IsLand Bar is an ongoing performance project that merges cocktail-making with storytelling in an intimate bar setting. Each artist inhabits their own “island,” crafting a signature cocktail — a sensory and political blend of local histories, lived realities, and imagined futures, creating a microcosm of their own cultural context. The bar becomes a porous platform for meeting, sharing, and rethinking what makes up our cultural and social identities. Audiences are invited not only to drink, but to listen, exchange, and embody perspectives across geographies and disciplines.

Originally conceived in 2017 at ADAM (Asia Discovers Asia Meeting for Contemporary Performance) in Taiwan, IsLand Bar was commissioned by the Taipei Arts Festival in 2018, led by Scarlet Yu, Chikara Fujiwara, and Lee Ming-Chen. In 2019, the project evolved into an open-source format, supported by the Taipei Performing Arts Center (TPAC), enabling anyone across Asia to create their own editions simply by collaborating with any previous participant. Since then, IsLand Bar has traveled to various cities, establishing itself as a fluid platform for trans-cultural exchange, collective storytelling, and critical reflection on the forces that shape identity.

Since then, IsLand Bar has manifested in different versions and contexts.

I welcome anyone interested in IsLand Bar, including past presenters, to connect with me. It is always a pleasure to learn how the work continues to live, transform, and travel across different contexts.