Betel Nut Beauties Captivate Paris / 檳榔西施我愛妳 魅惑巴黎
Betel Nut Beauties Captivate Paris
◎Article by Yi-Chun Lin ◎Courtesy of Kaohsiung Museum of Fine Arts
Arwad Esber, the director of Maison des Cultures du Monde says, "In Taiwan, buying a package of betel nut can bring you a mixture of feelings, such as imagination, absurdity and drama. This exhibition is not only an occasion for Taiwanese artists to show their aesthetic works to the world, but is also a presentation of this exclusive feature of Taiwanese local culture, which leads to the understanding of an identity of Taiwan." Through the observation of artists, the betel nut beauties that dress in skimpy costumes and sit in glass cubicles decorated with neon lights have become a classic art of the Taiwanese sub-culture, and head to the fashion capital Paris, to shine on the stage at the 12th Festival de I'lmaginaire.
Arwad Esber says, "It is impossible to experience complicated feelings like this, when buying a slice of cheese in a French supermarket." The existence of betel nut beauties is an exotic and peculiar type of sub-culture to people outside of Taiwan. To them, they cannot imagine that there is a type of tiny green nut, which is not fruit, and that people would spit out a pool of red juice after chewing on it.
The director of Kaohsiung Museum of Fine Art (KMFA) Jin-Shyan Lee points out that the betel nut is one of the exclusive features in Taiwanese culture. Chewing betel nut can help in relieving moisture and heat related syndromes, and is particularly good for people living in the hot and humid weather in Taiwan. Betel nut culture has a long history in Taiwan and is inseparable from this island.
Although modern society deems betel nut as a type of harmful substance which would damage one's health and create a bad image, and sees betel nut beauties in skimpy costumes through coloured-lenses, it is undeniable that betel nut is one of the classic features of Taiwanese sub-culture. The specially designed and illuminated betel nut cubicles have become a signature sight of Taiwan.
In fact, the existence of betel nut beauties does not only end at the level of being a symbol of Taiwan's local culture. It also portrays the extremely strong life force at the bottom of the social pyramid in Taiwan. Furthermore, the concept of marketing is an important part of the existence of betel nut beauties. A great amount of business marketing creativity is involved when it comes to standing out among the multitude of betel nut stalls on the roads, and to attract customers to purchase a package of betel nut or a drink.
Betel Nut Beauties Exhibition includes photography, image synthesis, and theatrical performances. This is the first time that people have examined the images of betel nut beauties from a professional artistic point of view. Thus, betel nut beauties that are deemed as vulgar and philistine by local Taiwanese have turned unique and vivacious Taiwan Girls (A.K.A. Tai-Mei) into a symbol of a certain strand local culture in Taiwan. This irony is taken to an artistic level by a group of Taiwanese artists, and is packed with the flavour of Taiwanese culture.
Ying-Long Su attended this exhibition in Paris as the representative of the Exhibition Unit of KMFA. He described the event as phenomenal. Both artists from international art circles and people from the general public said that if it was in other countries, betel nut beauties may encounter discrimination or even attacks. They are deeply surprised that betel nut beauties can make it in Taiwan, and even more, become part of the local culture. Although betel nut beauty is only a sub-culture in Taiwan, its existence shows the great social tolerance in Taiwan. This amazing tolerance is what has attracted the attention of international art circles. From his point of view, Pan thinks that great culture tolerance is shown by the existence of betel nut beauties and has wowed people from all over the world.
檳榔西施我愛妳 魅惑巴黎
◎文／無明 ◎照片提供／高雄市立美術館
巴黎世界文化館長Arwad Esber說：「在台灣買一包檳榔的同時，也帶來了想像、荒誕與戲劇化的心情，這個展覽讓台灣藝術家不僅呈現出美學的境界，也同時表現出在地文化的性格，表現出台灣認同。」於是，挺胸翹臀穿著薄紗坐在霓虹燈管裝飾的玻璃屋內招徠客人的檳榔西施，透過藝術家的觀察，幻化成台灣社會次文化經典藝術，前進全球時尚之都巴黎，躍上巴黎第十二屆「想像藝術節」（Festival de I'lmaginaire）。
Arwad Esber說「法國超市買一塊乳酪，是不可能有這麼多的心情」，在外國人眼中，是充滿著異國風情的奇特次文化。尤其，一粒不起眼的綠色果實，不是水果，嚼食後還會吐出一大灘的紅色汁液，有些難以理解。
高雄市立美術館前館長李俊賢表示，檳榔是台灣獨特的文化之一，具有去濕解熱功效，炎熱的天氣裡，嚼食檳榔可以解除濕熱產生的不適及疲勞，檳榔在台灣的歷史悠久，與這片土地有著不可分割的情感。
雖然現代社會以有礙健康與形象的角度看待檳榔，也以有色眼鏡看待穿著清涼的檳榔西施，但檳榔西施是台灣次文化的經典之一，不容否認，造型獨特閃亮的檳榔攤也早已是台灣社會一景。
其實，檳榔西施代表的意涵不僅止於在地文化意涵，也是台灣基層豐富
生命力的另類呈現，甚至有著市場行銷學的概念在其中，如何才能在街頭林立的檳榔攤中突出，吸引顧客登門，購買一包檳榔或是一瓶飲料，其中蘊涵商業行銷的巧思。
「檳榔西施我愛妳」展覽有攝影、合成影像與劇場表演等形式呈現，也是第一次從藝術專業眼光省視檳榔西施現象，於是在國人眼中看似庸俗的檳榔西施，變成充滿活力，獨樹一幟的台妹，既犬儒又遊戲，透過台灣藝術家傳遞出美學的境界，散發著濃濃台灣本土味。
前往巴黎參展的高雄市立美術館展覽組蘇盈龍以盛況空前形容展覽，許多外國藝壇人士及參觀民眾說，檳榔西施若在他國可能被歧視甚至被攻擊，但卻能在台灣存在。雖然只是次文化，卻展現了台灣社會的包容度，這種寬容正是吸引外國藝術界注意的重要原因。他認為，台灣對不同文化的包容由此可見，連外國人都忍不住要讚嘆！