Finding pathways to Temahahoi
- Single-channel cyberspace: rhzyal maku' (my land) 2020 // Single-channel HD Video Discovering Hzing: Pswagi Temahahoi 2022 edition colour, sound, audio, duration 12:20min (loop) // Single-channel HD Video Pswagi Temahahoi 2024 edition colour, sound, audio, duration 07:36min (loop)
- Sound script drawing mixed media 39 x 54cm, Photography I, II, III , digital print series 95.5 x 53.17cm, Ceramic ocarinas hand-built from Nantou/Miaoli region sourced yellow clay (set of 12) size and weight variable. Digital 3D ocarina, candlestick, necklace renders video works x4 editions. 2020—2024
《Pswagi Temahahoi》在泰雅族語裡「P」有表示未來之意、「S」則是工具格的字根，「Wagi」是太陽的意思，當他們合起來「Pswagi」就隱含著透過光作為工具，而因為該字有未來式，所以它是一個準備利用「光影」作為工具和即將發生的事情，Temahahoi (女人社) 為帶有酷兒特質的泰雅族群極少被提起的口述故事。此次創作透過田野紀實紀錄影像與行為藝術表演，混合交織形成一件錄像裝置作品，其中還有包括自製的陶笛以及樂譜作為行為表演的一部分，紀實影像中跟隨著泰雅族耆老 Yumin 的 pswagi「光影」知識技術去尋找野生蜂蜜的位置，如此收尋的過程在作品裡再次被轉換成去尋找已經被遺忘的 Temahahoi 的路徑，作品中出現的自製陶製樂器作為招喚 Temahahoi 的聲譜，試圖重新尋找一個沒有具體座標 Temahahoi 的位置。《Pswagi Temahahoi》延續先前的《她可能來至__社》的創作脈絡，口述故事 Temahahoi（女人社），透過創作再次被詮釋與開拓女性和酷兒身體的空間可能性，與此同時預言似地交錯回應環境議題與安靜無聲的酷兒身體之關係、隱喻似地連結氣候危機下的蜜蜂減少與邊緣族群的消失。
Finding Pathways to Temahahoi is an ongoing body of work that began in 2020 when Ciwas started to deeply research and engage with the story of Temahahoi told to her in 2018 by an Atayal Elder. She let the story steep and slowly built up a body of work that seeks to explore, expand and sustain Temahahoi a space of queer historical knowledge and ongoing resistance. Ciwas devotes herself to in-depth futures imaginings and retellings of Temahahoi by combining documentary video with speculative narratives alongside cyberspace, 3D rendered scans of hand-built artefacts and ceramics and sound performance to weave together hybrid performance video installation works. Temahahoi is an Atayal oral story that tells of a place where only women and gender diverse people live together in community. They communicate with bees, who protect them from outsiders, sustain themselves on steamand smoke and become impregnated by sunbathing on rocks by allowing the wind to enter them. Discovering Hzing: Pswagi Temahahoi (2022 edition) is an experimental documentary video work that follows the path taken by Atayal Elder Yumin, who uses a technique named ‘pswagi’, to trace the locations of wild bees. Alongside, a performance piece with Ciwas’ self-invented ceramic sound sculpture as a way to relocate the space of Temahahoi through collective queer breath. The work is a continuation of Perhaps She Comes From/To＿Alang, which addresses the possibility of re-interpreting and opening up the space of Temahahoi for women and gender diverse bodies through a cyberland.
rhzyal maku' (my land) Unity edition pre-planning geographic sample presentation (excerpt, 2020)
rhzyal maku' (my land) Unity edition pre-planning geographic sample presentation (excerpt, 2020)
Credits: Artist, director, editor: Ciwas Tahos (Anchi Lin)
Performed by Ciwas Tahos, Sinkuy Katadrepan & Ai-Lin Wang
Atayal Elder: Yumin Masaw
Sound Design: An Chen
Director of Photography: Jules Lin Kinghan
Camera operator: Daniella Romanoo
Film still, video work, photography, sound script drawing 2022 © Ciwas Tahos (Anchi Lin). All rights reserved.
