👉 Online exhibition 「Her Journey to Democracy」
Looking back over a century of democracy in Taiwan, we find women present at every pivotal moment. Taiwan elected its first female president in 2016 and its first female vice president in 2000. Even earlier, the island’s first female mayor was elected in 1968. Travel back a century to the Japanese colonial period, and women’s names can already be found among the founders and supporters of the Taiwan Cultural Association (1921-1931).
Beginning in the 1920s, amid the intersecting forces of colonial rule, modern thought, and social change, women activists in Taiwan began devoting themselves to public education, labor and farmers’ movements as well as to civic affairs. They not only challenged established gender roles but also laid an intellectual foundation for the democratic movements that followed. During the repressive decades of martial law after the Second World War, women participated in labor unions, protests, the media, and elections. Others crossed borders to speak for Taiwan and advocate for human rights on the international stage, keeping the forces of democracy and the flame of freedom alive.
Following the lifting of martial law in 1987, women advanced further into public governance and social engagement. They became active not only within the political system but also in social movements and civic initiatives, continuously championing the public issues confronting successive generations.
Their stories do more than bear witness to history. They embody the many ways in which women have contributed to Taiwan’s democratization. With steps sometimes swift and sometimes measured, women have never ceased moving forward. Their belief in freedom shimmers across history like light upon the water. Each radiant yet resilient point of light has added to a rising tide, propelling democracy forward and fueling the powerful democratic groundswell that defines Taiwan today.
Featured in this exhibition are the women founders of the Taiwan Cultural Association, the Changhua Women’s Mutual Encouragement Association, the Chulo Women’s Association for Progress, Yeh Tao, Xie Xue-hong, Hsu Chin-yu, Cecilia Huang, Hsu Shih-hsien, Chou Ching-yu, Hsu Jung-shu, Linda Gail Arrigo, Su Ching-li, Chen Wan-chen, Peng Wan-ru, Liglav A-wu and Women Activists in Student Movements. These are the stories of their journeys along Taiwan’s road to democracy.