“A Gaze into the Empty Space – Allen Nieh and Our Contemporaries” opened at the Kuandu Museum of Fine Arts (KdMoFA) on April 8, paying tribute to one of Taiwan’s pioneering figures in stage design and presenting a dialog between the stage, the theater, and our times.
The exhibition, co-organized by the TNUA School of Theatre and the Taiwan Association of Theatre Technology (TATT), runs till May 18.
At the opening ceremony, the curators – Prof. Samuel Wang and Prof. Chi-Mei Wang – were joined by Deputy Minister of Culture Lee Ching-hwi and TNUA administrators, including Vice President Prof. Huei-Ling Liu, Dean of Research & Development Prof. Kuo-Hua Yu, Secretary General Yung-Feng Chung, Dean of International Affairs Prof. Yatin Lin, Chief Director of Performing Arts Center Prof. Hung-Hui Lu, Dean of the School of Fine Arts Prof. Hsi-Chuan Liu, and Chair of the Department of Theatrical Design & Technology Prof. An-huei Tsao, among others.
Among the exhibits are a collection of Nieh’s manuscripts, documents, and design drawings loaned by the National Taiwan University Library.
The biggest item in the exhibition is a 1/10 scale replica of a “Snow in August” scene designed by Nieh. The model was built by a 15-member team of TNUA students led by Prof. Chin-Yuan Yang from the Department of Theatrical Designs & Technology.
A series of educational programs designed to help visitors better understand Nieh’s work will be organized every weekend in tandem with the exhibition.
Nieh was born in Shanghai in 1933. In 1963, he traveled to the University of Hawaii under the East-West Center’s technical exchange program. Upon returning to Taiwan, he taught at Chinese Culture University and Shih Hsin University while continuing his work in stage and lighting design. Spanning more than 150 productions across genres, covering theater, Peking opera, Kun opera, Taiwanese opera, dance theater, and Western opera, his notable works include “Snow in August,” “Medea,” “Secret Love in Peach Blossom Land,” “The Injustice to Dou E,” “The Peony Pavilion,” “Wandering in the Garden,” “Waking from a Dream,” “Yan Zi and His Wife,” and “The Man from Wuling.” He has received the National Award for Arts and an honorary doctorate from TNUA.