An Afternoon at Pier 2

On Sunday, we (very slowly) got up and made our way to Stanley’s restaurant to spend the afternoon together. Stanley decided show us Kaohsiung’s “Bumblebee” that had gone up in the months we’ve been away. We followed Stanley on our rented scooter to Pier 2 Art Center. We’d been through the area a few times before, but hadn’t taken much time to thoroughly explore it. The venue is a cluster of old warehouses and shipping containers on the pier, not too far from Fisherman’s Wharf. It’s also where a few scenes for a new Taiwanese film, Black and White, were shot this past year. A lot of the sculptures and artwork show a real consideration of the space being used. Something I think Kaohsiung does really well is taking what used to be old, industrial spaces and transforming them into something beautiful. 

A good example of this is where Stanley took us next, the vanishing railway. Near Sizihwan MRT station, there is a railway museum inside an unused train station. Behind the museum, rows and rows of train tracks have slowly been filled with grass, soil, and beautiful flowers! Again, what used to be a place for commercial transportation is now a beautiful public art space where families could spend the afternoon hanging out. It’s connected by bike path to the Pier 2 Art Center, and makes for some beautiful photo ops.