The inaugural Zhuangwei Living Arts Festival Wandering Dune, followed by the Seeing Zhuangwei and Dune Art Space in the second and the third year, had successfully brought forth people to know Zhuangwei in the Lanyang Plain. In 2022, the Zhuangwei Dune Living Arts Festival entered its fourth year with Planting Dreams From the Island View. It aimed to showcase the perspective of local Zhuangwei people and introduce visitors to the region’s affluent terroir. Overall, the festival wishes to encourage young people who had left Zhuangwei to return and participate in the event alongside their elders, who stayed behind and guarded their hometown. To achieve its objectives, the festival organizers must continue to investigate what people have experienced living on this land in the past and present and their expectations for the future.
The fertile sand dune coastline not only sustains the settled population but also many seasonal fishermen. Each autumn, when the northeast monsoon blows, eel larvae born on the edge of the Mariana Trench drift 3,000 kilometers with the Kuroshio current to the mouth of the Lanyang River. Fishermen from all over the island come to catch the eel fry. The temporary tents along the beach from Zhuangwei to Wujie mark the four-month-long fishing season. Amidst intermittent rain and howling sea winds, countless figures can be seen slowly moving back and forth in the tide. They drag triangular nets with their hands and use their bodies to resist the surging waves. The small transparent prey they are searching for is the “year-end bonus” of these fishermen, and their movements constitute the unique scenes of the sand dune wanderers.
Living in this marvelous area, where the ocean intersects with trenches, volcanoes, and plains, people enjoy the view of the vibrant Turtle Island day and night. It brings them a sense of stability. At the intertidal zone, historical memories intertwine, and individuals weave and carry on the threads of life.
