倒風內山：文明發酵術
「倒風」（Tò-hong）意旨每年東北季風季節時，從山區往海岸線方向吹拂的強風。在17世紀於今日麻豆一帶仍存在的「倒風內海」，便是用來形容當時船舶須逆風航向內陸的情境。倒風內海雖如同台江內海一般，早已隨歷史的演進而消失，但「倒風」一詞似乎還存在於先民的記憶之中，並透過語言的傳承而進入到描述台南風土的地景詞彙庫之中。
「內山」則是清治時代用來指稱北起白河、東山，南至南化、龍崎的台南丘陵地帶。該地區雖山勢不如中央山脈險峻，卻因其破碎的地形及特殊的地質地貌，意外成為了台灣的文明庇護所。從石器時代的左鎮人文化、直至今日的西拉雅文化，台南的內山地帶雖地近台灣先民與外界文明接觸的「海景第一排」，卻因其特殊的自然環境而成為多元文化交匯之處：甚而成為了文化及文明的發酵之處。台灣的「內山」在概念上不同於日本人所指稱的「裏山」，該詞常被視為日本村落的「後山」。對日人而言，「裏山」雖同為眾靈居住之所，卻相對可被居民親近，甚而是庇佑村民的存在。台灣的「內山」，一方面對拓殖者來說仍舊被視為某種程度上的禁忌空間，但亦可視為某種可供文明交流和延續的特殊地景空間。
「內山」並非雄山峻嶺、地勢高聳之處，但也並非可輕易抵達之地。當外來者在台南平原地區展開其拓殖史之後，渴求農耕土地的拓殖者朝北側的雲嘉地區及南側的高屏平原地區發展，台南的內山地帶則意外成為了某種不同文明之間的過渡空間。在這裡，漢文化的影響從器具開始、直到語言的置換，象徵了某種外來文化對於島嶼文化地景的再造。但內山居民依舊維持著某種邊界性的自治空間，並設法在新時代之中保護傳統知識及傳統信仰的存續。正如同湯瑪斯．曼的小說《魔山》（Der Zauberberg）一般，台南內山做為某種歷史軸線中的時光膠囊，是文明仍能醞釀、發酵之處。該處不僅是台灣文明的避世之處，亦是魔法／祖靈尚存氣息之地。
正如《魔山》中曾提及的：「在山下發生的一切，在山上只以記憶的形式存在。」正當台南平原地區成為台灣進入世界舞台的歷史前緣地帶時，台南內山地區卻彷彿仍是時間得以凝結之地，並以其複雜卻溫和的地理環境孕育著記憶。台灣雖為百岳之島，但「山」的意象及「山」的文化在台南卻猶如其背隱之地。因為這些山頭不僅是台灣拓殖史上被忽略之地，同時亦是不同文明於不同歷史情境之中的交界之處。真實與虛幻、歷史與當代在此處疊合。這不僅是一種屬於台南的魔幻寫實場景，同時亦是屬於台灣自身的文明印記。
延續2025年台南新藝獎「隱身之海、增生之城」欲探討台南與其水文文化的關係，本屆台南新藝獎期望可「背海面山」：迎著「倒風」並透過當代藝術的語境，重新探討台南山區文化與當代社會和國際之間的對話關係。2026年台南新藝獎延續往年慣例，同時設置徵件獎項及國際邀請參展機制。本屆徵件部分共徵集四百多位投件藝術家，並從中選出10位得主，其中3位則將同步參與「Art Tainan」台南藝博會。本屆於徵件的評選部分延續上屆的多元觀點，期盼能萃選出兼顧藝術市場、獨特藝術觀點及多元視角的新銳創作者。除此之外，本屆亦會邀請多位國內外知名藝術家，針對屬於台南的「奇幻山景」進行對話及謳歌。
本屆獲獎藝術家媒材多元；從實驗繪畫、裝置、至跨領域創作，具體呈現台灣新生代藝術創作者的截面。此次獲獎的藝術家不約而同關心人與自然的關係、文明與社會的邊界；或是嘗試透過媒材之間的曖昧關係，拓展藝術表現上的創新領域。本屆獲獎藝術家的關心面向不僅與策展主軸有所呼應，並預計將據其創作概念發展數場可供民眾參與及體驗的工作坊。除此之外，策展團隊也預計將邀請國內長期關注相關議題的藝術家，以及國際上有共同及類似處境的重要創作者，共同針對本屆台南新藝獎發展出多元文明交織的維度。
在獲獎藝術家的部分，我們可以看到藝術家蔡昱廷的《不眠山》直接切合本屆策展主題。《不眠山》透過錄像藝術的形式，以超現實的風格重回日治時期的台灣山林，並企圖創造出某種特殊的時空情境。在蔡昱廷展出的醉美空間，亦有本屆邀請藝術家林彥翔的錄像作品共同展出。林彥翔長期探勘及研究台灣山林信仰於日治時期的時代背景，正好與前者進行了深度的對話及呼應。另外，長期關注台南內山地區西拉雅文化的邀展藝術家陳冠彰，亦預計於醉美空間透過錄像作品呈現其對於西拉雅文化及其信仰的觀察及研究。