生 ⇆ 熟 ⇆ 福 Raw ⇆ Ripened ⇆ Happiness
- Dual-channel HD Video, colour, sound, duration 20 min 12 sec, x6 wooden stamps (sizes variable), Red ink pad, Clay/mud (locally sourced), Paper map of Taiwan 110 x 70 cm, Kinetic machine (1st edition) wooden, wooden stamp, dimensions variable, Wooden crate, Kinetic machine (2nd edition) steel, motor, wooden stamp, dimensions variable, 2019—2026
《生⇆熟⇆福》作品的創作靈感來自於尋找日據時期的家族戶口名簿，其過程中的反思以及體感表現，面對國家認可的身份得依賴殖民時期的邏輯思維與文件感到反感與被傷害，但也不得以地需要透過這些文件重新發現疏遠的宗親脈絡，此作品結合平面作品、動力裝置和行為藝術的表現試圖提問強勢的「刻印文化」與「沒有文字」的少數族群所帶來系統性的隱形傷害。生、熟、福等歸類用語初至於中國清朝政府至日據時期，來歸類原住民族的同化程度。透過《生⇆熟⇆福》作品去探討被標籤化的邊緣身體。生、熟、福，三個字刻印在一顆有重量、政府官員所使用的木製印章上，安裝至動力裝置上，我的身體躺在一個白色的展台上，有如在博物館裡，原住民的身體和女性的身體一同在父權主義下的觀看模式被標本化，我的身體被動地被動力裝置上的印章開始往我的身體烙印蓋章，直到我全身通紅，像是受傷後的身體，這個行為表演的過程隱喻著世代一直被標籤化的過程，印章是強勢文化，也是刻印文化的顯性代表，它是權力賦予標籤化的合法性。
Raw ⇆ Ripened ⇆ Happiness encompasses a series of works that contemplate disconnection resulting from colonisation. Stamps traditionally identified a person and determined assigned categories by brandishing a mark onto official documents created in the colonial tongue. These documents often removed Indigenous lineages and addresses. Through this action, entire generational identities shifted to suit the colonial whim as families were forced to relocate. These actions reflect cultural and physical disconnection. Often, traces remained buried, scarce, and faint. This is seen in the faint traces left behind during the action of stamping with mud and ink. In both live and digitalised performances Ciwas uses their body as a stamp, with a handheld stamp, and also has their body stamped by a kinetic machine that brandishes a mallet head repeatedly down onto Ciwas's body. The kinetic machine brandishes the seal onto the body as Ciwas is silent. By stamping repeatedly on both body, paper and maps, Ciwas seeks to acknowledge past actions in order to navigate the future.
Paper mud traces, 2019
Aquarium 水族館
- Three-channel HD Video 2026 edition: colour, audio, 17:08/Single-channel HD Video 2016 edition: colour, sound, audio, 05:01. Installation: x2 red stools, ceramic mug, 2016—2026; 2026 edition: Performance: Anchi Lin (Ciwas Tahos, the artist), Hsu Han-Yu, Filming: Lan Wen-Lin, Cho Du-Hsin, Film locations: Shuiwei sacred Camphor tree/Shaliandun area. Commissioned by Taichung Art Museum Taichung, Taiwan, filmed January 2026.
2016 《水族館》 錄像行為創作，隱喻地指涉國家體制的監視與審查系統有如水族館一樣，一種無處躲藏的空間，想說話與呼吸的聲音變成了一系列的靜音與模糊不清的雜音，難以被閱讀。
Aquarium (2026) is a conceptual video performance initiated in 2016. The 2016 edition examines the struggle of lost language and the attempt to learn a new language at the same time. This in-betweenness serves as a state of hidden surveillance within the colonial system. The 2026 edition is grounded in historical research into the colonial impacts of Taiwan’s past. The performance responds to the colonial Tu-Nui ditch, built specifically to enforce separation between mountain Indigenous nations and Han people (Plains Indigenous nations were between these two). Aquarium stands as a direct, embodied response to that unspoken struggle of separation. Before filming, Ciwas spent hours searching for the exact historical site of the colonial ditch. The search eventually led her to discover an abandoned urban land marker, which was engraved with the traditional character 城 for 'city' in an industrial farming area. The performance went from daylight through dusk until the moon appeared.
