「告訴我，島在哪裡——」作家賴香吟在她的名作〈島〉中，尋找著消失的主角「島」，「島」不見了。她走進「島」的書房，「她看盡島桌上所有資料，腦裡南城印象幾近重新洗牌，難以相信赤崁與安平之間曾是一片汪洋海域。熱蘭遮，普羅民遮，台江內海，五條港，彷彿一場太空漫遊，她在她所居住過的南城漂漂蕩蕩腳下踩不到底。」如果臺南是個漂浮於海上的「川流之島」，這個川流不息的島與島嶼臺灣的千年身世息息相關，那麼，臺南 400 會是一個契機，讓我們向這座浮島的南城提出一個問題：我們從何而來？我們往何處去？

　　我們從河而來。河流將山林的萬物沖積下來，成為丘陵、平原。當然，我們亦從海而來。洋流把世界史的變化載運往來，化成口岸、港市。《槍炮、病菌與鋼鐵》的作者賈德．戴蒙，從近代殖民戰爭與部落社會的演變，從島嶼的生境與歷史，推導出一個重要的結論：文化不只是人創造出來，而是和環境一起創造出來的。而人類文明的形成，有可能不依山、不靠海，卻不可能沒有依存的重要河川。臺灣中央脊樑山系連綿，形成天然集水屏障，加以降雨豐沛，所以島嶼的特色便是密佈的河川，紛紛以坡度降比極大、往東西兩側旺盛堆積，形成地貌變異快速、洪枯流量懸殊、短急切蝕入海的川流島嶼特質。因此，在作家吳明益〈且讓我們蹚水過河：形構臺灣河流書寫／文學的可能性〉一文中指出，臺灣文學的文本中，已將臺灣的河流轉化為「養育者」、「施暴者」與「受害者」三種基本的「認知地圖」。臺南的六條河川不僅養育了臺南城，也施予這片土地以暴雨、土石、洪流，更讓河流成為現代資本主義發展下的受害者。我們從河而來，我們往何處去？

　　2024 年，氣候變遷、極端型氣候造成的洪災、旱災、海岸線退縮日益明顯，整個城市與水體多物種的關係，經歷了 400 年的變化，如今面臨重新思考的「我們從河而來」的千年課題。

　　這個展覽，除了探問「我們從河而來」的藝術作品與計畫之外，會有半數以上的能量，投注於各階層市民、中小學、社區大學 NPO 與國際專家友人與藝術家（荷蘭、馬來西亞、日本、印尼）的共行探索、共筆製圖、共創對話、共生國際的網絡組成，將臺南 400 的近現代水體城市經驗，回溯千年以來多物種的文化共筆，透過千千百百個從河而來的生境故事與生活經驗，導向全球性的極端型氣候與人類世的生存情境，創造出一個具有行動倡議性、亦具有永續特色的文化藝術展覽。因此，水體行動、水體倡議和水體國際論壇對話，將會是這個城市水體展覽的內核精神。

　　展間的設置，採用臺南水文化的巨幅攝影影像系列、水系流佈動線加以貫串，將 ABCD 四個展間分為永恒循環、過去之願、當下之聲、未來之憂四大主題方向。這五個展呈的部分，分別命名為：鯤鯓．凝望（臺南水文化總呈）、眾神．請水（永恒循環）、向海．航路（過去之願）、風土．眾聲（當下之聲）、水逆．未來（未來之憂）。

指導單位：臺南市政府文化局
主辦單位：臺南市立博物館
合辦單位：臺南市美術館
執行單位：日青創藝有限公司
協助單位：VR體感劇院、社團法人台灣南方影像學會、社團法人社區大學全國促進會、財團法人古都保存再生文教基金會、高雄市電影館、高雄師範大學美術學系暨研究所、高雄師範大學跨領域藝術研究所、經濟部水利署、臺南市北區立人國小、臺南藝術公社（以筆畫排列）
多媒體設備贊助：洪建全基金會、台灣松下電器
AR技術支援團隊：財團法人資訊工業策進會、艾酷視數位設計有限公司

