A Report From GEISAI Taiwan With Rei Sato

On Sunday December 6, GEISAI Taiwan was convened in Taipei and our own Rei Sato was there to hold a workshop and exhibition.


In addition to a giant balloon and video works, Sato also produced art on site from scrap after entering the country on the 2nd.

The scrapwood works were made with help from 50 local art students who joined Sato in an attempt to prevent their unused items from going to waste and experiment with new forms. While we assumed it would be difficult to attract the right number of people, the response to our ad for volunteers at the art universities was overwhelming and gave us great expectations for the event itself.

According to the volunteers we spoke to, there aren’t many art fairs or places to exhibit work in Taiwan, giving them all the more reason to celebrate an open event like GEISAI! We were quite impressed with their passion.

Production was ongoing, even as we conducted our preliminary inspection of the event hall.


Volunteers gathered broken umbrellas from passengers at train stations and friends. They quickly removed the materials and set about weaving them together.


They also began putting together unused cloths from balloon companies. What in the world will the results look like?


The only thing predetermined was the size. Each volunteer adds a bit of themselves.


And here is the completed work!


Once struck by the light of the sun, the piece became a stained glass scrap curtain. The different color combinations clearly reflected the individuality of the people who worked on them. Sato was delighted.


Next, the students began working with the now useless handles and metal parts from the cloth-less umbrellas as well as discarded CDs to make a second round of scrap works.


The broken CD’s were transformed like this. What a great idea.


Soon, the room was filled with unique scrap works and the display was complete.


Once the sun came in through the windows, the CDs reflected the light. The scene was enough to catch the eyes of visitors, even from far away.


Next came the balloon. Volunteers set about drawing a face.


The display was successfully finished in time for the opening!


One of the first areas to attract a crowd was this printed board of one of Sato’s photos, converted to allow participants to draw on it freely. The small children in this picture tried their best to act like the adults, same as in Japan.


Wearing the happi coat in the center of this photo is Aoi-san from AZIO, the group whose help has been instrumental in our time in Taiwan. She could be seen this day once again running around and communicating through an interpreter!


Sato’s photo drawing workshops, where participants drew over photos with a pen, were a hit with adults and children alike. The number of participants grew at an incredible speed. We had actually planned on holding a small number of works with a limited number of entrants, but the response was so positive we decided to open it all times.


Participants did their drawings on photos actually taken at the event hall which made for some diverse results. The finished works were shown on the big screen seen in the photo above. As seen here, the balloon became one of the most popular spots for photos.

Since entry was open to both adults and children, we had a lot of parents take part with their children. Many of these guests had not done any kind of drawing for several years and commented “I think I enjoyed it more than my child!”

We’re happy to say that GEISAI Taiwan was a big success. It turned out to be quite the memory for Sato as well, who was making her first stay inside the nation’s borders. She certainly enjoyed the time she spent with the staff at the balloon factory, and the artistic ideas exchanged during her work with the volunteer art students and participants in her workshops.

As a result, Sato told us that she plans to be here again for GEISAI Taiwan’s next installment. Before leaving, we had her pause for a commemorative photo with the volunteer staff. Thank you to everyone!


Thank you, see you again!