Taiwan’s premier art logistics company thriving post-COVID

2023-03-10

Taiwan’s elite art market is flourishing in the wake of COVID-19. And now that museums are open, the demand for new exhibitions is high. That means Taiwan’s premier artwork transport company has lots to do. Today we take a tour of the company’s warehouses, find out how they keep priceless art safe in transit, and even watch the “art guards” at work, hanging an exhibition on the wall.

In the 48 hours before an art show opens, the “art guards” are working flat out.

A laser level measure marks the center of the painting and calculates the golden viewing level.

The wires and bolts are pulled tight, and it’s ready.

With 30 years of experience under their belt, the art guards have no need to exchange words. They’ve got the painting up on the wall in less than five minutes.

Packaging is the hardest part of transporting these tricky customers. Environmental damage is easy to cause - not to mention if they bump the artworks. That’s why acid-free paper, cushioning materials, foam mats and sponge padding are all indispensable. More valuable art needs to be placed inside many layers of custom-made wooden boxes.

Huang Tse-min
Art logistics group executive
They have an armed escort from door to door, like presidential-level protection.

Huang Tse-min is chief executive of the biggest art logistics company in Taiwan. He gave us a personal tour of one of his warehouses, where temperature and humidity are precisely controlled. The 600-ping space is watched over by 48 separate CCTV cameras. There are special techniques for storing different types of painting.

Huang once worked in export logistics. In 2005, he spotted a niche in the art market. He saw the steps that competitors neglected, and did them as well as possible. Now his specialist art logistics company is the go-to transport supplier for the National Palace Museum and the National Museum of History. Every year, they handle hundreds of billions of dollars’ worth of art.

Huang Tse-min
Art logistics group executive
The overall economy has the smallest impact on this industry, because art has no borders. This year is an origin year. It’s not post-pandemic, it’s no-pandemic. Art exhibitions have reopened in every country.

The global economic downturn has little effect on the elite art market. These art guards still have plenty of work to do.

一年經手上千億畫作神秘"藝術品保鑣"曝光

2023-03-10

大家或多或少都看過畫展，作品背後，其實有一群"藝術品保鑣"，他們負責護送海、內外名畫，光是包裝就要花上一兩個月，運送、保存、拆包裝、掛畫，每個環節都不容馬虎，因此培養一位藝術品保鑣出師至少需要3年。國內一家藝術品物流，一年經手藝術品價值超過千億，來看他們如何保護這些藝術品。

畫展開展前48小時，"藝術品保鑣"已經開始忙碌。

雷射水平儀精準標出"畫心"，算出"黃金觀看視線"。

掛繩一拉、扣上羊眼。

兩位擁有30多年豐富經驗的"藝術品保鑣"好默契沒話說，一幅畫，5分鐘搞定。

護送這些"嬌客"最困難的就是包裝，擔心環境破壞、運送過程碰撞，無酸紙、緩衝材、發泡綿軟墊、海棉襯墊缺一不可。更高貴的藝術品還得裝進好幾層訂製木箱。

[[藝術品物流集團執行長黃澤民]]
“全程押運就如同元首副元首規格。”

國內藝術品物流龍頭執行長黃澤民，帶領我們直擊旗下，其中一間倉庫，溫度、濕度精準控制，600坪空間裝了48支監視器，不同畫作，還有特殊收藏技巧。

黃澤民過去在外商物流，2005年他嗅到藝術品物流商機，把同業不做的事，做到極致，創立專門運送藝術品物流公司，現在是故宮、歷史博物館、美術館固定合作夥伴，一年經手畫作總價值上千億。

[[藝術品物流集團執行長黃澤民]]
“整體經濟對我們這產業來講，影響應該是最少的，因為藝術其實沒有國界。今年是起始年，現在不是後疫情，現在是無疫情的時代，各個國家的藝術博覽會都開通了。”

全球不景氣，但金字塔頂端的藝術品交易，絲毫不受影響，藝術品保鑣職人精神，開創物流新藍海。

Tsai to give speech in New York at Hudson Institute-sponsored event: Financial Times

2023-03-10

Speculation over resumption of flights to 10 Chinese cities

Mainland Affairs Council chairman Chiu Tai-san on Friday quashed speculation regarding the reasons for the resumption of flights to China. The MAC had on Thursday announced that direct flights to 10 Chinese cities would resume on Friday, with another 13 cities eligible to apply for charter flights. Chiu rejected that the move was made to pacify China ahead of a U.S. transit by President Tsai Ing-wen, during which she is set to meet U.S. House Speaker Kevin McCarthy. Chiu said the decision was made with the long-term considerations of Taiwan’s people in mind.