“Tell me, where is the island—" writer LAI Hsiang-yin cries out in her renowned work Island, to her hometown Tainan that she keeps returning to in her dreams, searching for the missing protagonist “Island”, but “Island” is nowhere to be found. She steps into the study room of “Island”. “She went through all the data on Island's table, her impressions of the southern city in her mind nearly reshuffled, hardly believing that between Chihkan and Anping there was once a vast ocean. Zeelandia, Provintia, the Taijiang Inner Sea, Wu Tiao Gang (the Old Five Channels), as if in a space voyage, she drifted in the southern city she had lived in, unable to touch the ground beneath her feet.” If Tainan is an “island of streaming” floating on the sea, this ever-flowing island is intimately related to the millennia-long history of the island of Taiwan. Then, “Tainan 400” could be an opportunity for us to pose a question to this floating city in southern Taiwan: Where do we come from? Where are we going?

We Are Born By The River. Rivers carry all things from the forests and mountains, forming hills and plains. Of course, we also come from the sea. Ocean currents carry the changes of world history back and forth, turning into ports and harbor cities. Jared Diamond, the author of Guns, Germs, and Steel, from the evolution of modern colonial wars and tribal societies, from the habitats and history of islands, deduced an important conclusion: Culture is not only created by humans but is created together with the environment. And the formation of human civilization might not depend on mountains or seas, but it cannot exist without significant rivers. Taiwan's central mountain range forms a natural water-collecting barrier, coupled with abundant rainfall, hence the island's characteristic dense network of rivers, rapidly accumulating on both the east and west sides with a steep gradient, forming a landscape of rapid topographic variations, vast differences in flood and drought flows, and short, sharply eroding rivers that flow into the sea, which are characteristic of the island of streaming. Therefore, as writer WU Ming-yi pointed out in his article Let Us Cross the River: Discussion on the Possibility of Taiwanese River Writing/Literature, the texts of Taiwanese literature have transformed Taiwan's rivers into three basic “cognitive maps” of “nurturers,” “aggressors,” and “victims.” The six rivers of Tainan not only nurtured the city of Tainan but also inflicted this land with torrential rains, debris, and floods, further making the rivers victims under the development of modern capitalism. We are born by the river, but where are we going?

By 2024, the effects of climate change and extreme weather, including floods, droughts, and the retreat of coastlines, have become increasingly apparent. The relationship between the entire city and its aquatic biodiversity, after 400 years of change, now faces the millennia-old question of “We Are Born By The River” that needs rethinking.

This exhibition, besides exploring artistic works and projects questioning “We Are Born By The River,” will devote more than half of its energy to collaborative explorations, co-writing and mapping, co-creating dialogues, and forming an international network of symbiosis among citizens of all levels, elementary and secondary schools, community colleges, NPOs, and international experts and artists (from the Netherlands, Malaysia, Japan, and Indonesia). It aims to trace back the modern urban water body experiences of Tainan 400 to the millennia-long multicultural co-writing with diverse species. Through thousands of habitat stories and life experiences that come from the river, it directs towards the global extreme climate scenarios and the survival situations of the Anthropocene, creating a cultural and art exhibition with an action-oriented initiative and sustainable features. Therefore, water actions, water advocacy, and international forum dialogues on water bodies will be the core spirit of this city's water exhibition.

The setup of the exhibition rooms will employ a series of giant photographic images of Tainan's water culture and water system flow lines to interconnect, dividing the four exhibition rooms into four major themes: Eternal Cycle, Past Wishes, Present Voices, and Future Concerns. These five parts of the exhibition are named respectively: “Gaze at Kunshen” (The Overall Presentation of Tainan's Water Culture), “Inviting Water of Deities” (Eternal Cycle), “Voyage to Discovery” (Past Wishes), “Voice the Terroir” (Present Voices), and “Retrograde the Future” (Future Concerns).

