Artists

Photo Credit: NIU Chun-Chiang

Ting-Ting Cheng

Ting-Ting Cheng, who was born in 1985 in Taipei. She graduated from the University of Westminster in London with an MA Photographic Studies and from Goldsmiths’ College with an MFA in fine art. Cheng has held solo exhibitions at various venues, including the Taipei Fine Arts Museum, Galerie Grand Siècle, Solid Art, 182 Art Space, Identity Art Gallery in Hong Kong, Gallery Nomart in Japan, Institute of International Visual Arts (Iniva) in London, Addaya Centre d'Art Contemporani in Spain, and Gallery Luis Adelantado. Other exhibitions that Cheng has participated in include Tokyo Biennale 2020/21, the Shenzhen Bi-city Biennale of Urbanism\Architecture, Moscow International Biennale for Young Art, and Contemporary Art Festival Sesc_Videobrasil, São Paulo, Brazil.

Artist
Statement.


The International City of Arts (Cité Internationale des Arts) in Paris, France, established in 1965, operates with branches in Marais and Montmartre. The residency I attended was located in Marais. During orientation, director Bénédicte mentioned that currently there are as many as 289 artists residing in Marais. Beyond the sheer number of artists, the International City of Arts welcomes individuals with diverse specialties, including writers, musicians, and dancers.

Due to my long-time focus on aspects of migration in my creative research, I have always wanted to explore the life of late Taiwanese writer Qiu Miaojin who resided in France. In my work, “Zoë,” a dual-channel video installation accompanied by a publication, I revisited “Last Words from Montmartre” by Qiu when she lived in Paris from 1992 to 1995.

During my residency, working with a range of social media and art institutions, I called for the participation of female immigrants and invited them to visit the places that Zoë had been to and read the letters at these places aloud. I documented these activities with two cameras. In addition, I interviewed each and every participant and presented the results of the interviews through the subtitles on the second channel.

I hosted a private presentation of my work at my studio and participated in the village’s open studio day. During these events, I received positive feedback on my work. Many audience members expressed strong interest in “Last Words from Montmartre” and the interview with the performers. This sparked several discussions about presentation methods, too.

Author: Ting-Ting Cheng
Edited: Brix

About Cité Internationale des Arts