Etan Pavavalung Solo Exhibition: Thinking in the Nature

Curator/ Artist: Etan Pavavalung

A famous Irish dramatist goes by the George Bernard Shaw mentioned that “The body is always in the end. In addition to thinking, there is no beautiful and interesting things to stay, because thought is life.” Thought is the fundamental element of human behavior and interaction, and it allows people discover, comprehend even describe things around the world through abstractive and conceptual analysis toward the current world. Though, these ideal philosophies may not share the common ground with the indigenous Taiwanese Paiwan tribe that is known as “Pu-Varung”. The definition of “Pu-Varung” can be comprehended through its individual meaning of each character. (The word “Pu” has the inner meaning of possessing, and the word “Varung” has the meaning of inner aspiration, thought and wisdom) Hence if two words come together, it represents a unique human character of this Taiwanese indigenous tribe. In Taiwan, there various indigenous tribes, among them, pu-varung is well-known for been the wisest philosopher. People from this tribe are well familiar with the use of idioms for things around them. For instance, sentence “the wind is fragrant” literately mean the wind smells good, but there another inward meaning for describing that the air without contamination. Also, the phrase “the dawn stole a glance at us” can be translated and understood literately as the dawn saw us. But its inward meaning stands for “time comes and goes, but people still need to continue to think. To the people of Pu-Varung, thoughts are mysterious matters that come with creativity. These hold the signs of anticipation of the things which a person is about, or will face in the reality and future.

The quote “Thinking in the Nature” is the criticism which the artists have toward the air pollution in Taiwan. Artists who hold such quote generally express their thoughts concerning the damage and inconvenience which the air pollution brought for the society, with exhibition. This quote also encourages Taiwanese people to be recognized as part of the world citizen who share the common ground of preserving and perfecting the concept of nature environment and preservation. Based on this concept, the artistic piece “ve-ne-cik” by the Taiwanese artist Etan Pavavalung presents the fundamental thoughts that the people of Pu-Varung have for the nature and its pricelessness. It also defines that the nature needs to be preserved by all mankind, should people seek for a pure land without contamination. This kind of attitude and thought have become the most precious wisdom of Taiwanese indigenous people.

In the nature, the flow of the air becomes the wind that blow onto our face from time to time. The air and the wind are the greatest thing that were given by God to preserve and keep the balance between the mankind and the nature. Therefore, we all must hold onto this concept so that the nature may last.