改建臺北植物園園區內日治時期所留下的屋舍而成的展演空間「南門町三二三」，今 (2016) 年底將舉辦由川松康德、奥村雄樹、山本信幸、山下香里，等四位日本當代藝術創作者的聯展 ── 無來由之葉（根も葉も無い）。受到南門町三二三歷史脈絡溯源的過程所啟發，這個聯展以一本1704年出版，喬治‧薩瑪納札（George Psalmanazar）的著作：《日本天皇之福爾摩沙島歷史與地理的描述》（1704, 中文版《福爾摩沙變形記》由大塊文化出版）作為展覽的發想開端，一本最早之一，但完全虛構的台灣誌。喬治‧薩瑪納札以這本偽台灣誌說服當時的歐洲人相信，實際上是法國人、金髮的他，是第一個造訪歐洲的台灣人。在書中的一個段落，薩瑪納札是如此描述台灣的植物的：

「（臺灣人）用兩種植物的根來製作麵包：一種叫「Chitok」，另一種叫「 Magnok」。這兩種根，跟種植油菜一樣，是用灑種的方式播種。但它們成熟的時候，會長成人類大腿一般的粗細。這些根每年可以二收，在氣候適宜的時候，甚至可達三收‧‧‧」



在日語剛好有句以植物體作為比喻的成語，用來形容像這樣的虛構事實 ── 根も葉も無い（無根亦無葉）。將這句成語翻譯成英文，可以寫作： without roots or leaves. 由於南門町三二三它特殊的、未定的「歷史地位」，以及位於植物園這個傳承自日據時期，累積、保存了兩千種以上植物的環境，不失作為玩味、思索這句成語的極佳背景。循著這樣虛實交錯的歷史軌跡發想，以各自的方法追溯，以外來者的身份觀察歷史上的「外國人」如何影響了台灣今日的面貌（what are the roots that shape the leaves of modern Taiwan?）、臺灣在外國人的心目中是怎樣被想像、虛構，而真實的台灣又是什麼？（Can we find routes to the ‘real Taiwan’, which isn’t veiled by fictions like Psalmanazar leave(left) on the island?“），四位創作者將以現地裝置（site-specific）回應南門町三二三這個空間其中臺灣與日本歷史關係的痕跡，互相的虛構及想像、適應、翻譯、以及溝通的鴻溝。（取自於展覽介紹）

Leaves Without Routes: 根も葉も無い is an art exhibition featuring work by four Japanese contemporary artists - Yasunori Kawamatsu, Yuki Okumura, Nobuyuki Yamamoto and Kaori Yamashita - at Nanmoncho 323 (南門町三二三), a Japanese style house originally built in 1930s during the Japanese colonial period within Taipei Botanical Garden in Taiwan. As well as the unique setting and history of Nanmoncho 323 and the botanical quality of the Garden, this exhibition takes as its point of departure An Historical and Geographical Description of Formosa (1704), one of the earliest - and entirely fictitious - accounts of seventeenth Century Taiwan by George Psalmanazar (c.1679-1763). Psalmanazar nonetheless convinced Europeans for twenty-five years that he, actually French with blond hair, was the first native of Formosa to visit Europe. Psalmanazar wrote of Taiwan’s plants that:

“There are two roots of which they make bread, whereof one is called Chitok and the other Magnok: both these roots are sown like rapeseed, and when they are grown ripe they are as big as a man’s thigh. These roots grow twice, and sometimes thrice in a year, when it is a good season;… ”

Coincidentally, the Japanese idiom for something that is neither a truth or a fact like this is ne mo ha mo nai, or without roots nor leaves by direct translation. This seems rather appropriate in the context of how Japan, among other countries, has been a significant part of shaping the Taiwan that we know today - not least through the establishment of the Taipei Botanical Garden, which is home to over two thousand species, important documented collections for research and education, and also a Japanese-style house. This exhibition therefore focuses upon the long-term relationship between Taiwan and Japan, as exemplified through the Taipei Botanical Garden and the Japanese house within it, to consider how other places have shaped Taiwan, and also how Taiwan is imagined - fictitiously or otherwise - by those from other places or people. Playing with the idea of without roots or leaves, we explore not only what the roots are that have given rise to the leaves of modern Taiwan, but also whether at a time of change and reflection on national identity there are routes through which the ‘real’ Taiwan - not veiled by the imagination of Psalmanazar or someone like him - may leave the island.
The participating artists will create site-specific visual installations as their direct responses to Nanmoncho 323 and the botanical cues within the garden - ghostly relics of the historical relationship between Taiwan and Japan which are also imbued with fascinations towards others, adaptations, translations, and the gaps that emerge as a result. (Text extracted from the exhibition satement)

無來由之葉 / 根も葉も無い  (Leaves Without Routes)


參展藝術家 Artists: 川松康德Yasunori Kawamatsu、奥村雄樹Yuki Okumura、山本信幸Nobuyuki Yamamoto、山下香里Kaori Yamashita


日期 Date: 2016.12.3 - 2017.1.15

時間 Hours: 週二至週日 上午9:30至下午4:30（週末期間有入場人數限制）Tue-Sun 9.30am-4.30pm (only 20 people allowed to enter every half an hour on weekends)

展場 Venue: 臺北植物園南門町三二三 (臺灣臺北市南海路53號)
 Taipei Botanical Garden (No.53, Nan-Hai Road, Taipei 10066 Taiwan)

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