Cheng Long Oysters Village

Cheng Long Oyster Village
A floating shelter for migratory birds and small wetland lives.

Set at a safe distance from the coast, Cheng Long Oyster Village emerges as a floating island of clustered oyster shells, gathered around discarded wooden chairs and tables from the local elementary school. Rising from humid ground and tidal water, the work becomes a place of welcome for migratory birds, while its surfaces, gaps, and shaded cavities offer shelter to the small buzzing lives that compose the specific ecology of Cheng Long Wetland.
The work grew through years of relationship with Cheng Long Village, and more recently through many conversations with Pei-Chen Lin, a friend, Cheng Long villager, and organizer of the art project. These exchanges shaped the work’s attention to local traditions, histories, and material ecologies. Oyster shells and oyster powder emerged as distinctive materials of Cheng Long, carrying stories of coastal labour, community knowledge, and shared making. During the process, oysters became a point of encounter across the village, bringing together community elders and schoold children through making and talking.
Cheng Long Oyster Village would not have been possible without the generous help of Pei-Chen Lin, Mr. Tien, UPS, Lin Chia-Hsuan, 李自儀, 林豐樟, 施麗芬, Kevin, Yu-Chieh, Yenyen, Cheng Long Elementary School, the teachers and students of Kouhu Junior High School, Kuan-Shu Educational Foundation, and the residents of Cheng Long Village.