Posted on 15 May 2026
Call for Artists 2026
Guandu Nature Park calls for 5 artists with a focus on the human-nature relationship to participate in the 2026 Guandu International Nature Art Festival entitled “Mythic Habitat: Whispers of the spirits in the Wetland”
Submission deadline is June 20, 2026.
Selected artists will spend around four weeks as artists-in-residence in Guandu Nature Park and use natural or environmentally friendly materials to create artworks onsite that can convey environmental messages and raise awareness.
Theme
“Mythic Habitat: Whispers of the spirits in the Wetland”
The habitat we inhabit is more than a sanctuary for biological life; it is the cradle of human mythology. By turning our gaze once more toward the rhythmic pulse of these wetlands, we seek to rediscover the primordial spirituality—a force hijacked by modern civilization, yet one that has never truly vanished.
The theme for the 2026 UN World Wetlands Day is "Wetlands and Traditional Knowledge: Preserving Cultural Heritage," aimed at exploring the deep-rooted connections between global wetland ecosystems and the cultural practices, traditions, and knowledge systems of local communities.
In response to this global call, we are re-examining the role of the Guandu Nature Park within a contemporary context. This marks a pivotal return to the curatorial subjectivity of the Guandu International Nature Art Festival, opening up new dimensions for interpretation. Following the 2025 theme, "Seeing Guandu: Nature as a Solution," which reflected on the festival’s 20-year history and the cultural landscape of Guandu as a "place," we are now launching a three-year curatorial initiative. The inaugural year begins with the concept of "Myth," exploring the significance of nature through a mythological lens as a starting point to redefine the relationship between humanity and the environment.
In the Naturphilosophie of the 18th-century German Idealist Friedrich Wilhelm Joseph Schelling, myth is not a falsehood but a resonance between the human psyche and natural forces. It reflects the original unity between humanity and the essence of the cosmos. Schelling viewed myth as "primordial poetry" or a "true symbol"—a divine revelation felt within nature before the full awakening of consciousness. These myths externalize the power sensed in the natural world, capturing the "vitality" and "creativity" that logic alone cannot exhaust.
This cultural heritage continues to shape contemporary ecological philosophy. In 1972, when James Lovelock proposed the Gaia Hypothesis, emphasizing how environment and life co-construct one another, he undeniably drew upon the mythological archetype of Gaia—the Mother Earth—to describe the planet’s creative capacity. Mythology has always been woven into our language. As the historic gateway to the Taipei Basin, Guandu has long been a confluence of diverse cultures and lifestyles—from the indigenous Ketagalan people to the Han settlers, and from traditional fishing and hunting to modern urban life. Guandu Temple, the oldest Mazu temple in Northern Taiwan, stands as a prime example of how religion manifests the early bond between humans and the natural world.
The French semiotician Roland Barthes noted that the function of myth is to "endow with meaning," transforming a concrete object into a vessel for abstract concepts.
The 2026 theme, "Mythic Habitat: Whispers of the Spirits in the Wetland," focuses on this interplay. We invite artists to explore the "Mythologization of Nature" through various paths:
- Re-interpreting ancient legends from different civilizations.
- Constructing "new myths" for contemporary ecology and climate change narratives.
- Drawing inspiration from the specific geographical and cultural tapestry of the Guandu region.
By doing so, we aim to return to the ancestral human spirit and reclaim the original spirituality that resides within the wetlands.
Timetable
|
Field Study Period |
Aug. 14 |
Artists Hotel check-in |
|
Aug. 15 |
Field study |
|
|
Aug. 16 |
Art Proposal Discussion |
|
|
Residence Period |
Aug. 18- Sep. 12 |
Period of installation |
|
Sep. 13 |
Opening Art Festival |
|
|
Sep. 14 |
Artist depart |
|
|
Exhibition Period |
Sep. 13- Dec. 31 |
End of the artwork exhibition |
- Off days (Mondays): Aug. 24, Aug. 31, Sep. 07
Any change to the current timetable will be made in accordance with notifications from the organizer, and will be announced on the official website of Guandu Nature Park and Guandu International Nature Art Festival.
Contact
1) Email: festival@gd-park.org.tw
2) Phone: +886-2-28587417 ext. 230 (Mr. Anderson Kuo)
● Website https://www.guandu-natureart.tw/