Not Just Love Stories 2024
“Not Just Love Stories”
“Love is Sacrifice.” – Filipino Migrant Workers
NOT JUST LOVE STORIES booth at Jin Wan Wan
Address: No. 25-27, Section 3, Zhongshan North Road, Zhongshan District, Taipei City 10491
What is “Not Just Love Stories”?
Curious. So curious to see a booth named “Not Just Love Stories” and it’s strategically located at Jinwanwan. I know it’s hard to follow what I truly mean by my statement so allow me to share where is Jinwanwan.
Jinwanwan is the location of Mini Manila in Taipei. It is called as such mainly because almost all the stores sell for the Filipino community and the vibe of each booth feels like Manila Divisoria Public Market. This commercial building started to serve the Filipino migrants in Taipei in the year 1990’s.
According to an online article, a Filipino Chinese started to open a store at Jinwanwan around 1990’s because of the increase of Filipino migrant workers in Taipei City since the Taiwan government opened its doors to Southeast Asians for domestic work in the said year.
Read more information here: https://nspp.mofa.gov.tw/nsppe/news.php?post=235401&unit=410&unitname=Stories&postname=A-Door-to-the-Philippines:-Taipei%E2%80%99s-Little-Manila
A photo in Manila Divisoria Public Market on Google
Not Just Love Stories is not a store selling Filipino goods. It’s a project organized by the creative minds of Ms. Fiona Hsu, Sally Sung and Sherry Chang. They are Taiwanese local artists who curated this meaningful project for five years now.
On the first two years of this Not Just Love Stories Project, the team indulged into a first hand experience with the migrants’ lives. They began to attend weddings and interview some New Immigrants including the migrant workers regarding their view about Love.
Ms. Fiona Hsu believes that “Everybody is moving” and it’s evident in the presence of the migrant workers anywhere in Taiwan so she said that the vision of their project is to conduct more research about “Migration” and as they are all artists, they also wanted to know “how contemporary arts portray a role in migration”, Fiona added.
Ms. Fiona Hsu for the Mini Manila Tour at Not Just Love Stories Booth Jinwanwan May 19, 2024
Why “Not Just Love Stories” is in Jinwanwan?
On the third year of this Not Just Love Stories project, the team decided to observe the daily lives of the migrants and they have chosen Jinwanwan as a perfect spot to see how the migrant workers move from place to place. They also invited the artist Ms. Chun Liang to keep a professional point of view of the daily exchanges with the migrants most specifically the Filipino community since Jinwanwan is the center of exchange of the Filipinos in Taipei.
Artist Ms. Chun Liang before her Street Performance
A smile with the Artist Ms. Chun Liang at Jinwanwan a few minutes before her performance.
Ms. Chun Liang for Not Just Love Stories Street Performance
Also Read: The Fall Guy Honest Review https://everydaywithgen.com/crazy-twist-the-fall-guy-movie-2024/
Ms. Fiona expressed her gratitude to the Artist Ms. Chun Liang for collaborating with them for this project. Chun Liang shared that she stayed in Jinwanwan booth to observe the migrants and she was totally surprised with the glaring girl power in the building. She added that you might see Filipino men helping out but most of the strength and enormous effort to make things happen in Jinwanwan is from the Filipino women.
Women visibility at the second floor of Jinwanwan Building with Ms. Chun Liang
Experience Manila Divisoria Public Market with Alex Gonzaga
If you visit Jinwanwan’s second floor on a Sunday, you will actually experience Manila Divisoria Public Market. I think the most obvious similarities are the varieties of items hanging on the ceiling and the parade of mixed items on the shelves or racks as if ready to be ransacked anytime. It may sound funny but it really is this vibe at Jinwanwan.
In a typical Taiwanese Market, you will see a well itemized products in the store. You can also notice the differences of products from one store to another. At Jinwanwan however, each store seems to sell and display the same products that increases the possibility of buyers going around the floor, booth hopping, for price comparison.
What happened in Not Just Love Stories event last May 19, 2024?
There were two main events. One was the Mini Manila Tour hosted by KK, a Filipino Taiwanese at 2pm and a Street Performance with Ms. Chun Liang at 3pm.
The team with the participants at the front of St. Christopher’s Church
The Mini Manila Tour started at the second floor of Jinwanwan, from Not Just Love Stories Booth, then around it. Some Filipino delicacies were introduced and then we went down to the first floor.
As we passed by the Disco House, we were allowed to get inside to observe and Ms. Chun Liang, the artist did a little bit of showdown with some of the participants.
Then we moved into the religious side of the Filipino community in Taipei and had a chance to enter St. Christopher’s Parish Church. Soon after, we went back to Not Just Love Stories Booth to witness the street performance.
Ms. Chun Liang with the participants near Jinwanwan Building
The street performance commenced at Jinwanwan and then we paraded slowly towards Free S Art Space located at Xin Sheng North Road, Zhongshan District, Taipei City.
This was where my heart melted. The art exhibit completely blew my mind. I had goosebumps and I totally empathize to the atmosphere. It was rare, gray but soulful and vaguely loud even in silence.
Not Just Love Stories Art Exhibit
Gorgeous Shop Art by Wu Mei Qi
“A result of two years residency at Wanwan. Over the past two years she has created two artworks in our Not Just Love Stories shop spaces and this year she recreated a structure that captures her Wanwan impression in the FreeS Art Space. Two weeks ago she also organized a pop up tattoo event in our shop at Wanwan building.” -Ms. Fiona Hsu
This was the exhibit that impacted me the most. By looking at this photo, in my mind I am telling myself, ” This was why I chose to a simple Christian life and quit Roman Catholicism.” I mean no offense to the Roman Catholics but to be honest, there are so many similarities between Roman Catholicism in the Philippines and the Buddhism in Taiwan.
Demigod Project Snared by Wewe Gombel Art by Wei Ze
“This was from her field work for three years.For making this video work she also collaborated with Indonesian migrant dancers and musicians. That’s why you see the dancing figures and hear the java music in the background.”- Fiona Hsu
This visuals gave me goosebumps and reminded me of the increasing stateless children and people in Taiwan that no one has heard of or has known but a taboo topic in Taiwan society. They are existing and they need help. They need a nationality, they need identity, they need a home.
What is Love?
For me Love is God. If you don’t have faith, you cannot love selflessly.
But not everyone now believes in God that’s why there is more pain and suffering and they thought it’s because they love and lost it. However for me, people suffer because we set a condition for love which is impossible to attain since human beings are born with imperfections, with flaws.
We must love the person according to his or her true nature and not because of what he or she does in order to please or reach your expectation.
But to the Filipino Migrants, Love is sacrifice because they left everything and everyone they love just to support them financially and materially.
There is a deeper meaning in this project which the migrant friends would realize if only they had a chance of joining the event, and that’s about equality.
As the perspective of this project is expanding, one of the curators, Ms. Fiona said that they plan to invite an Indonesian and Filipino contemporary artist in the future. This project made the team realize that everybody is moving not only the foreign workers or the migrant friends but also the locals in their own respective pace.
Art should have a unique context because as this field is challenged by the presence of AI or Artificial Intelligence, people might perceive everything as Art but in reality it isn’t as much as Art as how art is defined.
I believe, the direction of Taiwan that is going into a multicultural nation is inevitable and this project shows how much of a contribution it is to understand the people with us, our neighbors, our co-workers, regardless of their race.
For what is love if we don’t empathize to the one beside us.
“The Migrants’ Love is Time and Space.”
Fiona Hsu
Comment your reaction and feedback of this article.