Aquarium 2026, 1:00 excerpt, three-channel HD video, colour, audio, full duration 17:08 (loop) © Ciwas Tahos (Anchi Lin)
Aquarium 2016 水族館 1:00 Excerpt © Ciwas Tahos (Anchi Lin)
To the Shore 海岸
- Four-channel HD video installation 2025 edition: colour, audio, duration 03:41 (looped), broom, x12 ceramic mortar and pestles, sand. Commissioned by Sharjah Art Foundation.
- Single-channel HD Video 2015 edition: colour, audio, duration 22:12 (looped), Straw broom, audience instruction A4 white paper, black ink, x2 studio floor lamps. 2015—2025
The 2025 edition of To the Shore expands the 2015 edition, which engaged with diasporic notions of fitting-in fatigue, the weight of generational trauma and the quiet resilience that cannot be swept away, but is tempered by meditative actions. The 2025 installation piece comprises four video works surrounding twelve wounded ceramic hand-built mortar and pestles, arranged on the ground clockwise in a sandy circle as a site of healing. Ciwas draws on a remembered childhood Hō-ló idiom: “大水，袂流得石舂臼 Big waves cannot wash away stone mortar and pestle” to evoke meditative resilience. Ciwas uses the sound of sweeping her broom; when recorded, each sweep evokes an ocean wave and brings Ciwas a sense of calm. This durational sweeping performance explores how the body remembers and relates to the shores we travel between. For Ciwas, this is about meditating on being sent solo to Canada to study on unknown shores with an unknown language and falling in love with someone from Southern Hemisphere Pacific shores, to which she is now connected and conducts her central-channel ceramic and sand performance. The left-channel shoreline depicts the Pacific North-western shore and the right-channel the Pacific shoreline of Northern Taiwan filmed during a typhoon. Across from the three-channel series is the single-channel sweeping performance. Here, the broom becomes a ritualised instrument for reflection; the labour behind the sweeping action produces a soundscape mirroring the ocean’s meditative rhythm, transporting the sweeper to their desired shore.
The 2015 edition explores the notion of immigration across oceans and heteronormative domestic routines. This piece adddresses notions of ‘trapped-ness’ and displacement. The broom serves as an instrument for producing a meditative action and sound, transporting the sweeper to the shore. “Lin’s piece is a video performance using a broom to create the sound of the ocean, attempting to make the seemingly mundane activity of sweeping something that could be described as almost beautiful” (McGrail, 2016).
The 2015 edition explores the notion of immigration across oceans and heteronormative domestic routines. This piece adddresses notions of ‘trapped-ness’ and displacement. The broom serves as an instrument for producing a meditative action and sound, transporting the sweeper to the shore. “Lin’s piece is a video performance using a broom to create the sound of the ocean, attempting to make the seemingly mundane activity of sweeping something that could be described as almost beautiful” (McGrail, 2016).
Four-channel video installation (exhibit view from Sharjah Biennial: TO CARRY 2025), colour, sound, excerpt 01:00, full duration 22:12 © Ciwas Tahos (Anchi Lin)
Installation view, 2015
Canoe 獨木舟
Creative direction: Ciwas Tahos (Anchi Lin), Project assistant/photographer: Jules Lin Kinghan, Performances by: 行為表演參與者：廖于宣（Rowbiq Ciwan、慈姆達斯（Vuvutas）、里幸 （Lisin Sizu、崔綵珊（Tsui Tsai Shan、簡慧珊（Chien Hui Shan）、高惠玲（Gao Hui Ling、宋曉仙 （Song Xiao Xian）、芙依絲·莎霧（Fuis Sao Paotawan) ~rest in power
