A delegation from the University of Applied Art Vienna, led by its Rector Dr. Petra Schaper Rinkel, arrived at TNUA in mid-June, with the visitors from the sister school taking part in an exhibition and a symposium during their week- to month-long stays.

Members of the delegation also include: Astrid Anna Behrens, Head of the International Office; Alexander Damianisch, Head of Support Art and Research; Margarete Jahrmann, Head of Experimental Game Cultures; Claudia Larcher from Digital Arts; and artists Zeynep Aksöz Balzer and Marianna Mondelos.

They are at TNUA for the “Becoming Human in Times of Post-humanism: Taiwan × Austria Collaborative Exhibition and Symposium.”

The exhibition, running from June 21 till July 7, presents 10 pieces of work created by the artists from the University of Applied Art Vienna.

On June 20, TNUA President Prof. Chen Kai-Huang met with Dr. Rinkel, accompanied by Dr. Yatin Lin, Dean of TNUA’s Office of International Affairs. Both sides discussed the possibilities of future collaborations. The visitors were later also shown around the campus, visiting the Kuandu Museum of Fine Arts and the Center for Art and Technology, among others.

A two-day symposium was held on June 21 and 22 in tandem with the exhibition.

Dr. Rinkel noted that “Angewandte goes Taipei: Becoming Human in Times of Post Humanism” is an open format that merges a symposium and an exhibition. It showcases Angewandte’s stance within the discursive realm of technology, techno-politics, where algorithmic processes are becoming an inseparable extension of human nature. This event raises the question: What does it mean to be human in this context?