Is it a Taiwanese thing not to have art in the house?

cant recall paintings, artworks, framed arts in alot of apartments. those that have are either hanging religious pieces or family photos.

I havent been invited to many homes here, but i didnt notice lack of art pieces. Most of them had Chinese style art (calligraphy, hanging scrolls, sculptures ).

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Haven’t you heard of Feng-Shui? House decoration is an integral part of the culture here.

I don’t know the specifics, but I know quartz crystal, calligraphy, and wood are essential parts of decorating a home

I think there aren’t as many traditional painting hanging up because the houses are made from straight concrete. You can’t just spackle over the hole if you mess it up

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I’ve been in a few homes that put the national palace museum to shame, but most people don’t seem to have too much art.

Depends on the type of people. It’s fair to say most Taiwanese aren’t interested in art. It’s like there’s a generation that just believes in money but then don’t know what to do with it so waste it on cheap plastic junk. I’ve seen a lot of older peoples rooms thrown out over the last two years (Covid deaths I’m assuming) and there have been traditional Asian style paintings, Japanese paintings, and calligraphy.

Newer apartments might have some mass produced ikea art. But that stuff gets binned every couple of years.

Other than that my experience seems about the same as yours.

Ive heard of feng shui, and after living here for 15 years i call BS…
with perhaps the exception of museums and other stately buildings, there is nothing feng shui about the residential architecture here.

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It’s a generational thing. People over the age of 60 probably would have some kind of art in their home, and they’d probably own their home.

As for apartments, if they don’t own it, chances are Taiwanese people wouldn’t spend too much time decorating it.

I’ve noticed that too. Those who do display scrolls or calligraphy pieces usually have some kind of personal connection to them, but most people who don’t have any connection to art don’t display any, except maybe family photos or religious pieces as mentioned.

I’ve also noticed many walls here are renovated in a very visually busy style, maybe to make up for the lack of framed art.

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Also, renters are usually not allowed to put nails into the wall, and most apartments also wouldn’t have rails for hanging frames. So it’s either something really simple and light, so you could use some kind of tape to put it on the walls, or nothing at all.

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People that are a little better off (education, wealth) do have art on the wall, in my experience.

I find the types of walls here make it too difficult to bother with. It’s not like with drywall in the west where you can easily poke holes to hang things.

most people I know have loads of art in their house. there are certain realities like earthquakes that make art installments different in the west. but overall i see a lot of art.

People with no happiness in their homes are people i usually try to avoid if possible. Same in the west :slight_smile:

Loads of wood, simple plants, paintings, writings etc. Probably better compared to gardens. in the west things tend to like to be a bit more wild, or unorganized appearing. the gardens in japan are quite clean and mand made, focusing on control. i find Taiwan to be leaning more that way.

The only “gardens” I have seen in Taiwan so far are the 20 pots of random plants all my neighbors seem to like putting out in front of their homes, blocking the sidewalk. The police don’t seem to mind.

yes. man made, controlling, simple. Not a full raised bed.

Never said most homes dont have land. the ones that do tend to lean heavily towards the human controls nature aspect though.

so pretty much like the US…