- Six-channel HD Video, color, sound, audio (duration variable), Straw broom, 2017
“獨木舟” 邀請了八名來自各行個業不同年齡的台灣女性原住民，此項目是已非性別歧視的心態歡迎部落各界八位女性來參加連續20分鐘的拍攝，拍攝期間她們將使用台灣家庭中常看到的傳統掃把。
藝術家鼓勵參與者利用想像力使掃把在地上掃出她們心中海的聲音。同時在錄製之前，藝術家也進行了訪談來了解每位參與者的故事，並與她們討論相關原住民議題。女性參與者 廖于宣說到“族群認同永遠來自於自己，先認同自己才能認同族群”，同時來自排灣族的慈姆達斯 提到 ”排灣族的歌謠故事以前有好幾千個，現在只剩下五十多個“。阿美族的 宋曉仙 說到 “原住民在政治領域的參與性，曉先說目前台灣政壇上看不到多數有原住民背景的政治人物“ 同時ㄧ樣來自阿美族的芙依絲關心原住民土地問題，她舉例 有某集團為了商業利益把部落的祖靈墳墓挖出來蓋停車場。芙依絲也非常關心他國原住民土地議題，像是目前正在加拿大西岸發生的油管抗爭事件。
這些受訪行為演出的女性原住民有些還居住在原鄉，但是大部分因工作和學校關係已經離開原鄉已久，面對資本主義和現代化所帶來幾代人所被迫移動，有如在係潮和潑浪上被迫前進的獨木舟，即使在不同社會角落努力也不忘記心中那條看不見和一起前進的獨木舟，而那條看不見地獨木舟就是抽象性地與各表演這所關心各現代原住民性和議題的交叉點。
藝術家鼓勵參與者利用想像力使掃把在地上掃出她們心中海的聲音。同時在錄製之前，藝術家也進行了訪談來了解每位參與者的故事，並與她們討論相關原住民議題。女性參與者 廖于宣說到“族群認同永遠來自於自己，先認同自己才能認同族群”，同時來自排灣族的慈姆達斯 提到 ”排灣族的歌謠故事以前有好幾千個，現在只剩下五十多個“。阿美族的 宋曉仙 說到 “原住民在政治領域的參與性，曉先說目前台灣政壇上看不到多數有原住民背景的政治人物“ 同時ㄧ樣來自阿美族的芙依絲關心原住民土地問題，她舉例 有某集團為了商業利益把部落的祖靈墳墓挖出來蓋停車場。芙依絲也非常關心他國原住民土地議題，像是目前正在加拿大西岸發生的油管抗爭事件。
這些受訪行為演出的女性原住民有些還居住在原鄉，但是大部分因工作和學校關係已經離開原鄉已久，面對資本主義和現代化所帶來幾代人所被迫移動，有如在係潮和潑浪上被迫前進的獨木舟，即使在不同社會角落努力也不忘記心中那條看不見和一起前進的獨木舟，而那條看不見地獨木舟就是抽象性地與各表演這所關心各現代原住民性和議題的交叉點。
'Canoe' is an extension of 'To the Shore' that collaborates with Indigenous women from different communities. A callout was made in Taiwan, culminating in eight Indigenous women from various locations participating. They were invited to speak with Ciwas and share their thoughts on issues they care about and then sweep the museum floor with a traditional broom for around twenty-minutes. The participants were encouraged to think about the issues they had shared with Ciwas and their connection to the shore while sweeping.
Ciwas sat down with each participant and listened to their stories and discussed issues that were important to them. For example, Vuvutas from Paiwan Nation mentioned that "more than a thousand Paiwan stories and folk songs in the past have already been lost, now only around fifty remain in people's memories". Rowbiq Ciwan from Truku Nation believes "you have to accept who you are in the first place, then you can accept your ethnic identity". Song Xiao-xian from Amis Nation said, "it's rare to see Taiwanese Indigenous politicians in the current governmental system, hopefully, there will be more in the future". Fuis Sao Paotawan from Amis nation pays close attention to Indigenous people's land rights in Taiwan and overseas and shared how upset she was when "a corporate company that dug out some of our ancestors' graveyards just because they needed to make a parking lot for business purposes". Fuis is also aware of the Kinder Morgan pipeline protest in Canada and has been actively against the pipeline being built. Most of these women have long left their hometowns for better jobs and education in larger urban areas. Decades ago the colonial impact of capitalism and modernity forced people to move, resulting in generational diaspora. Ciwas feels this work is about recalling a canoe propelled forward by the current and waves, steered with difficulty. The invisible canoe in this work represents the intersectional point of each performer's shared concerns regarding contemporary Indigeneity. Ciwas envisions a future extended work where the canoe travels across oceans and is building this slowly... from shore to shore.
~Ciwas was saddened by the passing of one of our dear sisters in 2026 and dedicates this work to her, rest in power with solidarity and strength.
