Sculpting Enlightenment: The Century-long Legacy of Huang Tu-shui’s ‘Water of Immortality’

In October 1921, two events rocked the Taiwanese arts and cultural space; the founding of the Taiwan Cultural Association, and Huang Tu-shui’s (黃土水) sculpture, ‘Water of Immortality’ (甘露水), was selected for the Japan Fine Art Exhibition. One hundred years after its birth, the long-since locked away ‘Waters of Immortality’ has been fully restored, and on December 18th 2021, MoNTUE will once again unveil her to the world.

Distance to the truth – Reinvestigation of migrant fisherman’s death in Indonesia, critical cross-border witness testifies

In late August 2015, Indonesian fisherman Supriyanto died on a Taiwanese distant water fishing vessel, only three months after setting sail. December 15, 2016, The Reporter published the series “Fraud, Exploitation, and Blood on the High Seas,” tracking this case of “death from illness” which the Pingtung District Prosecutors Office speedily concluded within two months, unveiling the suspected mistreatment on the vessel, and the process of trafficking Indonesian fisherman to Taiwan by the shipowner and an agency. After the Control Yuan’s correction and the press' numerous reports, Pingtung District Prosecutors Office soon relaunched the investigation.

In May 2018, one and a half years after, the investigation showed progress. Under the assistance of labor unions from both Taiwan and Indonesia, a fisherman who worked on the same vessel with Supriyanto arrived in Taiwan and gave testimony in court. The testimony not only helped the prosecutor clarify the situation on board then, but also became one of the few successful callings of a foreign witness in the criminal cases.