The first office of the Eden Foundation was located in a private house in His-Kou, Jingmei, Taipei City, with a floor area of only about 66 square meters. At that time, Eden had only two full-time staff, and Liu Hsia (Pen name Hsinglintzu) was employee number 0001, who never received a salary. Looking back on her life, Liu Hsia has struggled with rheumatoid arthritis, but in her weak body, she has a strong faith and an optimistic and enterprising soul. With her writing, she brought sunshine to every corner of the world, and with her selfless love and care, she founded the Eden Foundation 40 years ago, which contributed to the development of the rights and interests of persons with disabilities in Taiwan, and brought about a turnaround in the lives of countless persons with disabilities.
This year marks the 20th anniversary of Liu Hsia's death. In order to continue Liu Hsia's spirit of love and care, Eden Foundation organized the "Song of Life" accessible art exhibition at the CKS Memorial Hall, showcasing the artworks from nine disabilities direct service centers which have created artworks based on the words of Hsinglintzu's writings. The exhibition featured a wide variety of artworks, such as branding, weaving, lacquer ware, handmade paper, wood carving, quilting, and oil painting, each with its own unique characteristics. At the opening press conference today on 18th, Sep., Eden Foundation's Executive Director Mr. Ink Yin, CKS Memorial Hall's Deputy Director Ms. Hui-Chu Chang, and a number of artists gathered at the venue to kick off the exhibition.
Eden Foundation's Executive Director, Mr. Ink Yin, gave his blessing to the opening event.
The exhibition was jointly organized by the 1. Social Affairs Bureau of the New Taipei City Government, the authority of disabilities care services which entrusted to the Eden Foundation to operate the services by using publicly owned venues and 2. several Direct service centers. Eden's Culture and Creativity Specialist, Ms. Chia-Hui Wen, said that the artworks in the art exhibition were planned according to the characteristics of the different centers and the specialties of the service users, such as the Peng-Fu Small-Scale Sheltered Community Workshop, which has been developing wood carving for a long time, so this time it was combined with traditional lacquer to bring new challenges to the service users, and the TouChienChuang Disability Day Care Center, which provides care for persons with moderate-to-heavy disabilities, used marbling arts to create artwork so that service users with different conditions could participate in. Looking at the artists' faces as they worked hard to complete their artworks without giving up due to physical limitations, Wen remarked that it was the most beautiful picture in the world, and looked forward to encouraging more persons with disabilities to be brave enough to step onto the stage and show their own selves.
Artist with disabilities, Ching Shun admires his artwork at the exhibition.
The fireworks bloom on the canvas, displaying delicate emotions one by one, inspired by the words "Love is like the fireworks on festivals if there is a lack of patience, it is bright and dazzling, but it flashes away. ", Hsiao-Hao from Pang-Fu Small-Scale Sheltered Community Workshops would like to convey the message "love should be timely". Hsiao-Hao is 23 years old and years ago, he suffered from psychosis caused by employment pressure, resulting in hallucinations and fantasies, and was unable to distinguish between reality and fantasy which seriously affected his work and life.
After a period of medical treatment and recuperation, in 2021, Hsiao-Hao came to Peng-Fu Small-Scale Sheltered Community Workshop of Shulin District, which was Social Affairs Bureau of the New Taipei City Government entrusted to Eden to operate. At first, he was introverted and withdrawn, not very talkative, and spoke in a low voice. In order to help him adapt to the environment early, educare givers paid attention to his condition and chatted with him, and now he is emotionally stable, has established a good relationship with his educare givers, and has become a good helper in his manufacture work. It is the first time for him to try carving and learn traditional lacquer art techniques. He is a delicate person who is good at observation and patience, and he is very attentive to the details. Although there is only one piece of artwork in this exhibition, it has opened up his interest in art, and he hopes to have more opportunities to share the sincere and pure love in his heart with his creations in the future.
Artist with disabilities, Hsiao-Hao expresses "Love should be timely" with his sculpture artwork.
Eden Foundation indicated that Liu Hsia has used her faith and words to tell the world that life itself is a miracle. The theme of "Song of Life" is to demonstrate the spirit of persons with disabilities in the process of creation, not to give up due to difficulties, and the unending and beautiful brilliance of life; at the same time, it also implements the spirit of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, to know more about the skills, talents and abilities of persons with disabilities, as well as to equal participate in the cultural life just like others, so that everyone will have the opportunity to develop their creativity and artistic potentials.
The artworks of "Song of Life"art exhibition have created based on the works of Liu Hsia’s writings and features a wide range of them.
Although persons with disabilities have lost some of their physical functions, in the field of art, there is no confinement or fetters, and they are able to let their lives unfold in front of the world like a song, and feel the joy of life. Eden's "Song of Life" accessible art exhibition of artists with disabilities will be on display at the 3rd floor gallery of the CKS Memorial Hall from now until 3rd, September. Participating organizations include: Peng-Fu Small-Scale Sheltered Community Workshop of Shulin District which is Social Affairs Bureau of the New Taipei City Government entrusted Eden to operate, Hsin-Feng Small-Scale Sheltered Community Workshop of HsinChuang District, Zhongzheng Small-Scale Sheltered Community Workshop of Danshui District, Happiness Small-Scale Sheltered Community Workshop of of Hsin-Chuang District, TouChienChuang Disability Day Care Center of Hsin-Chuang District, Ai De Disability Rehab Center, Ai Hu Disability Rehab Center, Ai Yu Disability Rehab Center, and Eden’s Volunteer Development Division. Admission to the exhibition is free and the public is welcome to come and see the miracle of life blooming through art.
Eden held the Song of Life accessible art exhibition of artists with disabilities, displaying 111 pieces of creative artworks.
