The 12th Taipei Biennial 2020 “You And I Don’t Live On the Same Planet “

COLLECTIVE collaborated with journalist historian Jean-Michel Frodon and curator Rasha Salti designing the 20-film installation of “Interspecies Cinematic Encounters”.

Interspecies Cinematic Encounters, is an installation that explores ways in which cinema has imagined, represented, and incarnated encounters belonging to different realms. Based on Jean-Michel Frodon and Rasha Salti’s abstract idea of organic ‘clusters’ with screens showing excerpts from films where encounters between humans, animals, plants, the atmosphere and supernatural beings. The ‘clusters’ are displayed like coral reefs and low-level audio montaged from the films fills the room gently.

The films on show include: The Cow (1969) by Iranian director Dariush Mehrjui, a tragedy about an Iranian villager and his beloved cow; Comradeship (1931) by G. W. Pabst where virtues of international cooperation are extolled via a mine disaster met by the combined rescue efforts of French and German workers; and The Assassin (2015) by Taiwanese director Hou Hsiao-hsien, based on Tang Dynasty writer Pei Xing’s short story Nie Yinniang and played by Taiwanese-Hong Kong actress Shu Qi.

Full list of films:

The excerpts, between two and six minutes in length, are shown in a loop.

The Assassin, dir. Hou Hsiao-hsien (Taiwan, 2015).Central Motion Picture Corporation, Taipei.

The Battle of Tabatô (A batalha de Tabatô), dir. João Viana (Guinea Bissau, 2013). Capricci, Paris

The Box of Life (Sûndûq al Dunyâ), dir. Ossama Mohammad (Syria, 2002).

City of Jade, dir. Midi Z (Taiwan, 2016). Seashore Image Productions, New Taipei City

Comradeship (Kameradschaft), dir. Georg Wilhelm Pabst (Germany, 1931). Praesens-Film AG, Zurich

The Cow (Gav), dir. Dariush Mehrjui (Iran, 1969). Farabi Foundation, Iran

The Dead and Other Tales (Chuva É Cantoria Na AldeiaDos Mortos), dir. João Salaviza and Renée Nader Messora (Brazil, 2018). LUXBOX, Paris

Father (Otac), dir. Srdan Golubovic´ (Serbia, 2020). Film House Bas Celik, Belgrade

Fire Will Come (O que arde),dir. Oliver Laxe (Spain, 2019). Pyramide, Paris

Kongo, dir. Hadrien La Vapeur and Corto Vaclav (Congo, 2019). Pyramide, Paris

Leila Attacks (Leila attaque), dir. Chris Marker (France, 2006). Les Films du Jeudi, Paris

Leviathan, dir. Lucien Castaing Taylor and Véréna Paravel (USA, 2012).

Monte, dir. Amir Naderi (Italy, 2016).

My Joy (Schaste moe), dir. Sergei Loznitsa (Ukraina, 2010). Pluto Film, Berlin

Paradise (Le Paradis), dir. Alain Cavalier (France, 2014). Pathé Films, Paris

The River, dir. Tsai Ming-liang (Taiwan, 1997). Central Motion Picture Corporation, Taipei.

Tropical Malady (Sud pralad), dir. Apichatpong Weerasethakul (Thailand, 2004).

LOCATION: Taipei Fine Arts Museum, Taipei, Taiwan

AREA: 300 m2

CLIENT: Taipei Fine Arts Museum (TFAM)

ARCHITECT: COLLECTIVE

CURATORS: Jean-Michel Frodon & Rasha Salti

PHOTOGRAPHY: YHLAA / TFAM