◾️JASMINE -Transnational Blooming
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Photo by三月影像 許博彥 《JASMINE -Transnational Blooming》(2024) /Nylon inflatable balloon, Blower, LED light,Mixed Media / H450 × W300 × D300cm |
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| Photo by三月影像 許博彥 |
JASMINE – Transnational Blooming is a semi-fictional narrative work that traces the life of an imagined protagonist through the intertwined histories of my paternal grandfather and the jasmine flower industry of South Wanhua in Taipei. Jasmine serves as both a narrative device and a symbolic medium connecting personal memory with larger histories of migration.
Today, jasmine tea is widely known in Okinawa as Sanpin-cha. Before World War II, however, tea produced in Fujian, China, and northern Taiwan circulated under the name Qingming Tea. This work draws inspiration from the fact that the same tea has been known by different names across places and historical periods. Behind these shifting names lie stories of migration, trade, and changing systems of governance—histories layered within a single cup of tea.
At the center of the installation stands an inflatable sculpture representing the protagonist in later life. Having moved between China, Taiwan, and Okinawa during the period of U.S. administration, the protagonist’s body belongs neither to a single nation nor to a fixed cultural identity. Instead, it emerges as a vessel carrying multiple histories and geographies. The figure also echoes the presence of Southeast Asian live-in caregivers whose labor supports contemporary Taiwanese society. Across many parts of Southeast Asia, jasmine is closely associated with prayer, ritual, familial affection, and memories of home. Through its fragrance, the work evokes experiences of migration and everyday life that often exceed the boundaries of national and institutional narratives.
As part of the project, I organized a participatory tea gathering titled Four Flavors of Tea, inviting visitors to trace the protagonist’s life through taste. Using jasmine tea as a base, four blends were created with herbs connected to different stages of the protagonist’s journey: Fuzhou in China, Karitsu (Garizai) in Taiwan, Okinawa, and present-day South Wanhua in Taipei. Participants tasted the teas in sequence, beginning with a blend representing childhood and ending with a warm spiced tea symbolizing old age. Through this sensory experience, they retraced the protagonist’s life while sharing conversations about their own family histories, experiences of migration, and relationships to their places of origin.
By following the trajectory of a fictional life, the work becomes a device through which viewers may reconsider their own connections to memory, ancestry, and belonging. For me, jasmine is not only a plant that travels across borders, but also a carrier of memory and emotion. Through fragrance and taste, JASMINE – Transnational Blooming tells a story that emerges from the intersections of multiple cultures, histories, and lived experiences.
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| Photo by三月影像 許博彥 |
《JASMINE – Transnational Blooming》是一件半虛構的敘事作品，以父系祖父的生命經歷以及台北南萬華茉莉花產業的歷史為線索，透過「茉莉花」作為媒介，描繪一位虛構人物的一生。
如今在沖繩，人們將茉莉花茶稱為「さんぴん茶（Sanpin-cha）」，然而在戰前，來自中國福建與臺灣北部生產的「清明茶」曾廣泛流通。本作的靈感正來自於同樣的茶葉在不同土地與時代中被賦予不同名稱的歷史。名稱變化的背後，隱含著人群的移動、貿易往來以及統治權力的更迭，而這些歷史彷彿層層交疊地存在於一杯茶之中。
展場中設置了一座象徵主人公晚年的充氣裝置。這位主人公的一生輾轉於中國、臺灣與沖繩（美國世）之間，其身體既不屬於單一國家，也不屬於特定文化，而是作為承載多重土地與歷史記憶的存在而顯現。同時，這個形象也疊映著當代支撐臺灣社會的東南亞籍居家照護工作者。對許多東南亞地區的人們而言，茉莉花與祈禱、儀式、家庭之愛以及故鄉記憶緊密相連。本作藉由茉莉花的香氣，喚起那些無法被國家與制度框架完整涵蓋的人群遷移與生活記憶。
作為作品的一部分，我亦舉辦了參與式茶會《四味茶》，透過味覺追尋主人公的人生軌跡。以茉莉花茶為基底，結合與主人公移動歷程相關的藥草——中國福州、臺灣加蚋仔、沖繩，以及當代臺灣南萬華——調製出象徵人生不同階段的四款茶飲。參與者從象徵童年的茶開始，依序品飲至代表晚年的溫暖香料茶，在味覺體驗中追隨主人公的一生。圍繞茶席的交流，也自然開啟了關於個人家族史、遷徙經驗以及與故鄉距離感的對話。
本作透過追尋一段虛構的人生，引導觀者重新思考自身與記憶、家族根源之間的關係。對我而言，茉莉花不僅是一種跨越國界流動的植物，同時也是承載並傳遞人們記憶與情感的媒介。《JASMINE – Transnational Blooming》透過香氣與味覺，描繪出從多重文化與歷史交會之處所生長出的故事。
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| Photo by三月影像 許博彥 |
