Pier-2 Arts Centre hosts steel festival from 23 October
Published on 10/18/2026 at 02:07 | Editorial responsibility: Rafael Müller, Editor-in-Chief AD HOC NEWS
The Pier-2 Arts Centre will host the 2026 International Steel Sculpture Festival from 23 October to 22 November 2026 in Kaohsiung, Taiwan. The centre, also called the Pier-2 Arts Centre in local English usage, is the venue for a programme linking sculpture with the city's metalworking and harbour history.
Steel sculpture festival opens at Warehouse B3 on 23 October
The main exhibition runs at Warehouse B3 in the Penglai area from 23 October to 22 November 2026. The official programme also places on-site creation at the Hamasen Railway Cultural Park from 23 October to 15 November, while related activity extends into the Yancheng neighbourhood.
The festival is titled SUPER STAGE. Artists and designers from South Korea, the Netherlands, Japan, the United Kingdom and France have visited shipyards, metal-processing businesses and traditional engineering workshops while developing work for the event. The official festival programme lists the exhibition venues and dates.
Among the announced projects are a sound installation using local steel cable, springs and brass, a new film work connected with maritime objects, and a performance using metal sheet. The programme also includes body-based workshops, a workshop for making small steel instruments, live music, blacksmithing activities and guided walks through Yancheng, Cijin and the port area.
Former harbour warehouses frame the festival programme
The venue is a former warehouse district beside the Port of Kaohsiung. Its buildings once served the harbour economy before being adapted for exhibitions, performances and creative work. The official history describes the site as a group of warehouse clusters near the waterfront, now used for contemporary art and public events.
That setting gives the festival a direct connection to its subject. Instead of presenting steel only as a finished material, the programme follows it back to the workshops, shipyards, tools and industrial knowledge that shaped Kaohsiung. A sound installation made from locally gathered metal and walking routes through working districts therefore connect the exhibition at Warehouse B3 with the wider port landscape. The centre's warehouse history records the area's transition from industrial storage to an arts hub.
The Kaohsiung City Bureau of Cultural Affairs is identified in the festival coverage as the public authority involved in the event. The report also describes the project as a collaboration with the centre's artist-in-residence programme, bringing research in local factories into the public exhibition.
Artists turn Kaohsiung industry into public sculpture
One strand of the festival concerns the relationship between physical labour and artistic practice. South Korean dance artist Eom Hyo-bin has researched the connection between tools and the body. Dutch-American artist Kevin Toksöz Fairbairn has developed a sound work from steel cable, springs and brass collected in Kaohsiung.
Japanese artist Seiko Yamamoto is preparing a film made with a maritime-object collector, while performance artist Mineki Murata will repeatedly mark metal sheet with her body during the exhibition. British designer Thomas Thwaites and French designer Theophile Blandet have studied casting, lock-making and metal-processing practices for their contributions. CNA's festival report describes these projects and the participating countries.
Visiting The Pier-2 Arts Centre: what travellers from Western Europe should know
- The festival runs from 23 October to 22 November 2026. The main exhibition is at Warehouse B3 in the Penglai area of The Pier-2 Arts Centre.
- The event is a public exhibition with additional workshops, performances and walks. The festival page lists the main exhibition, on-site creation and neighbourhood programme as separate parts of the visit.
- The venue is at the harbour in Yancheng District, Kaohsiung. The main site address is No. 1, Dayong Road, while the festival's Penglai location is listed at No. 99, Penglai Road.
- The setting combines former warehouses, outdoor areas and nearby port streets. Visitors should expect a mixed indoor and outdoor route rather than one single gallery building.
- In Taiwan, Mandarin Chinese is widely used and the currency is the New Taiwan dollar.
- Entry requirements depend on your nationality; UK travellers can check the FCDO travel advice at gov.uk/foreign-travel-advice, Irish travellers the Department of Foreign Affairs at ireland.ie.
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Frequently asked questions about The Pier-2 Arts Centre
When does the steel sculpture festival take place at The Pier-2 Arts Centre?
The 2026 International Steel Sculpture Festival runs from 23 October to 22 November 2026, with its main exhibition at Warehouse B3 in the Penglai area.
Where is The Pier-2 Arts Centre and how do you get there?
It is in Yancheng District beside the Port of Kaohsiung. The wider centre uses former harbour warehouses, and the festival's main venue is listed at No. 99, Penglai Road.
What is The Pier-2 Arts Centre?
It is a waterfront arts hub formed from former harbour warehouse clusters in Kaohsiung. The site presents exhibitions, performances, artist projects and public cultural programmes.
