I want to highlight the centerpiece of my exhibition Flowers and Forts at Taipei Contemporary Art Center. In addition to showing a series of prints on silk referencing extractive economies, at the center of the space was “Peace” Treaty (VOC and Mattau) that consists of a betel nut plant in a faceted vase echoing the forms of pentagon-shaped forts and architecture in the exhibition. This betel nut plant is nestled in soil from my mother's homeland in Taitung and the plant boxes near Taipei Contemporary Art Center. The plants were procured by my maternal uncle and 高秀妹, our Amis neighbor during my recent visit. It is called i-zhi in the Amis language. I am unsure of the transliteration but when pronouncing the second syllable, the tone goes upward. I chose to center the plant in this show to reference the 1635 Treaty between the Dutch East India Company and the Mattau peoples during which the Dutch stipulated that the Mattau signal their surrender by submitting a small tree (often betel nut or coconut) planted in earth from their village as a symbolic ceding of sovereignty to the Dutch East India Company. By centering the plant in the show and placing it on top of an image of Fort Belgica — a star fort in the Banda Islands, Indonesia, where Austronesian people also were subjugated to great brutality—, I am calling attention to our relationship to land, sovereignty and regeneration. As the betel nut plant adjusts to Taipei, some of the leaves turned yellow. After consulting with my Bunun(布農) friend Qucung Qalavangan. I painted the yellowed leaves gold to memorialize the leaves and reference the weight of the territory carried by this plant given earthy golden tones symbolizes territory in the Sakizaya culture (撒奇萊雅族).

我想特別強調在台北當代藝術中心《花語碉堡》這檔展覽中的重點，除了展出一系列印上採掘經濟作物圖像的絲織品之外，放置展覽空間中心的作品是〈“和平”條約（荷屬東印度公司與麻豆）〉，其中包括一株檳榔。該植物被裝在五角形多面體的花瓶中，與展覽中五角碉堡及其建築形態相呼應。這個植物原生在我母親的家鄉台東，被移入台北當代藝術中心。它是由我的舅舅與我們的阿美族鄰居高秀妹，在我這次佈展期間拜訪時尋得的。在阿美族語中稱為“ i-zhi ”。我不確定發音是否準確，但當第二個音節發音時，音調會升高。在這檔展覽中，我選擇以這株檳榔為中心，源於荷蘭東印度公司與麻豆社人民之間的1635年條約。在此條約中，荷蘭人規定麻豆社人要呈上來自他們的土地所種植的小樹（通常是檳榔或是椰子）來表示將主權渡讓予荷蘭東印度公司。我希望通過將檳榔擺在空間正中央的位置，將其放置在Belgica 堡壘（印尼班達群島的星堡，象徵著南島族群曾遭受的殘酷暴力）的圖像之上，來呼籲人們關注我們與土地之間的關係，主權與重生的意義。這株檳榔為了適應台北，一些葉子變黃了。經過與我的布農族朋友Qucung Qalavangan（谷縱‧喀勒芳安）討論後。我將黃色的葉子漆上金色，以紀念逐漸變黃葉子，以及在撒奇萊雅族文化中以金色色調象徵這株植物所承載著的土地重量。