Design Brief: Art and Design Exhibition in Taiwan during the Japanese Colonial Period

Author: Yao Cunxiong
Publisher: Yuan Zhu Culture
Publish Date: 1994-06-01
Features: "Design" is a creative activity that serves the society and solves human life problems. The design expression of an era can reflect the social environmental changes, cultural trends, and lifestyles of that time. Therefore, from the perspective of art sociology, the history of design can also be said to be the history of human life culture and the history of civilization development. After 1895, Japan's colonial rule not only changed the historical destiny of Taiwan but also had a profound impact on the early development of Taiwan's art and design. This period was not only the enlightenment stage of Taiwan's art and design but also, under the influence of colonial political, social, and cultural factors, allowed art and design to gradually develop and form its rich and diverse special style.
After World War II, due to the influence of political ideologies, records of design development during the Japanese colonial period and various design-related literature were often deliberately eliminated or ignored, making the early history of Taiwan's art and design almost completely forgotten by people. Additionally, due to the passage of a long period of time and environmental changes, early art and design materials have never been properly preserved or valued, so many have been scattered, damaged, and difficult to find, resulting in a fragmented, piecemeal, and long-term blank phenomenon in the historical records of Taiwan's art and design development during the Japanese colonial period.
Therefore, this book not only explores the historical development of Taiwan's art and design during this special period but also uses the collection and organization of art and design-related materials to analyze the development phenomena and characteristics of Taiwan's art and design at that time. Furthermore, it establishes a chronology of the development of Taiwan's art and design during the Japanese colonial period, laying a historical foundation for the study of Taiwan's design history, and hoping to serve as a reference, recognition, and understanding for the general public in their research on art and design during this period. The methods of data collection and investigation in this book mainly involve selecting and organizing various materials related to art and design recorded in major newspapers, magazines, and other media and publications during the Japanese colonial period. These include design-related exhibition activities, design work selection competitions, the application of design works, the dynamics of art and design professionals, the implementation and promotion of art and design education, as well as major events that influenced design and related cultural and artistic activities. It is hoped that through collection and organization, the overall developmental context of Taiwan's art and design during this period can be gradually analyzed and constructed.