Supervisor: Tainan City Government Cultural Affairs Bureau
Organizer: Tainan City Museum
Co-organizer: Tainan Art Museum
Coordinator: Kelio Arts Co.
In Collaboration With: Art Commons Tainan, Department of Fine Arts (National Kaohsiung Normal University), Foundation Historic City Conservation and Regeneration, Graduate Institute of Transdisciplinary Art (NKNC), Kaohsiung Film Archive, National Association for the Promotion of Community Universities, South Taiwan Film Festival, Tainan Municipal Liren Elementary School, VR FILM LAB, Water Resources Agency MOEA (In alphabetical order)
Supporting Partner: Hong Foundation, Panasonic Taiwan
AR Technical Support: Institute for Information Industry, Arcus Digital Design Ltd. 

藝術家：

Taring Padi (Fitriani Dwi Kurniasih [Fitri DK]、Mohamad ‘Ucup’ Yusuf)、水島貴大、王文彥、耳邊風工作室（角八惠、王誌成）、何肇衢、余白、李立中、李岳凌、李欣芫、李雅姸、沈昭良、拉黑子．達立夫、林文強、林建志、林柏樑、林韋言、林軒朗、金玉善、徐永旭、晁瑞光、馬雨辰、高俊宏、國立成功大學建築系黃恩宇副教授研究團隊、康雅筑、張炳堂、張致中、張惠笙、張景泓、郭柏川、陳伯義、陳宗怡、陳彥呈、陳敬寶、陳瑋軒、陳儀霏、彭一航、曾敏雄、童譯白、黃郁修、黃煌智、楊錦煌、廖慶章、劉玗、歐家成、潘元石、蔡坤霖、鄧毅駿、薛穎琦、謝佩穎、羅晟文

Artists:

Taring Padi (Fitriani Dwi Kurniasih [Fitri DK]、Mohamad ‘Ucup’ Yusuf)、Takahiro Mizushima, WANG Wen-yen, Wind and Ear Studio (CHAO Ba-hui, WANG Chih-chen), HO Chau-chu, Hubert Kilian, LEE Li-chung, LEE Yeh-lin, Cia Himiân Lí, LEE Ya-yen, SHEN Chao-liang, Rahic Talif, LIN Wen-chiang, LIN Chien-chih, LIN Bo-liang, LIN We-yen, LIN Hsuan-lang, Kim Oksun, HSU Yunghsu, CHAO Jui-kuang, MA Yu-chen, KAO Jun-honn, Research Team of Associate Professor HUANG En-yu (Department of Architecture, National Cheng Kung University), KANG Ya-chu, CHANG Ping-tang, CHANG Chih-chung, Alice Hui-Sheng CHANG, CHANG Jing-hong, KUO Po-chuan, CHEN Po-i, CHEN Chung-i, CHEN Yan-cheng, CHEN Chin-pao, CHEN Wei-hsuan, CHEN Yi-fei, PENG Yi-hang, TSENG Min-shyong, Jimmy TUNG, HUANG Yu-hsiu, HUANG Huang-chih, YANG Jin-huang, LIAO Ching-chang, LIU Yu, OU Chia-cheng, PAN Yuan-shih, TSAI Kuen-lin, TANG Yi-choon, HSUEH Ying-chi, HSIEH Pei-ying, LO Sheng-wen

策展人：

龔卓軍、洪榆橙、楊志彬、沈昭良、顏世樺、陳冠彰、姜玫如、黃柏喬、沈裕融、劉鎮宇

Curators:

GONG Jow-jiun, HUNG Yu-cheng, YANG Zhi-bin, SHEN Chao-liang, YEN Shih-hua, CHEN Guan-jhang, JIANG Mei-ju, Joe HUANG, SHEN Yu-rung, LIU Zhen-yu