預計於甘樂阿舍美術館展出的獲獎藝術家曾芷郁，則是透過生活化的方式來再現其對於花草的觀察。藝術家以一種接近自然筆記式的語調，將花草透過絹印及膠彩等方式，進行詩意的描寫。考量甘樂阿舍美術館地近著名的台南公園，另一位邀請搭配的藝術家張文菀則透過其雕塑裝置，呈現出透過各種動物及物件所組合而成的雕塑作品。張文菀透過荒謬並帶有趣味性的語境，將自然及社會的關係進行了某種犀利的剖析。
本屆台南新藝獎亦可見不少藝術家嘗試進行繪畫或複合媒材的實驗：於弎畫廊展出的獲獎藝術家蕭宇倢透過壓克力片，進行某種極簡複合媒材的創作。藝術家其作品本身的色彩及媒材的特殊張力，預計可與台南的史蹟空間創造某種極為契合的對話。於台南索卡藝術展出的獲獎藝術家林奕岑，則是透過碳粉及灰階至白色的紙漿進行特殊的複合媒材創作。林奕岑其看似素描繪畫的作品，實際上則是藝術家透過徒手壓印的工作方式，創造出某種介於繪畫及雕塑之間的中介空間。
於加力畫廊展出的獲獎藝術家洪誼庭，則是嘗試追求某種實驗繪畫的可能性。在塵埃的集合體及大面積的單色繪畫之中，洪誼庭不僅創造出多元的空間向度，其同時作為詩人的創作身分更是賦予作品某種特殊的詩意張力。在加力畫廊的空間中，洪誼庭的作品預計將創造出某種特殊的氛圍，以便引領觀眾前往二樓參觀來自印度的邀展藝術家Sharbendu De。Sharbendu長期居住於印緬邊境山區，他對於印度主流視角之外的山區民族產生了極大的興趣。藝術家一系列超現實風格的攝影，亦反映這些山區民族如何在傳統及現代生活之間尋求某種可能的平衡。
於絕對空間展出的獲獎藝術家劉書妤則是著重於語意上的置換及再詮釋：其饒富趣味的裝置藝術作品，正好回應了於同一空間展出的邀請藝術家：來自馬來西亞的陳子豪（Tan Zi Hao）。藝術家陳子豪的創作長期以馬來西亞多元的文字圖景作為某種特殊的媒介，本次於絕對空間的展出除了帶來於馬來西亞文化脈絡有關的作品外，藝術家亦預計將依據台南的文化脈絡來發展出相對應的新作。於德鴻畫廊展出的獲獎藝術家陳星宇，則是透過展場牆面本身的斑駁痕跡，來進行空間與材質之間的對話。
本屆另一位馬來西亞出身的獲獎藝術家楊健生，預計於水色藝術空間展出與建築有關的創作。其模擬馬來西亞鄉土建築的裝置作品，創造出某種特殊的空間及聲音景觀。邀請藝術家楊順發則預計翻轉對於「山」的觀念：其透過種植水稻的計畫，創作出《黃金母子山》的作品。藝術家此次於水色藝術空間，預計將以文獻的形式呈現其創作概念。而邀請藝術家秦政德長期勤於台灣各地山林的踏查，其結合自然山林的裝置創作作品早已成為他的特殊創作形式：秦政德亦預計將為台南發展出一組根據台南文史脈絡延伸而出的山林踏查創作。
本屆台南新藝獎預計邀請來自太平洋島國東加的藝術家John Vea：其於節點藝術空間展出的裝置藝術作品，切合其長期討論及批判的移工議題。John Vea透過詩意的手法，探討其離散於紐澳等國、被迫擔任季節性移工的島國同胞：而這同時也是藝術家自身的生命經驗。於大新美術館展出的李宸安，其以建築創作的背景切入裝置藝術作品的呈現，並企圖探討自然、機械及人之間的互動關係。而來自法國的邀展藝術家Sandrine Deumier，則是透過互動式動畫的創作方式，重新詮釋了其對於西拉雅文化及其歷史的想像和觀察。
於藝非凡美術館展出的獲獎藝術家侯思齊，則是透過「花窗」的形式及數位影像媒材，嘗試進行台南都會空間內的「裡／外」辯證。此種感性的視覺觀察經驗，則正好與另一位邀展藝術家吳柏葳的趣味作品進行了某種有趣的並置實驗。本屆台南新藝獎不僅嘗試將台灣新銳的獲獎藝術家與國內外別具潛力的藝術家搭建某種可供其對話的平台外，亦邀請台南新銳策展人施友傑及陳盈婷擔任本展助理策展人，與策展人高森信男共同組成跨世代的策展團隊。此策展團隊的組成不僅期望可以多元觀點回應本屆策展主題，亦希望可延續台南新藝獎注重跨世代對話及挖掘新銳創作者的初衷。期望在展覽策畫及作品討論的層次上，亦可猶如倒風一般颳起新興的視野及對話空間，釀造出某種屬於我們這個時代的島國新興文明。
Windy Hills: Brewers of Civilization
By Nobuo Takamori
