Taipei, Oct. 8 (CNA) Repeated claims that "Taiwan is a part of China", made by Chinese friends after seeing her creation of a China map without Taiwan, encouraged visiting artist Susan Stockwell to gain first-hand experience of the island.
That was what brought Stockwell, a British artist, to Taiwan last week for a three-month stay through the "Taiwan-U.K. International Fellowship Program," an artist-in-residence program run at the Taipei Artist Village.
Stockwell, who has been doing extensive international work, created a paper map of China during her last residency in Nanjing, China. The response from her friends were unexpected, she said, as almost all of them pointed out that she left out Taiwan, but never mentioned Macau and Hong Kong, neither of which were on the map.
Her friends repeated to Stockwell over and over again that Taiwan is a part of China, which made her very angry, she said.
The U.K. Royal College of Art graduate said she had learned a little about China-Taiwan relations before, but the incident dramatically boosted her curiosity. She jumped at the opportunity upon learning an opening at the artist exchange program.
"I think it was fate that brought me here, " she said.
Stockwell will stay in Taiwan until Dec. 22, after which she will present her work in an open exhibition. She plans on visiting old buildings, Taipei's MRT, and computer factories in Taiwan in the coming week as she seeks inspiration before coming up with artistic ideas.
The fellowship program, co-sponsored by the Council for Cultural Affairs and U.K's Visiting Arts and Arts Council England, is entering its third and last year. Seven Taiwanese artists went to United Kingdom while six U.K. artists have come to Taiwan.