Anli Genu

Meihua tribe, Atayal people
Born 1958, Jianshi township, Hsinchu County, Taiwan
Lives and works in Hsinchu

A full-time pastor as well as a painter, Anli Genu seeks a vocabulary of images and patterns that articulate the balance between his customary beliefs and his Christian faith. In addition to artistic and theological studies, Genu lived in Bolivia while researching Incan civilisation and culture and became the first Atayal artist to complete advanced academic training. The Atayal are the most widely distributed of Taiwan’s indigenous groups; they are also regarded as the fiercest. From an early stage in his practice, Genu has sought to express Atayal vitality in his depiction of faces, clothing and ancestral beliefs, gradually incorporating themes of sustainable development and social stability, and imbuing his work with a spiritual aspect. With intricate collaged elements and multi-panelled composition, his paintings detail the dances, hunting rituals, dress and adornment of his people, with attention to the facial tattoos that have largely disappeared from Atayal life.