“Tò-hong” (literally “against the winds”) refers to the strong winds that blow from the mountains toward the coast during the annual northeast monsoon season. In the seventeenth century, the area around present-day Madou was known as the Tò-hong Inner Sea, where ships crossing the lagoon had to sail into strong headwinds to reach inland ports. Although this natural landscape, like the Taijiang Inner Sea, has long since disappeared over the course of history, the term “Tò-hong” appears to have persisted in the collective memory of earlier Settlers. Through the transmission of language, it has entered the vocabulary used to describe Tainan’s terroir and local landscape.
As for “Lāi-suann” (literally “interior mountains”), it was a term used during the Qing dynasty-ruling era to refer to the hilly region of Tainan stretching from Baihe and Dongshan in the north to Nanhua and Longqi in the south. While these hills are far less imposing than Taiwan’s Central Mountain Range, their fragmented terrain and distinctive geology unexpectedly provided refuge to successive waves of civilizations on the island. From the Zuojhen Man culture of the Stone Age to the present-day Siraya culture, Tainan’s “Lāi-suann” region functioned as one of the island’s earliest points of contact with the outside world and as a crossroads of multiple cultures, its unique natural environment. One can even argue that “Lāi-suann” became a place where cultures and civilizations were able to “ferment”—taking form and evolving slowly over time. Conceptually, Taiwan’s “Lāi-suann” differs from the Japanese notion of “Urayama.” In Japan, Urayama typically refers to the hills behind a village—the space inhabited by spirits yet regarded as accessible and even protective of human communities. In Taiwan, by contrast, these interior mountains were long perceived by settlers as a taboo or forbidden zone, while simultaneously serving as a special landscape where cultural exchange and continuity could nonetheless take place.
