Bamboo Theatre
2024
Bamboo Theatre
material | Bamboo, wood, metal, ropes, tapes
Cheng Tsung FENG’s artistic practice has long been intertwined with endangered traditions, vanishing techniques, and fading cultural memories. Among them, the traditional bamboo theatre — once a vital part of temple festivals and folk celebrations across Taiwan — holds a special resonance. Built entirely with bamboo scaffolding, these temporary performance stages embodied the ingenuity of communities, combining practicality with ritual and festivity. Today, however, such theaters have nearly disappeared, replaced by modern equipment and standardized structures. In his work Bamboo Theatre, created in Shima Park at Xiaobantian, Nantou, FENG reimagines this vanishing cultural symbol through the lens of contemporary stagecraft, employing bamboo, wood, metal, ropes, and tape — materials familiar to today’s theatre-making.
The stage installation takes shape from an arrangement of bamboo poles of varying lengths. Beginning at the central rear of the stage, the poles intersect and fan outward in a radiant semicircle, forming a dynamic and open backdrop. Within this overlapping framework, FENG wove together both thick and slender bamboo poles, binding them with net-like ropes. This construction simultaneously echoes the structural logic of traditional bamboo scaffolding while embracing the aesthetics and materials of modern stage practice. The woven density of the background does not merely stabilize the form; it also creates a visual texture that enhances the drama of performances staged upon it.
At the front edge of the platform, bamboo poles are neatly aligned, while strips of white tape decorate the ground, extending the radiating geometry of the stage into its surroundings. These details connect the work both to its traditional roots and to a contemporary vocabulary of minimal, striking design.
Beyond its symbolic meaning, Bamboo Theater is a functioning public space. It provides a venue for community performances and festive events, while also inviting passersby to pause, rest, and enjoy the shade. In doing so, FENG bridges the gap between past and present, allowing an almost-lost tradition to continue its life in new forms—at once a memorial, a gathering place, and a living stage for stories yet to come.
2024 | Shima Park | Nantou
organizer | Agriculture Department, Nantou County Government
curator | Chitiansky Co., Ltd.
artist | Cheng Tsung FENG
project designer | Ching Chen CHANG, Hong Lin LIU, Chan Wei HSU
structural analysis｜Chien Chuan Engineering Consulting Co
surveying｜Yuhui Surveying Engineering
woodwork｜ Weige Interior
metalwork｜ Wen-Chin HSU
bamboo structure｜Quan Sheng Bamboo Scaffolding
lighting design｜Oude Light
lighting engineer｜Beamtec Lighting
photography｜FIXER Photographic Studio
2024
竹戲台
材質 | 竹、木、金屬、繩索、膠帶
藝術家范承宗的創作，總與逐漸消逝的傳統技藝和文化記憶息息相關。傳統竹棚戲台是一種具有悠久歷史的竹構劇場方法，是曾廣泛出現在廟會與民間慶典的劇場，如今卻隨時代更迭逐漸式微。范承宗將快要消失的傳統符號，以竹、木、金屬、繩索、膠帶等當代常見的劇場材料，在位於南投小半天的石馬公園，重新詮釋戶外舞台裝置「竹戲台」。
舞台主體以長度漸變的竹材構成，從舞台後方中央開始，交錯成放射狀的開放半圓背景。交疊的結構當中，分別編入粗與細的長竹材，加上網狀的繩索纏繞，回應傳統竹棚穩定主體結構的技法、當代劇場的材質實踐，同時為舞台上的表演增添視覺張力。舞台前緣排列了整齊的竹材，地面上亦以白色膠布裝飾，與舞台放射造形相互呼應。
這座竹戲台，不僅為地方的演出活動服務，也為行經的旅人提供休憩乘涼空間使用。
2024 | 石馬公園 | 南投
主辦單位｜南投縣政府農業處
策劃單位｜赤天空股份有限公司
藝術家｜范承宗
專案設計｜張景程、劉鋐霖、許展維
結構分析｜建全工程顧問
放樣測量｜郁暉測量工程
木作工程｜唯格室內
金屬工程｜許文進
竹構造｜筌盛竹架
照明設計｜偶得設計
照明工程｜丞逸照明
攝影｜定影影像