Ciwas sat down with each participant and listened to their stories and discussed issues that were important to them. For example, Vuvutas from Paiwan Nation mentioned that "more than a thousand Paiwan stories and folk songs in the past have already been lost, now only around fifty remain in people's memories". Rowbiq Ciwan from Truku Nation believes "you have to accept who you are in the first place, then you can accept your ethnic identity". Song Xiao-xian from Amis Nation said, "it's rare to see Taiwanese Indigenous politicians in the current governmental system, hopefully, there will be more in the future". Fuis Sao Paotawan from Amis nation pays close attention to Indigenous people's land rights in Taiwan and overseas and shared how upset she was when "a corporate company that dug out some of our ancestors' graveyards just because they needed to make a parking lot for business purposes". Fuis is also aware of the Kinder Morgan pipeline protest in Canada and has been actively against the pipeline being built. Most of these women have long left their hometowns for better jobs and education in larger urban areas. Decades ago the colonial impact of capitalism and modernity forced people to move, resulting in generational diaspora. Ciwas feels this work is about recalling a canoe propelled forward by the current and waves, steered with difficulty. The invisible canoe in this work represents the intersectional point of each performer's shared concerns regarding contemporary Indigeneity. Ciwas envisions a future extended work where the canoe travels across oceans and is building this slowly... from shore to shore.
~Ciwas was saddened by the passing of one of our dear sisters in 2026 and dedicates this work to her, rest in power with solidarity and strength.
1:00min excerpt, Six-channel HD Video installation, color, audio, full duration 17:42 (looped), Canoe, 2017 © Ciwas Tahos (Anchi Lin)
The Land in the Middle of the Pond
水池中的土地
Concept, Creative Direction and Performance: Anchi Lin [Ciwas Tahos] / Cinematography: Liam Morgan / Project manager: Jules Lin Kinghan
- Double-channel HD Video, colour, sound, duration 08 mins 09 secs (looped), x2 water containers, 2021
《水池中的土地》此作品創作於2021綠島人權藝術季影像拍攝地點為石門水庫，隱喩式地探討人為建設的水庫作為一個讓人流離失所的場域，透過一位在被迫流動之下的泰雅族卡拉社阿嬤的視角，試圖勾勒出跨空間性的對話與跨地域性的禁錮想像，而錄像中不同的女性族人與植物交換名字作為一種無形中與土地連結的儀式。
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The
Land in the Middle of the Pond makes reference to the 1950’s forced
displacement of the Atayal Qara community from their ancestral territory for
the construction of the Shimen Reservoir – now the main water supply for
Northern Taiwan. Throughout the video, we hear the voice of an elder who recalls the events which resulted in
the forced displacement of her community and the impact of diaspora. In the video we see Ciwas tracing veins that run along her limbs like rivers. During the performance, later Ciwas and other Atayal women engage in an Atayal name exchange ritual, between person and plant. This customary ritual
Ciwas employs like the tracing of her bloodline at the reservoir, as a symbolic
act for reconnecting with her ancestral land while affirming her identity
past, present and future.
“Land in the Middle of the Pond depicts the biopolitics of the Qara Atayal community as it intertwines with the river. The work employs different rituals to respond to a history of forced relocation, pollution, and disease — rituals such as painting the veins of one’s legs, carrying water from the reservoir, and the exchanges of names between people and plants. At the same time, it serves as a bridge point and positive call which permeates between individuals.” Tides in the Body Curator Wu Hung-Fei
“Land in the Middle of the Pond depicts the biopolitics of the Qara Atayal community as it intertwines with the river. The work employs different rituals to respond to a history of forced relocation, pollution, and disease — rituals such as painting the veins of one’s legs, carrying water from the reservoir, and the exchanges of names between people and plants. At the same time, it serves as a bridge point and positive call which permeates between individuals.” Tides in the Body Curator Wu Hung-Fei
Double-channel video stills, 2021
Short excerpt: double-channel HD Video, sound, colour, full duration 08:09, 2021 edition © Ciwas Tahos (Anchi Lin)
Short excerpt: double-channel HD Video, sound, colour, full duration 08:09, 2021 edition © Ciwas Tahos (Anchi Lin)