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Sakuliu Pavavaljung

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Sakuliu Pavavaljung (born 1960) is a Taiwanese Paiwan artist.

Early life

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Sakuliu Pavavaljung was born in 1960, in Sandimen, Pingtung County,[1] and resides in the village of Koushe.[2] His family made iron knives for several generations.[2] Sakuliu Pavavaljung's father named him after his paternal grandmother's father.[2] Sakuliu Pavavaljung's three older siblings had died in infancy, so his father chose the name to evoke an ancestor that evil spirits had respected.[2] Etan Pavavaljung, his younger brother, is a painter and woodcutter.[1][3]

Career

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Sakuliu Pavavaljung's art is inspired by the intersection of his native Paiwan culture and changes within contemporary life.[4] As the Paiwan language does not have a word for artist, Sakuliu Pavavaljung considers himself a Pulima, a Paiwan name that means 'many hands', bestowed upon those with artistic skill.[5] Though his output spans several types of art, such as paintings, sculptures, ceramics, architecture, and installation art,[4][6] Sakuliu Pavavaljung is credited with reviving ceramics within the Paiwan culture, as Paiwan nobility had used earthenware pots as betrothal gifts prior to the loss of that art in subsequent generations.[2] Sakuliu Pavavaljung named his son Reretan, Paiwan for 'earthenware pot'.[2]

Sakuliu Pavavaljung has participated in the making of two films about Paiwan culture. He was the subject of Sakuliu (1994), which was directed by Lee Daw-ming, and shot by Lin Jian-siang, and began filming in 1992. The director and cinematographer had been in Sakuliu Pavavaljung's life for one year prior to formally filming him.[7] The Last Chieftain was released in 1998 and credited Sakuliu Pavavaljung as a co-director alongside Lee Daw-ming.[8] The Last Chieftain depicts leadership in Paiwan settlements and featured Sakuliu Pavavaljung speaking with Lee about political and economic issues.[9]

In 2018, Sakuliu Pavavaljung became the first Taiwanese indigenous artist to receive a National Award for Arts [zh] in the fine arts category.[1][10] He was selected to represent Taiwan at the 59th Venice Biennale.[11][12][13] In 2021, Sakuliu Pavavaljung and another Taiwanese artist, Chang En-man [zh], were invited to join ruangrupa, an Indonesian artists' collective selected to serve as artistic director for documenta fifteen.[14] After sexual assault allegations against Sakuliu Pavavaljung surfaced in December 2021, the Taipei Fine Arts Museum stated in January 2022 that his work would no longer be featured at the 59th Venice Biennale.[15][16][17] documenta suspended Sakuliu Pavavaljung's participation in the event.[18][19]

Aside from his art, Sakuliu Pavavaljung has interviewed a number of tribal elders and recorded aspects of Paiwan culture, such as names and their meanings.[2]

Controversy

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After artist Kuo Yu-ping published a story on Facebook about a Paiwan artist named Kulusa who had sexually assaulted a teenaged female fan, several readers believed that the artist depicted in the story was Sakuliu Pavavaljung. Days after Kuo's Facebook post, engineer Yu Yue-lien disclosed on the same social media network that Sakuliu Pavavaljung had tried to sexually assault her in 2006. Subsequently, an investigation into Sakuliu Pavavaljung began in December 2021.[20][21] Soon after Sakuliu Pavavaljung had publicly denied the claims of sexual assault,[21] Taipei City Councillor Huang Yu-fen [zh] attended a news conference alongside the teenager's lawyer, and accused Sakuliu Pavavalung's partner of coercing the teenager to agree to a legal settlement and remain silent.[22] In January 2022, the Taipei Fine Arts Museum, organizers of the Taiwan pavilion at the 59th Venice Biennale, announced that Sakuliu Pavavaljung would no longer be participating at the event.[15] documenta also announced Sakuliu Pavavaljung's suspension.[19] An investigation into Sakuliu Pavavaljung continued throughout 2022, and culminated in September of that year with an indictment on charges of offences against sexual autonomy.[23]