The “Lāi-suann” area is neither towering peaks nor easily accessible terrain. When early settlers established themselves on the Tainan plains and sought agricultural land, they expanded northward toward Yunlin and Chiayi, and southward toward Kaohsiung and Pingtung plains. In the course of this development, Tainan’s “Lāi-suann” unexpectedly emerged as a transitional zone between different civilizations. Here, the influence of Han Chinese culture—from tools to languages—symbolized the reshaping of the island’s cultural landscape by external forces. Yet the “Lāi-suann” communities retained a form of liminal autonomy, continuing to safeguard traditional knowledge and belief systems amid ongoing historical change. Much like the setting of The Magic Mountain (Der Zauberberg) by Thomas Mann, Tainan’s “Lāi-suann” area functions as a kind of time capsule along the axis of history: a place where time appears suspended, and where civilization can still evolve and take shape. The “Lāi-suann” area is thus not only a refuge for different civilizations in Taiwan, but also a landscape where traces of magic and ancestral spirits continue to linger.
As The Magic Mountain suggests, everything that happens down below exists on the mountain only as memory. While the plains of Tainan became the historical front line of Taiwan’s engagement with the outside world, the “Lāi-suann” area was a place where time seemed to slow, preserving memory within a complex yet gentle geographical environment. Although Taiwan is often described as an island of a hundred peaks, the imagery and culture of these interior mountains in Tainan remain hidden—almost recessive. Overlooked in the history of colonial expansion, the “Lāi-suann” region nonetheless served as points of intersection where different civilizations encountered one another across time. Here, reality and imagination, history and the present, overlap and intermingle, forming a kind of magical realism unique to Tainan and a distinctive imprint of Taiwan’s own civilizations.
Building on the theme of the 2025 Next Art Tainan Award, “Hidden Sea, Growing City,” which examined Tainan’s water cultures, the 2026 edition proposes a shift in perspective: turning away from the sea and toward the mountains. By embracing the concept of “Tò-hong”— going against the winds and moving toward the inner land— this exhibition, through the language of contemporary art, explores Tainan’s inner mountain cultures, situating them within both contemporary society and an international context.
Following established practice, the 2026 Next Art Tainan Award includes both an open call and an international invitation program. More than 400 artists applied, from whom ten awardees were selected; three of them will also participate in the Art Tainan. The selection process continues the previous edition’s emphasis on diverse perspectives, seeking to identify emerging artists who balance market potential with distinctive artistic positions and pluralistic viewpoints. In addition, several renowned Taiwanese and international artists have been invited to engage with and celebrate Tainan’s “magic mountains.”
This year’s award-winning artists work across a wide range of media, from experimental painting and installation to interdisciplinary practices, offering a clear snapshot of Taiwan’s emerging contemporary art scene. Many engage with the relationship between humans and nature, and with the shifting boundaries between civilization and society. Others explore material ambiguity as a means of opening new frontiers for artistic expression. In dialogue with the curatorial theme, several artists will also develop participatory workshops based on their creative concepts. The curatorial team also plans to invite both Taiwanese artists who have long engaged with related topics and international artists working with comparable contexts, weaving together multiple dimensions of intersecting civilizations within this year’s Next Art Tainan Award.
Among the awardees, Tsai Yu-Ting’s “Seeking for Absent Forms in Forests” resonates directly with the curatorial theme. Presented as video art, Tsai brings viewers back to Taiwan’s mountain forests during the Japanese colonial period through a surreal lens, creating a distinctive spatiotemporal atmosphere. Exhibited at Aglow Art Space, Tsai’s work will be shown alongside video pieces by invited artist Lin Yen-Xiang , whose long-term research focuses on belief systems in Taiwan’s mountain forests during the same historical period. This pairing forms a layered and meaningful dialogue.
Also exhibiting at Aglow Art Space is invited artist Chen Guan-Jhang , who has long engaged with Siraya culture and its religious belief systems. Through video art, Chen presents his observations and research that further expands the exhibition’s exploration of Tainan’s “Lāi-suann” landscape.
At Asir Art Museum, award-winning artist Tseng Chih-Yu reinterprets her observations of plants and flowers through an everyday, attentive sensibility. Adopting a tone reminiscent of a nature journal, she renders botanical subjects poetically through silkscreen printing and gouache painting. Given the art museum’s proximity to Tainan Park, invited artist Chang Wen-Woan complements the exhibition with sculptural installations composed of animals and found objects. Through absurd yet playful narratives, Chang offers a sharp analysis of the relationship between nature and society.
