From October 9, 2023, to January 5, 2024, Hayward Gallery at London’s Southbank Centre will feature a solo exhibition titled Huang Po-Chih: Waves in the gallery’s HENI Project Space, which is dedicated to showcasing artists with significant potential who are still relatively unknown to UK audiences. The exhibition presents the work of Taiwanese artist Huang Po-Chih, exploring the impact of the contemporary global garment industry on society and politics in East Asia. On the evening of October 8, Hayward Gallery hosted an opening reception for its seasonal exhibitions, including Haegue Yang: Leap Year and Huang Po-Chih: Waves. During his speech, Hayward Gallery Director Ralph Rugoff, who is well-versed in Taiwanese contemporary art, expressed special thanks to the Ministry of Culture of Taiwan and RC Foundation, Taiwan (R.O.C.) for their collaboration and sponsorship of Huang’s exhibition. Huang Po-Chih, RC Foundation Chairman CHEN, RONG-CHUAN, and Director of the Cultural Division of the Taipei Representative Office in the UK, Chen, Pin-Chuan, were all invited to attend the opening.
Nominated for the HUGO BOSS Asia Arts Award in 2015, and recipient of the Prudential Eye Awards in 2016, Huang Po-Chih’s work has been widely shown across the globe. Waves is the artist’s first solo exhibition in the UK, and the second exhibition in the RC Foundation Project Space Exhibition Series at the Hayward Gallery, showcasing the next generation of emerging international artists.
Featuring new video and text-based work as part of a presentation of installation, photography and sculpture, the exhibition draws upon the artist’s family heritage - particularly his mother’s experiences as a garment worker in Northern Taiwan. Po-Chih collates the personal narratives of individuals involved in the garment industry across China, Hong Kong, South Korea and Taiwan from the 1960’s up to the present day. Each anecdote takes place against a backdrop of migration and global trade. With circulating themes and narratives across the work, a sense of fluidity serves as a metaphor for the turbulent conditions faced by the generally low-paid workers in the East Asian textile industry.
Yung Ma, Senior Curator of the Hayward Gallery, says:
“Huang Po-Chih brings warmth, humanity and empathy in his reflections on the ebbs and flows of the East Asian garment industry. He gives voice to otherwise overlooked individuals whilst shedding light on an undercurrent that has propelled the acceleration of industrial and market globalisation. With the invaluable support from Taiwan’s RC Foundation, I am delighted that we can share Huang’s singular
vision with audiences in London. This exhibition further demonstrates the Hayward Gallery and Southbank Centre’s commitment to champion unique and remarkable creative practices from around the world.”
Huang Po-Chih, says: “The title Waves came from a conversation I had with Mrs. Kim, a garment factory worker from Korea, in which she said, “I am hiding from the rain yet drenched in sweat, trying on all those dreams in different sizes. And I sincerely believe that just like the spectacle of 500 tons of smuggled garments
falling into the sea, one of the dreams will eventually be washed ashore”. I replied, “Fragmented dreams are being stitched into someone’s daily life in a faraway land, becoming waves of speechlessness”. This exhibition is a mini-conclusion and the beginning of a new chapter of my long-term project Production Line.”
The Culture Division of the Taipei Representative Office in the UK stated that supporting mid-career artists in participating in significant international exhibitions is part of the Ministry of Culture’s international exchange strategy. Hayward Gallery, as a key venue for visual arts in the UK, has previously exhibited works by Taiwanese artists such as Yuan Goang-Ming and Chih-Chung Lai. Since 2023, the gallery has continued to introduce more Taiwanese artists to British audiences. In April 2023, it collaborated with the Culture Division to commission artist Michael Lin to create the installation Macule for Hayward Gallery’s public space. In June 2023, the gallery also invited artist Aluaiy Kaumakan to participate in the special exhibition Dear Earth: Art and Hope in a Time of Crisis with her work Vines of the Forest. This year, Hayward Gallery commissioned Huang Po-Chih to create new works for his solo exhibition, further enhancing the international visibility of Taiwanese contemporary art. His participation is supported by the Ministry of Culture’s "Black Tide Program" for mid-career artists’ international exhibitions.
Since its opening in 2007, Hayward Gallery's HENI Project Space has presented diverse and outstanding works from artists around the world, providing a rich artistic experience for the public. Notable artists who have exhibited in this space include Amol K Patil, Thabiso Sekgala, Kate Cooper, and Hicham Berrada. The Taiwan RC Foundation Project Space Exhibition Series is part of Southbank Centre’s commitment to making 40% of its annual programming publicly accessible and free for visitors.
About Huang Po-Chih
Born in Taoyuan in 1980, Huang Po-Chih graduated from Taipei National University of the Arts in 2011. His interdisciplinary practice explores the mechanisms of contemporary production and consumption. As a family member, agricultural producer, and entrepreneur, Huang is both a participant and a critic of the socioeconomic systems in which he operates. His works reveal the broader context of trade and exchange that shapes his artistic practice, reflecting a conscientious consideration of available resources to create works with lasting social relevance.
About the HENI Project Space
Since opening in 2007, the HENI Project Space at the Hayward Gallery has presented free exhibitions from a wide-ranging group of innovative international artists, including many UK premieres. Over the past 15 years, the HENI Project Space has served as a crucial portal of cross-cultural connection, featuring artists from five continents and over 40 different countries.
About the Hayward Gallery
The Hayward Gallery, part of the Southbank Centre, has a long history of presenting work by the world's most adventurous and innovative artists including major solo shows by both emerging and established artists and dynamic group exhibitions. They include those by Bridget Riley, Bruce Nauman, Anish Kapoor, Lee Bul, Andreas Gurksy, Tracey Emin, Jeremy Deller, Kader Attia and Mike Nelson, as well as influential group exhibitions such as Africa Remix, Light Show, Psycho Buildings and Space Shifters. Opened by Queen Elizabeth II in July 1968, the gallery is one of the few remaining buildings of its style. The Brutalist building was designed by a group of young architects, including Dennis Crompton, Warren Chalk and Ron Herron and is named after Sir Isaac Hayward, a former leader of the London County Council.
About the Southbank Centre
The Southbank Centre is the UK’s largest multi-arts centre and engages the most diverse audiences of any performing arts organisation in the UK. Our biggest venue, the Royal Festival Hall (2,700 seats) is the lasting legacy of the 1951 Festival of Britain and the ambition and values of that project –that arts, ideas, innovation and culture can heal communities and should be available and accessible to everyone – are still our guiding principles today. The Southbank Centre is uniquely able to offer a wide-ranging, inclusive and world-class artistic programme spanning contemporary visual arts, music, dance, performance, literature, comedy and spoken word across the Royal Festival Hall, Queen Elizabeth Hall, Purcell Room, the Hayward Gallery and our free spaces. We are also home to the National Poetry Library, the National Academy for Social Prescribing (NASP) and six resident orchestras (Aurora Orchestra, Chineke! Orchestra, London Philharmonic Orchestra, London Sinfonietta, Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment and Philharmonia Orchestra).
For more details, visit the Hayward Gallery website: Huang Po-Chih: Waves.
https://www.southbankcentre.co.uk/whats-on/huang-po-chih-waves/
