Behind the Hidden Painting
Actors + Puppets + Masks + Video / Performed in Taiwanese / 120 minutes
Playwright: Shih Ju-Fang
Director: Pei-Yu Shih
Premiere
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May 19–21, 2023 — The Globe Playhouse, Taipei Performing Arts Center
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July 8–9, 2023 — Chiayi City Cultural Affairs Bureau Concert Hall
In the shadows of sacred mountains,
where puppets overlap with human forms,
spirits whisper,
and artist Chen Cheng-po lingers in the bardo.**
Human time and divine time converge here,
woven together by delicate threads,
picking up the unfinished will of the painter.
Housewife Chang Chieh, genteel painter Chen Pi-Nü, and photographer Fang Ching-Mien
step out of the mists of their era,
only to find themselves dreaming
of a grand, otherworldly mural of Alishan.
How do you hide a painting?
How do you conceal the path once walked by a master painter? — Chang Chieh & Chen Pi-Nü**
Chang Chieh, wife of Taiwan’s pioneering oil painter Chen Cheng-po, endured the persecution that led to her husband’s execution. With the wooden doors of her home, she carried his body, evading the glaring lights of inspection. She photographed his remains, feigned the burning of his works to deceive secret agents, and quietly safeguarded the paintings while raising her family in silence.
Chen Pi-Nü, the second daughter of Chen Cheng-po, after failing to save her father, also withdrew her own artistic gifts, dimming her own light.
Many may think that hiding thousands of paintings is impossible. But in truth, paintings were not difficult to conceal, because the pursuers had no eyes to see. The challenge was regaining those eyes. When injustice is finally redressed and truth brought to light, Chang Chieh’s solitary resolve gave Taiwanese art a pivotal turning point. In the lingering image of history stands a lush forest of a thousand hidden canvases—and, deeper within the forest, a silent woman, still guarding her husband’s legacy.
Twelve Years of Excavation, A Meeting of Creators — Playwright Shih Ju-Fang × Director Pei-Yu Shih
The tragedy of history loomed too vast. How should one approach it—close enough to reveal, yet distant enough to breathe?
Playwright Shih Ju-Fang spent twelve years writing the story of Chang Chieh. Across drafts in 2013, 2014, and 2016, the work remained incomplete—until a staging in the Traditional Opera Dream Workshop, where she met director Pei-Yu Shih. Their encounter opened a new narrative path for Behind the Hidden Painting, a monumental tale of historical imagination.
Thus, this work speaks from Chang Chieh’s perspective, turning sideways to ask:
When fragile individuals stand against the unrelenting torrent of history, how do we go on living?
Vision and Form
Behind the Hidden Painting seeks to illuminate the reverse side of history and the humanity of its figures, reflecting the will to endure under the weight of fate. Through the interplay of Chen Cheng-po’s luminous compositions, the imagery of Alishan’s forests, the co-performance of puppets and human actors, and the atmosphere of shrines where gods and mortals meet, the production reveals how Chang Chieh—through concealment and quiet resilience—secured both the paintings and the gaze of Taiwanese art.
“Chen Cheng-po: ‘To live, one must first die once.
The beauty of the mountains and forests drives away fear,
and pulls me back again.’”
— Shih Ju-Fang, Behind the Hidden Painting