References

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  1. ^ a b c "Creator of beautiful things". Taiwan Today. 1 January 2019. Retrieved 2 January 2022. Republished and translated as: "Sakuliu Pavavalung, dictionnaire vivant de la culture paiwan". Taiwan Today (in French). 29 June 2019. Retrieved 2 January 2022.
  2. ^ a b c d e f g Wang, Jane (February 1996). "What's in a name?...a story". Taiwan Panorama. Translated by Barnard, Jonathan. Retrieved 2 January 2022.
  3. ^ "Paiwan artist reflects on circle of life". Taiwan Today. 31 March 2014. Retrieved 2 January 2022.
  4. ^ a b Tseng, Mei-chen (2015). "Observation and Thinking: The Austronesian Contemporary Art Project of the Kaohsiung Museum of Fine Arts". Pacific Arts. 15 (1–2): 23. JSTOR 26788767.
  5. ^ "Sakuliu Pavavalung: I'm not an artist, as you say in your world, I'm a Pulima". Cité internationale des arts. 2019. Retrieved 2 January 2022.
  6. ^ "Kinship with Earth by Sakuliu Pavavalung". International Gallerie. Retrieved 2 January 2022.
  7. ^ Hu, Tai-li (2017). "The Camera is Working: Paiwan Aesthetics and Performances in Taiwan" (PDF). In Strathern, Andrew (ed.). Expressive Genres and Historical Change. Taylor & Francis. p. 162. ISBN 9781351937559. Alternate link to chapter
  8. ^ "Sakuliu Pavavalung". Taiwan Film and Audiovisual Institute. Retrieved 2 January 2022.
  9. ^ "The Last Chieftain". Taiwan International Ethnographic Film Festival. Retrieved 2 January 2022.
  10. ^ "President pays tribute to National Arts Award winners". Central News Agency. 3 April 2018. Retrieved 2 January 2022.
  11. ^ "Sakuliu Pavavaljung to Represent Taiwan at 2021 Venice Biennale". Hyperallegic. 30 April 2020. Retrieved 2 January 2022.
  12. ^ "Sakuliu Pavavaljung to Represent Taiwan at 2021 Venice Biennale". ArtForum. 4 May 2020. Retrieved 2 January 2022.
  13. ^ Wang, Ken (19 November 2021). "Indigenous artist to represent Taiwan at 2022 Venice Biennale". Central News Agency. Retrieved 2 January 2022.
  14. ^ "Taiwanese artists to participate in 15th edition of documenta in Kassel, Germany". Ministry of Culture. 7 October 2021. Retrieved 17 January 2022.
  15. ^ a b Chao, Ching-yu; Wang, Po-er; Kao, Evelyn (12 January 2022). "Artist's Biennale appearance halted due to sexual assault allegations". Central News Agency. Retrieved 17 January 2022.
  16. ^ Greenberger, Alex (12 January 2022). "Sakuliu Pavavaljung Dropped as Taiwan's Venice Biennale Artist Following Sexual Assault Allegations". ARTnews. Retrieved 17 January 2022.
  17. ^ Chow, Vivienne (13 January 2022). "Taiwan Has Pulled Artist Sakuliu Pavavaljung From the Venice Biennale After a String of Sexual Assault Allegations". Artnet. Retrieved 17 January 2022.
  18. ^ Gsakin, Sam (13 January 2022). "Sakuliu Pavavaljung Dumped From Venice Biennale After Sexual Assault Allegations". Ocula. Retrieved 17 January 2022.
  19. ^ a b Greenberger, Alex (14 January 2022). "Documenta Responds to Allegations of 'Anti-Semitic' Connections to BDS Movement". Artnews. Retrieved 17 January 2022.
  20. ^ Kuo, Chi-hsuan; Lee, Hsin-Yin (21 December 2021). "Prosecutors probe sexual assault accusations against Indigenous artist". Central News Agency. Retrieved 2 January 2022. Republished as: Chin, Jonathan (23 December 2021). "Rape allegations against Paiwan artist probed". Taipei Times. Retrieved 2 January 2022.
  21. ^ a b Wang, Bao-er; Lee, Hsin-ying; Huang, Frances (24 December 2021). "Indigenous artist denies sexual assault claim in online story". Central News Agency. Retrieved 2 January 2022. Republished as: "Artist denies claims that he sexually assaulted teenager". Taipei Times. 25 December 2021. Retrieved 2 January 2022.
  22. ^ Liu, Chien-pang; Lee, Hsin-ying; Huang, Frances (24 December 2021). "Artist's sexual assault accuser was pressured to keep quiet: councilor". Central News Agency. Retrieved 2 January 2022.
  23. ^ Wang, Flor; Lee, Hhi-ting (28 September 2022). "National Award winning artist indicted on sexual assault charges". Central News Agency. Retrieved 7 October 2022. Republished in part as: "Paiwan artist charged". Taipei Times. Central News Agency. 4 October 2022. Retrieved 7 October 2022.
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