Chiu Tai-san was besieged by media upon arriving at the Legislative Yuan. One day earlier, the MAC announced that direct flights would resume with 10 Chinese cities, with another 13 cities eligible for charter flights. Premier Chen Chien-jen has called the move a show of goodwill to China.

Chiu Tai-san
Mainland Affairs Council minister
The president has said many times that maintaining peace across the Taiwan Strait is the common responsibility of both sides. As long as it is on the basis of democratic reciprocity and peaceful dialogue, we are happy to carry out various exchanges and consultations with the other side.

Wang Kwo-tsai
Transport minister
China was the one that banned cross-strait tour groups. In 2019, it banned independent travelers from coming to Taiwan, and in 2020 it banned group tours. So I would like to say that the matter of tourism is in China’s hands. I think both sides need to work hard.

The transport ministry also voiced hope that China would loosen its travel restrictions. With President Tsai Ing-wen set to transit the U.S. on next month, the move was intended to reduce political tensions with Beijing.

Chiu Tai-san
Mainland Affairs Council minister
I think this is overthinking. Our assessments are comprehensive. As long as there is demand from the nation’s people, we will make these kinds of plans.

Chen Chien-jen
Premier
Pandemic controls have been gradually eased so we have made some further considerations: our nation’s people have this need for cross-strait exchanges, so we are showing Taiwan’s greatest goodwill. We also hope that cross-strait relations through these means can achieve what the president has requested: healthy and effective cross-strait exchanges.

In the face of questioning from the media, the Mainland Affairs Council and the Executive Yuan say the resumption of direct flights is simply to promote peaceful cross-strait exchanges.

2023-03-10

Winners announced in contest to redesign Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall

Ten winners were announced on Friday, for a contest to reimagine Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall. The contest, titled “A Vision for Transforming” attracted 97 submissions, each with a unique approach to redesigning the site. One of the winning submissions replaces the statue of Taiwan’s former authoritarian leader Chiang Kai-shek, with a chair that anyone from the general public can sit on. Organizers clarified that the submissions were aimed at sparking a public dialogue and there are no actual plans to change the memorial hall.

In one proposal, all the buildings at Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall are gone. In their stead, a lush jungle. Another design converts the space into residences for older adults. Yet another one changes Chiang’s statue for a chair that everyone can sit on. It’s to flip the idea of venerating authoritarianism on its head.

Sun Chi-jong
Winner
After removing the statue, a chair can be left in the hall for anyone to sit on. The chair represents the return of power to the people.

Hsu Kai-tang
Winner
History must be recorded, but not worshipped. My design has vertical elements at different heights within the complex, to represent that we are not just one.

Former transport minister Tan Ho-chen, and former deputy minister of the National Development Council Tseng Shu-cheng were among the panel of judges in the contest. Of the 97 works submitted, five winners were selected each from the general public division and the student division. The contest was held to see what visions young people have for the memorial hall.

Tseng Shu-cheng
Contest judge
In the journey toward transitional justice, information that has been kept hidden or set aside becomes public. I look forward to the future of Taiwan’s society, when people have the courage to stand up and express their sorrow. Perhaps perpetrators can also speak out about their fears. This can all be a force to encourage everyone.

The designs will not actually be implemented in the space. Organizers say they hope the contest can spark dialogue and exchanges in society about how to come to terms with Taiwan’s past, while bringing up possibilities to reform the landmark.

2023-03-10

Duck egg prices go up by NT$3 as demand soars

2023-03-10

Portuguese artist Rui Miguel Leitao Ferreira exhibiting artworks in Taiwan

Join us today as we meet with Portuguese artist Rui Miguel Leitao Ferreira, who is in Taiwan to present his first solo exhibition. The exhibition showcases over 30 of Ferreira’s newest paintings that were inspired by his observations and reflections throughout the pandemic. FTV reporter Stephany Yang spoke to Ferreira to learn more about his works and inspiration.

Walk into the exhibition, and you’ll see paintings that depict some of Ferreira’s favorite childhood memories. One of the works is a self-portrait of Ferreira at Sintra, a town where he went hiking during high school.

Rui Miguel Ferreira
Artist
In this picture I am in Sintra, a famous mountain in Portugal. I was making self-portraits embodying stereotypes of masculinity. As I said, I was wearing my own clothing but I was reflecting on the past that I was not living at the moment. I was exploring that idea of artists going back to nature to get access to their inner world and get away from the constraints of the outside world.

