Taiwan and South Korea artists unite at MOCA Taipei to tackle aging society

The aging of demographic structures and the arrival of a super-aged society are no longer simply matters of public health and welfare policies or economic development statistics; rather, they have become profound cultural and existential challenges that all of humanity must jointly confront in the contemporary era. As Taiwan and South Korea—two East Asian societies similarly caught in the pincer movement of low birth rates and aging populations—cast their gazes toward the future, art has emerged as an essential medium for capturing anxiety, fostering dialogue, and sparking imagination. The Museum of Contemporary Art, Taipei, has specially joined forces with the Busan Cultural Foundation of South Korea to jointly present the international exchange exhibition "When the Future Is No Longer Commemorated," centered around the core proposition of a super-aged society. This initiative not only writes a new chapter in bilateral cultural cooperation, but also deeply analyzes, through the perceptive perspectives of Taiwanese and South Korean artists, the resonant yet distinct life stories and local experiences of the people in both countries as they face the impact of the same colossal wave.

The core of this transnational joint exhibition lies in exploring the philosophical and warning-laden proposition of "When the Future Is No Longer Commemorated." In traditional social imagination, monuments and historical records generally point toward collective human achievements and sustainable future development. However, as social structures face unprecedented super-aged demographics and population shrinkage—with phenomena such as plummeting labor populations, soaring caregiving pressures, and the hollowing out of community spaces following one another—the original social contracts and values have begun to loosen. Using this as a starting point, the exhibition invites contemporary artists from Taiwan and South Korea to transform cold demographic statistics into visceral sensory experiences through diverse media such as installation art, video creation, performance art, and soundscapes, guiding viewers to confront serious issues such as subtle emotions, memory loss, generational divides, and end-of-life care underlying an aging society.

Taiwan and South Korea share a high degree of similarity in the trajectory of their modernization development. Both countries completed the transition from agricultural societies to highly industrialized and digitized societies in an extremely short span of time, yet consequently bore the side effect of experiencing the world's fastest decline in fertility rates. Taiwan is projected to officially enter a super-aged society in the near future, while South Korea has long been mired in the severe crisis of coexisting ultra-low fertility rates and super-aging. Precisely for this reason, this collaboration between the Museum of Contemporary Art, Taipei, and the Busan Cultural Foundation holds strong geopolitical and cultural comparative significance. As South Korea's major port city and second-largest metropolis, Busan similarly faces pressures from population outflow, aging, and the transformation of older neighborhoods. This causes Busan artists' creations to often carry a strong sense of social intervention and regional reflection, forming a cross-border dialogue and complementarity with Taiwanese artists' concerns regarding land memory and shifting family ethics.

Among the works exhibited this time, the Taiwanese and South Korean artists do not merely dwell on depicting the pathos or dilemmas of elderly life; rather, they further excavate the cultural impacts and shifts in subjectivity brought about by aging. For instance, the artists record oral histories of the elderly, explore marginalized phenomena under the digital divide, or reflect on how medical technology prolongs life while simultaneously prolonging loneliness. These works challenge society's mainstream, narrow definitions of "usefulness" and "productivity," re-examining the dignity and value of aging bodies. Through the gaze of these creations, viewers are able to break free from the framework of policy slogans and, starting from micro-level personal life histories, ponder how society will carry us when our own lives reach that stage, and how we should leave behind memories of our era for future generations.

From a broader cultural and contemporary art development perspective, the exhibition "When the Future Is No Longer Commemorated" highlights the important role of museums as public forums. Contemporary art museums are no longer merely white cubes displaying aesthetic objects, but have become spaces that forge social consensus and provoke public debate. Through the joint interpretations of Taiwanese and South Korean artists, the two cities of Taipei and Busan have established emotional flows and exchanges of experience through art as they face the endless marathon of a super-aged society. This not only enriches the creative vocabularies of contemporary art in both countries, but also provides a spiritual sanctuary and forward-looking base for people in East Asia amidst changing circumstances to catch their breath, reflect, and find collective strength.