Tuan Kuang-Hsing
Tuan Kuang-Hsing previously worked in production sound recording for film and television. In 2017, he pursued advanced studies in filmmaking in France, focusing his practice on the social dimensions of cinema. The artist re-embraces the essence of audiovisual media in his creation, treating it as a mediating tool for diverse forms of experience and understanding, such as temporal and spatial perception, awareness of one’s surroundings, and cultural interpretation, organically bridging gaps for one another.
- Location France / Paris
- Year of the Grant 2023
- Residency Cité Internationale des Arts
- Work Between the Moon and Paris
While studying in Paris, I co-created a short documentary with individuals experiencing homelessness. This later evolved into an ongoing experimental feature-length project named Between the Moon and Paris. The work also functions as a participatory platform for co-creation. As an extension of this project, I was selected for the Ministry of Culture’s 2023 exchange program and undertook an artist residency at Cité Internationale des Arts in Paris. Through this production, I aim to explore how these individuals envision their lives and express their longing for survival, while seeking a place of their own in society.
Cité Internationale des Arts hosts over 300 artists from more than 90 countries, encompassing almost every possible field in art and culture. Over time, I came to understand that for many artists, Cité is a sanctuary that allows both inner reflection and external connection. It is also a hub where resources converge, forming fertile ground for artistic growth. Perhaps that is what makes Cité invaluable.
In addition, Cité Internationale des Arts organized off-site visits that allowed me to explore a range of cultural spaces. One of them was La Pop, a boat mooring along the Seine in Paris. The venue, now converted into a theater, merges academic inquiry with interdisciplinary artistic practices, and funds and produces experimental projects on sound. Both the spatial transformation and the foundation’s cross-disciplinary approach to sound-based work offered fresh perspectives.
During the residency, Cité Internationale des Arts even hosted a discussion in conjunction with Rencontres Internationales Paris/Berlin, a program on experimental films and new cinema. Rather than expressing a fixed viewpoint, the curators facilitated an open dialogue through film screenings and in-depth conversations with resident artists, highlighting the aesthetics and practices of moving images. The discussion emphasized that curating doesn’t need to be confined by thematic frameworks. Instead, it can serve as a way of exploring the broader ecology and thought processes of contemporary artmaking through moving images. This prompted me to reflect on my own role as a filmmaker – perhaps I should also break away from established modes of thinking and adopt a more open and pluralistic approach for my creation.
Author: Tuan Kuang-Hsing
Edited: Brix