Several artists this year also experimented with painting and mixed-media practices. At San Gallery, award-winning artist Hsiao Yu-Chieh works with acrylic panels to create minimalist mixed-media works. The colors and materials used create a distinctive tension that is expected to resonate strongly with Tainan’s historic architectural spaces. At Soka Art, Lin I-Tsen employs carbon powder and gradations of grey-to-white paper pulp to create works that, at first glance, resemble paintings, but are in fact formed through hand-pressing techniques, occupying an intermediary space between painting and sculpture.
At Inart Space, award-winning artist Hong Yi-Ting explores the possibilities of experimental painting. Through the accumulations of dust/printmaking residue and expansive monochrome surfaces, her works open up multiple spatial dimensions. Her parallel practice as a poet lends the works a distinctive lyrical intensity. Her exhibition sets the stage for visitors to continue upstairs, where they encounter invited Indian artist Sharbendu De. Living near the India’s mountain borderland, he has developed a perspective distinct from India’s mainstream, cultivating a deep engagement with the mountain communities. His surreal photographic series captures these communities’ ongoing search for some sort of balance between tradition and modern life.
At Absolute Space for the Arts, award-winning artist Liu Shu-Yu focuses on semantic shifts and reinterpretation through playful art installations, responding directly to the works by invited Malaysian artist Tan Zi Hao. Tan’s practice takes Malaysia’s multilingual sign landscape as a central medium. In this exhibition, Tan not only presents works grounded in Malaysian culture, but also develops new pieces in response to Tainan’s local cultural context. The award-winning artist Chen Hsing Yu , exhibiting at Der-Horng Art Gallery, engages in a dialogue between space and material through the weathered marks on the gallery walls themselves.
Another Malaysian award-winning artist, Yong Kian Sam, presents architecture-related works at Mizuiro Workshop. Drawing inspiration from vernacular Malaysian architecture, his installations construct immersive spatial environments and unique soundscapes. Invited artist Yang Shun-Fa challenges conventional notions of “mountains” through a rice-planting project titled “Golden Mother-and-Son Mountains,” presented in the form of documentary records. Meanwhile, invited artist Chin Cheng-Te, known for his long-term field research in Taiwan’s natural environments and for installations that integrate closely with mountain and forest landscapes, develops new site-specific works rooted in Tainan’s historical and cultural context.
The exhibition also invites Tongan artist John Vea, whose installation at Zit-Dim Art Space addresses the topic of migrant workers. Through a poetic approach, John Vea address an issue central to his artistic practice and personal experience as a Pacific Islander, reflecting on the forced mobility of his compatriots as seasonal workers across New Zealand and Australia. At Daxin Art Museum, artist Lee Chen-An draws on his architectural background to explore interactions between nature, machines, and humans through her art installation. As for the invited artist from France, Sandrine Deumier, she reinterprets her observations and imaginings of Siraya culture and history through interactive animation artworks.
At Mezzo Art, award-winning artist Hou Ssu-Chi uses digital media and the motif of ornamental lattice windows to explore the dialectic of “inside/outside” in Tainan’s urban spaces. This sensorial approach to visual observation is intriguingly juxtaposed with the playful works of invited artist Wu Pu-Wei.
The 2026 Next Art Tainan creates a platform for dialogue not only between emerging Taiwanese artists and promising international practitioners, but also among curators. This year’s intergenerational curatorial team brings together curator Nobuo Takamori with Tainan-based emerging curators Shih Yu-Chieh and Chen Ying-Ting as assistant curators. Approaching the curatorial theme from multiple perspectives, this collaboration continues the award’s commitment to intergenerational dialogue and the discovery of emerging voices. Ultimately, inspired by the spirit of “Tò-hong,” this year’s Next Art Tainan seeks to generate fresh ways of seeing and open spaces for dialogue, cultivating a new form of civilization that speaks to our time and to our island nation.