Tao Art Theory Vol. 2

Since its opening in April 2024, the Taoyuan Children's Art Museum has garnered considerable attention and discussion for its curatorial work, educational outreach, and international forums for children. The establishment and development of children's art museums, spaces, and children-themed forums around the world have consistently highlighted the growing number of art and cultural activities that prioritize children as the primary audience for museum visits. With the current surge in museum planning and discussions on children's themes, how do artistic creations and initiatives respond? How can we leverage artists' creative concepts and practices to stimulate new perspectives on children's issues? This issue's theme, "Children's Appearance," traces the development of children's photography in Taiwan. Initially, the project focused on two axes: how the image of children is shaped in artistic development; and how artists leverage children's imagination, creativity, and potential for play to create and lead audiences beyond the boundaries of adult thought. Analyzing works by Francis Alÿs, a French video artist specializing in capturing children's activities and play; Zhou Qinghui, a directorial child photographer; Wu Yongshun, a local Taoyuan photographer; and You Benkuan, who deconstructs the aesthetics of family snapshots, allows us to consider the dilemmas, ambiguities, and underlying politics of images involving children. This also echoes the "Taoyuan Fine Arts Museum Focus" section, where the museum's focus on curating for children and expanding artistic participation is deeply analyzed and developed. This aims to overturn the passive role of children in previous artistic creations, making them the protagonists of exhibitions and artistic creations. This issue features a new section, "Paper Exhibition," which curates a themed exhibition featuring works by Taoyuan-based photographer Wu Yongshun. Combined with the color printing effects of special paper, this exhibition allows readers to gain a deeper understanding of the photographer's work through an in-depth reading of the series.