garde Liberation raises the question of whether it should be defined as "documentary film" or "video art." Perhaps a new understanding of the relationship among documentation, art, and activism can be formed by focusing on its mode of production.

This event primarily features video screenings, supplemented by a brief introduction. It will screen selected excerpts from the following artists: Lee Ming-Sheng (b. 1952), Wu Mali (b. 1957), Hou Chun-Ming (b. 1963), and Wang Te-Yu (b. 1970).

Date: Wednesday, November 19, 2025, 18:00–19:30 (Light snacks and drinks will be provided)
Venue: Community Salon, 3F TAKI PLAZA, Ueno Campus, Tokyo University of the Arts
Address: 12-8 Ueno Park, Taito-ku, Tokyo
Film Selection & Introduction: Yeh Hsing-Jou
Language: English (Films with English subtitles)