Alumni Hsin Tien and Poe Liu collaborate to create a new exhibition in Taiwan

Here, Elsewhere is a new solo show of work by MA Fine Art alumna Hsin Tien, curated by MA Art Gallery and Museum Studies graduate Poe Liu.

Running until 5 April in Keelung, Taiwan, the show is a testimony to the commitment of two alumni to explore new possibilities following graduating from the School of Fine Art, History of Art and Cultural Studies at the University of Leeds.

The show centres on artworks by Hsin Tien, a Taiwanese painter whose artistic practice explores the relationship between her immediate surroundings and memories of elsewhere.

Through painting, she examines how fragments of memory resonate with present emotions and shape the perception of the material world.

Hsin Tien and Poe Liu at a private view for Here, Elsewhere at CirCurate Space in Keelung, Taiwan. Photo by Ying Hsuan Shen.

After completing her MA Fine Art studies in Leeds last year, Hsin travelled to Arraiolos, Portugal, for a month-long residency before returning to Taiwan.

With sketchbook in hand, she gathered the traces of each place on her journeys. The grey skies of England, the warmth of southern Europe, and the humid heat of Taipei gradually formed a lens through which she began to understand her own way of seeing.

Works by artist Hsin Tien on display at the Here, Elsewhere exhibition at CirCurate Space, Keelung, Taiwan in 2026. Photo by Ying Hsuan Shen.

Her new works took forward her work created for her final degree show which captured many of the uniquely British sceneries that felt novel to her, and documented emotionally stirring moments while traveling through Europe. Hsin said:

“This game of seeking belonging in new environments, transforming them into blurred, fantastical landscapes that lie between imagination and reality, gradually became a central theme in my creative journey.

“My new exhibition takes me from home to Leeds, Arraiolos, and back to Taipei. As views shift, the outward gaze turns inward. Memories drift, overlapping across time and space.”

Artist Hsin Tien at CirCurate Space in Keelung, Taiwan. Photo by Ying Hsuan Shen.

It was whilst studying in the School of Fine Art, History of Art and Cultural Studies that Hsin met Poe Liu – an MA Art Gallery and Museum Studies student and curator from Taiwan.

Throughout her time in Leeds, Poe emersed herself in the city’s art scene and established CirCurate – described by Poe as “a curatorial playground where art can root itself in the local area, spark conversations across different fields and help people build connections together”.

In addition to her studies, Poe initiated a number of curatorial projects and created Alternative Art Spaces in Leeds – an online and printed resource showcasing alternative art spaces and creative hubs emerging across the city.

Looking in on Hsin Tien's exhibition 'Here, Elsewhere' at CirCurate Space – a new venue established by Poe Liu in Keelung. Photo by Hsin Wei Lin.

Once back in Taiwan, Poe founded a new art space  – CirCurate Space – and reached out to Hsin with an idea for a new exhibition. Poe said:

“During my MA in Art Gallery and Museum Studies at Leeds, I came to know Hsin Tien not through introduction, but through her work. After seeing her degree show, I sensed a unique vision that turns outward observation into inward reflection, and invited her to exhibit in Taiwan.

“After completing her studies, Hsin undertook her first residency in Arraiolos, Portugal. Many works in this exhibition emerged from that experience, translating the journey into paint.

Visitors to the Here, Elsewhere at CirCurate Space in Keelung, Taiwan, explore artworks by artist Hsin Tien. Photo by Hsin Wei Lin.

“A winter has passed and Here, Elsewhere has now opened at CirCurate, a new venue I established in Keelung.

“From familiar windows at home in Taipei to residency studio views in Arraiolos, Hsin's work centres on the gaze through the window. Windows once defined inside and outside. But as coordinates shifted from Taipei to Leeds, Leeds to Arraiolos, back to Taipei, these frames lose fixed meaning, floating like memory across time and space.

“We envisioned the viewer experience as a journey. Peering through the gallery's windows from outside, are viewers looking at the works, or through the artist's window at the world? Stepping inside, a subtle boundary within the paintings invites exploration.

“The act of viewing becomes a search for familiarity, viewers understanding through their own resonant experiences.

A visitor explores Hsin Tien's sketches completed in Arraiolos, on display at the Here, Elsewhere exhibition at CirCurate Space, Keelung, Taiwan. Photo by Hsin Wei Lin.

“Drawing from my experience in museum studies, I’ve introduced interactive tools that invite visitors to move between indoors and out.

“By shifting perspectives through the viewfinder, prism, and magnifying glass, viewers are encouraged to find a personal resonance within the landscape.

Hsin Tien's sketches completed in Arraiolos on display at the Here, Elsewhere exhibition at CirCurate Space in Keelung in 2026. Photo by Ying Hsuan Shen.

“Earlier this month, we also hosted an artist-led tour where Hsin Tien shared her experiences and original sketches from her residency in Arraiolos.

“This session led participants out to the hillside paths to walk and observe the landscape together, eventually returning to the exhibition space to engage in a collaborative creation on the window.”

Poster for Here, Elsewhere exhibition at CirCurate Space, Taiwan, showing Hsin Tien's Run to the red, 2026 (acrylic, colour pencil on board). Courtesy of the artist.

Here, Elsewhere is open from 7 March to 5 April 2026 at CirCurate Space in Keelung, Taiwan.

Find out more at www.circurate.co or by following @circurate @poe.liu and @hsin.x.i.n on Instagram.

Feature image

Hsin Tien's exhibition Here, Elsewhere at CirCurate Space, Keelung, Taiwan. Works from left to right: Red, Rest, 2025 (acrylic, oil pastel on plain canvas); Afternoon, 2026 (acrylic, colour pencil on canvas); Where trees form hills (acrylic, oil pastel, colour pencil on plain canvas). Photo by Ying Hsuan Shen.