Deploy in Shoushan – Sizihwan Bay Tunnel & Air-raid Shelter 部署壽山 — 西子灣隧道與全民防衛展 Dates: September 30 to October 23, 2022 展期: 2022年9月30日至10月23日 Venue: Sizihwan Bay Tunnel 地點: 西子灣隧道 ( Installation view of Deploy in Shoushan, Sizihwan Bay Tunnel, 2022 )
As part of the City Exhibit of 2022 Taiwan Design Expo, this exhibition is held inside an air-raid shelter right next to the Sizihwan Bay Tunnel, with a view to reviewing the historical development, transitions of political regimes, and changes in spatial and strategic deployments of Kaohsiung.
Curated based on the concept of “dispositif”, Deploy in Shoushan is also intended to expose the historical heterogeneity and pluralism of the air-raid shelter complex that resonate with its functions. The tunnel is located in Shoushan, which tells the history and reveals the deployment.
The tunnel was one of the planned facilities for the development of the tourism and leisure industry. Toward the end of WWII, a small part of an anti aircraft dugout was dug next to the tunnel to serve as a wartime ammunition depot. After WWII, the Nationalist government completed the dugout expansion project during 1950-1970s, under the state of alert of the confrontation between KMT and CCP, which is the air defense facility currently retained.
The folklore legend of Takao implies potential unpredictable disasters, bringing local and foreign viewers to understand more about Kaohsiung. By integrating artistic imagination and juxtaposing folklore legend and reality, different contexts are represented in the form of immersive theater with the simulation of a war command center office, interactive art installations, air-raid alarms for evacuation, and wartime deployments. ( An excerpt from the exhibition website )