空間：台南美術館，台南，台灣
展期：2021/07/31 00:00 ~ 2021/11/14 20:00
策展人：黃靖容、徐嘉晨、林睿洋、陳琪涵
藝術家：王英凱 Wang Ying-kai、立石鐵臣 Tetsuomi Tateishi、阮劇團 Our Theatre、吳思嶔 Wu Sih-chin、李奇茂 Lee Chi-mao、李朝進 Lee Chau-chin、李澤藩 Lee Tze-fan、李霞 Li Sia、走路草農/藝團 Walking Grass Agriculture、林葆靈 Lin Bao-ling、紀凱淵 Chi Kai-yuan、涂維政 Tu Wei-cheng、袁金塔 Yuan Chin-taa、馬白水 Ma Pai-sui、高俊宏 Kao Jun-honn、梅丁衍 Mei Dean-e、陳伯義 Chen Po-i、游孟書 You Meng-shu、楊順發 Yang Shun-fa、溥心畬 Pu Sin-yu、寧森 Ning Sen、廖慶章 Liao Qing-zhang、蔡草如 Tsai Tsao-ju、蔡濰任 Tsai Wei-ren、蕭巨昇 Hsiao Chu-sheng、羅禾淋 Luo He-lin、蘇智偉 Su Chi-wei
介紹：
人們在經歷災害、恐懼後，投身信仰，最終透過身體儀式與精神寄託中依歸、昇華、幻滅或重生，這般迴圈的循環狀態或可稱為一種「信仰迴路」的概念。
當世界壟罩於今日嚴峻疫情之下，縱然衛生醫療、新興科技進步，面對未知的恐懼時，人們心中仍存有一絲顫慄。回望歷史，臺灣民間信仰一直是人們心理與生理上消災解厄的寄託。觀察臺灣主要的在地信仰脈絡，可知信仰不僅具有撫慰人心作用，部分科儀更成為人們面對無形威脅的防衛方式。在那可見又不可見的社會景象中，「信仰」（Faith）著實潛移默化於臺灣日常。
「信仰」多半源於心裡的恐懼和渴望，亦或原生家庭的情感連結，以及自身所處的環境影響。這些信仰背後的文化行為，不僅是精神上的驅動，亦是參加儀式或聚會的身體力行。「信仰」存在於宗教，也流連於生活，萬般事物皆可能是你、我、他的依託，讓人於身心的迴路中自我提煉，也在眾人與世代之間迴旋複沓。
「迴路」這個詞彙在電學（Electricity）裡分為封閉性及開放性，信仰好比是電力，在特定群體的緊密關係，以及廣義普羅大眾的共通行為中串流。而認知神經科學（Cognitive Neuroscience）裡的「迴路」，產生與他人及群體互動關係，猶如信仰中的追隨的崇敬心理與身體感。本展之「迴路」不單是宗教裡善惡因果及靈魂轉世輪迴，更指向人與信仰的關係，呈現一種內化於身體及精神的循環（Circulation）狀態。
第一展區透過作品圖像及影像，表達人類面對未知的不安，以及面對生死的恐懼；第二展區藉由藝術家創作，表現臺灣民間信仰科儀文化，以及人類以儀式作為途徑，寄託鬼神回歸人世的秩序。第三展區透過日常中的各式信仰，重思人與鬼神之間的存在關係，試圖於迴路中找到一種人類與信仰新模式。
自疫情升溫以來，各類宗教集會活動暫停辦理，許多大型傳統儀式也相繼延期或取消，臺南身為臺灣信仰文化的精隨之處，亦不見昔往繞境、出巡等熱鬧景致。臺南市美術館作為臺南藝術樞紐，企圖透過本展覽扮演信仰的媒介與平台，呈現藝術家觀察信仰的不同語境，人與信仰之間的迴路關係，以及那些暫時缺席，卻未曾消逝於臺灣人日常的信仰面貌。
Exhibition Discourse
After experiencing disasters and fears, people devote themselves to faith. Eventually, through physical rituals and spiritual sustenance, people experience attachment, sublimation, disillusion, and rebirth. This loop-like cycle can be referred to as the concept of the "belief circuit."
Despite all the advancements in health care and emerging technologies, casted under the dark shadow of COVID-19 and in face of the fear of the unknown, people around the world are still experiencing tremor and distress, Looking back in history, Taiwanese people have always relied on folk beliefs to seek psychological and physical relief in face of misfortunes and disasters. Studying the contexts of the main local beliefs in Taiwan, we find that these folk beliefs not only soothe the hearts of people, but some rituals have also become a way for people to defend themselves against invisible threats. In these visible and invisible social scenes, "faith" has gradually and quietly become an integral part of Taiwanese people's daily life.
Faith mostly stems from fear and desire in the heart, from the emotional connection with one's family-of-origin, or from the influence of one's own environment. The cultural behaviors behind these beliefs are not only mental motivations/drives but also physical participation in ceremonies or gatherings. Faith exists in religion and also in daily life. Anything in the world can be the sustenance for you, for me, or for others. Faith enables self-refinement in the circuit of body and mind, and also creates repetitive circulations between the masses and between generations.
The term "circuit" in electrical science is divided into closed and open circuit. Like electricity, beliefs flow through tightly-knit groups and the general public, forming common behaviors like in a series circuit. In cognitive neuroscience, “circuit" refers to the generation of interactions with other individuals and groups, like the mentality of reverence and the sense of body when pursuing a faith. In this exhibition, "circuit" not only refers to karma and reincarnation in religious beliefs but also explores the relationship between people and faith—how the relationship is at a state of circulation internalized in the body and mind.
In the first exhibition area, the images and video works express the anxiety of human beings facing the unknown and the fear of life and death. The second exhibition area, through the artists' creations, showcases Taiwan's folk beliefs, rituals and cultures, and also presents how people use these rituals as a means to entrust the ghosts and gods in restoring the order of human world. The third exhibition area reflects upon the relationship between humans and ghosts through various everyday beliefs, attempting to identify a new model between human and belief in this circuit system.
Since the outbreak became more severe, various religious gatherings and activities have been suspended. Many large-scale traditional ceremonies have also been postponed or canceled. Tainan, as Taiwan's religious center and cultural hub, used to be so lively with these religious pilgrimages and processions, yet now they have quiet down. As Tainan's art hub and through this exhibition, the Tainan Art Museum intends to serve as a medium and platform on the topic of faith. We want to present the different contexts of how artists view faith, the circuit relationship between people and faith, and the aspects of faith that are part of Taiwanese people's daily life, which may not be visible but have never disappeared.
