Taiwan’s Mobile Stage Culture Comes to India Through Shen Chao-Liang’s Lens

New Delhi. June, 2026. Taiwanese photographer Shen Chao-Liang’s STAGE photography exhibition will be presented at Museo Camera in the Delhi NCR region from 3 July to 28 July 2026. Jointly organized by Taiwan’s Ministry of Culture, the Taipei Economic and Cultural Center in India (TECC), and Museo Camera, the exhibition represents an important presentation of Taiwanese photography at one of India’s leading photography institutions.

Through Shen’s work, Indian audiences will gain insight into Taiwan’s unique popular culture and visual landscape, while further strengthening cultural and artistic exchanges between Taiwan and India.

The STAGE series focuses on Taiwan’s roadside entertainment troupes, a distinctive cultural phenomenon that has evolved since the 1970s. These troupes have long performed at weddings, funerals, temple festivals, and community celebrations across Taiwan. Their performance stages have transformed over time from simple electronic parade trucks and temporary structures into sophisticated hydraulic mobile stage vehicles, becoming an iconic feature of Taiwan’s popular culture. The works featured in this exhibition, photographed between 2005 and 2023, document the diverse appearances of these mobile stages throughout Taiwan’s urban and rural environments.

Using a large-format camera, Shen captures these stage trucks as they unfold within real-life settings across Taiwan, revealing a unique space between reality and performance, the everyday and the spectacular. The series not only records the creativity and vitality of Taiwan’s grassroots culture, but also reflects the long-standing interaction between religious traditions, local communities, and popular entertainment.

According to Ms. Isabel Lin, Cultural Attaché of the Taipei Economic and Cultural Center in India, this exhibition marks the Ministry of Culture’s first large-scale solo exhibition by a Taiwanese photographer in India. Through the exhibition and accompanying artist talks, Taiwanese photography will be introduced to Indian audiences while providing opportunities for dialogue with artists, photographers, and cultural professionals.

She said the program aims to demonstrate how documentary photography can serve as a powerful medium for understanding society and culture, while offering a deeper appreciation of Taiwan’s unique local traditions and social landscape.

Shen Chao-Liang is the recipient of numerous international awards, including the 2012 International Photography Awards (IPA) in the United States. He currently works as an artist and educator and serves as Professor in the Department of Photography and VR Design at Huafan University.

Museo Camera is one of India’s leading photography institutions and a major visual culture platform in South Asia, dedicated to photography exhibitions, research, and international exchange. The presentation of STAGE at Museo Camera not only highlights the creative achievements of Taiwanese photography, but also contributes to deepening cultural ties and people-to-people exchanges between Taiwan and India.