Nonuments

Using the theatrical piece Nonuments as a case study, the chapter discusses how Nonuments employs theatre as a medium, the process of monument-making as the work’s content, and the historical context of the performance site - the Sixth Fuel Factory, to foster a space for solidarity and artistic intervention. Nonuments , a form of artistic intervention with decolonial intention, asks its viewers: “Why is there no monument for the wars in Taiwan?” The chapter unfolds in six sections, including “Participatory Theatre as a Method of Artistic Intervention,” “Historical Memory and Forgetting,” “Intersubjective Dialogue,” “Art Production as Social Intervention and Alternative Historical Writing,” “Interrogative Monuments,” and “Conclusion.” The key question guiding the discussion is: can this transitional space, which blends the virtual with the real, enable audiences to engage in the performance actively; pose challenging questions; and reconsider Taiwan’s experiences of war, colonisation, and decolonisation?