蟾蜍山
中文版即將推出，敬請期待！
When the Nationalist Government retreated to Taiwan in the 1940’s many soldiers arrived with them. There was a housing crisis and many of these new arrivals initially lived in schools or other government buildings. Eventually most were settled on government land, often in former Japanese military barracks. Informal settlements grew around the existing housing stock as the population grew. This created densely packed villages. Because the residents only owned the buildings they were in constant danger of eviction. They also had restrictions on, and no incentive to, enlarge or upgrade their housing. Many settlements such as Huaguang and the one that existed where Daan Park is now have all been evicted and redeveloped. Toad Mountain is a small military dependents village near Gongguan on former military land. It too faced eviction and demolition in 2013.
In 2013 I was contacted by a group who were trying to save Toad Mountain from destruction. Already some houses had been emptied and the lower parts of the village were in a rough way. There were still residents there however, and they formed a close-knit community. What was notable were the Beijing accents of some the older residents, which I’d not heard much in Taiwan before. These people had been here their whole lives and I was saddened to learn they would be split up and scattered across Taipei in the re-homing proposals. The movement to preserve Huaguang Community had recently failed and that redevelopment had caused much trauma to the people living there. The Toad Mountain group aimed to avoid a repeat and they hoped I could help by drawing the village.
Toad Mountain was drawn shortly after Taipei and Dadaocheng. It is a chaotic village that climbs the hillside on many different levels. Because of this it was easier to set up a temporary studio in one of the abandoned buildings and wander the site many times. I got permission from a nearby apartment owner to take some pictures from their rooftop. This was very useful as it was hard to make sense of the village from either the ground or a top-down satellite picture. I drew it at a close enough scale to include people and animals, including the elderly residents who would line dance in the afternoon, and the few dogs that would chase me.
Quick video showing the different eras present at Toad Mountain
Artwork Details
蟾蜍山 Toad Mountain , 2013 , 鉛筆 Pencil on Paper , 60 x 40 cm
原畫: 賣出了
限量版印刷已售罄
Thank you and I hope you enjoy exploring the city too!
For more information on the village and the old military infrastucture above it, check out these two blog posts
