Four hundred years ago, in 1624, the Dutch arrived in Taiwan and constructed Fort Zeelandia, the oldest fortress on the island. Four centuries later, we meet again. This encounter is no longer marked by colonization or invasion, but unfolds instead as a vibrant, twenty-first-century urban garden filled with color and imagination.

Life is shaped by unexpected encounters. In this renewed meeting, new dialogues are formed—reconnecting nature, humanity, history, memory, and visions of the future within a shared field. Subtle traces and clues invite careful contemplation.

The pandemic brought the world to a temporary standstill. Like a message offered by the universe, it called upon humanity to turn inward and rediscover the path of self-reflection. It revealed how far human civilization has strayed from ethical balance. Since capitalism became a dominant mode of life, the non-human world has increasingly been treated as a surplus resource to be exhausted and exploited.

The Anthropocene has reached a critical and irreversible threshold. Humanity must once again reconsider its relationship with the non-human world and seek new forms of reconciliation and coexistence within our living environments. In recent years, climate change, global warming, wildfires, and environmental pollution have brought ecological crises to the forefront, reminding us of the profound and inseparable connection between humanity and the Earth.

This exhibition brings together artists from the Netherlands and Taiwan, inviting them to reflect on nature, culture, and lived environments. Through their works, they articulate a shared aspiration toward a more harmonious, sustainable, and meaningful vision of a good life.

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Curator
Emerson WANG (王焜生)

Artists
Lily de Bont
Rob Bouwman
Jim Harris
Mari Stoel
Pascal van der Graaf
Jan Maarten Voskuil
Yishian Lin
Chien Chung Lin
Chi Chien
Jhan Jhuang-Syuan

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