There are also paintings of a beach that Ferreira frequented when he was younger. During the pandemic, Ferreria moved from Lisbon back to his childhood home in the countryside.

Rui Miguel Leitao Ferreira
Artist
During the pandemic, I went back to my countryside place. This is a place I can walk to. I went there every day and take images. Then, going back to my studio and painted using this material. When I am painting them, I am very present in the studio. I guess there is a sense of nostalgia for the past and a strong desire for a freer future outdoors, enjoying.

Due to being barred from social gatherings and restrictions during the pandemic, Ferreria painted several works while reminiscing about his life before the pandemic, and also envisioned what life would be like post-pandemic. There are paintings of Ferreira’s friends from different periods of his life. The paintings reflect his desire for connection.

Rui Miguel Leitao Ferreira
Artist
I go to my archive of images. In this one I was using images of the times I was studying in London and images of the time I went to the beach. I created a space where these characters and friends and times in life everything conflates.

Ferreira was born in Lisbon. He earned his MFA at Goldsmiths’ College, at the University of London. Since then, he has held several solo exhibitions and group shows in art institutions across Europe. In his newest exhibition held in Taiwan, titled “Outdoors – Painting for a Post-Pandemic World,” Ferreira showcases his latest paintings. The paintings are a reflection of the artist’s thoughts and inner reflections on the drastic transformations during the pandemic, as well as rediscovering his childhood memories.

Rui Miguel Leitao Ferreira
Artist
I never think about painting as message-oriented. It is more like self-discovery and the questions I am posing to myself I try to answer with the paintings. Sometimes those questions are not so clear. But it was definitely dealing with post-pandemic times, restriction times, and projecting a post-pandemic future. I love how professional everything is (in Taiwan) and people are very generous. Yesterday I went to have dinner by myself at a restaurant and I was invited to join a group so I got a sense of feeling special here.

Ferreira’s first solo exhibition in Taiwan, and his first in Asia, will be held from March 4 through April 14 at the Mind Set Art Center.

2023-03-10

Lawmakers call for budget to fix leaks as Southern Taiwan faces severe water shortage

2023-03-10

Hualien welcomes first international cruise ship since COVID

2023-03-10

Dunmu naval fleet resumes long-distance training drills, touring 7 Taiwanese ports

2023-03-10

Taxi driver and amateur racing champion retrofits taxi just like race car

Today we meet one of Taiwan’s most daredevil taxi drivers. Wu Ping-cheng is a taxi driver and amateur racing champion with many trophies to his name. He’s fitted out his taxi just like a race car. And he even met his wife behind the steering wheel. On the racecourse, he drives like there’s no tomorrow. But to the relief of his clients, he always drives gently and carefully while at work.

A passenger steps into the taxi. The polite driver greets her warmly, but don’t be fooled – he also has a daredevil streak…

Here he is at the Taiwan FIA Gymkhana Race, making short work of an obstacle course. And here he is cutting up the racetrack in a go-cart.

It’s like the “Taxi” movies come to life. This is Taiwan’s very own taxi-driving hot wheels.

At the age of 29, Wu Ping-cheng has already tried his hand at many careers. He’s been an executive assistant to a pharmaceuticals manufacturer and a used car dealer. He got his racing license in August 2021 and started competing in October that year. Since then, he’s already bagged lots of trophies.

Wu Ping-cheng
Amateur racing driver
I bought this as a birthday gift for myself. It’s a BMW 318d F30 with some upgrades, like this bumper, the hood grille, the cow horn rearview mirrors… I put in three extra exhaust pipes. I remodeled it based on real M3 racecars.

This second-hand car has been gradually retrofitted into an eye-catching shape. After 10 years, it has 360,000 kilometers on the clock and has already had a new engine fitted. And it’s covered with mementoes from races.

Wu Ping-cheng
Amateur racing driver
Lots of my clients say that I don’t drive like a racing driver. I say, “Of course! I’m running a business. I have to consider the client’s comfort.”

When he’s ferrying passengers, he can’t show off his tricks, but follows the highway code meticulously. After all, he’s a dad with a family to look after. Safety comes first.

Wu Ping-cheng
Amateur racing driver
Before we got married, my wife didn’t say anything. She supported me. She was always by my side when I went to practice at the racetrack. Last May, my wife and daughter came up on the winners’ podium with me at the touring car challenge.

Wu’s life is truly intertwined with the steering wheel. He even met his wife when she called a taxi. He’s now got three champion trophies to his name, and the road is still calling.

2023-03-10