Biography
Roland Buckingham-Hsiao is a visual artist and researcher based in the UK and Taiwan. His work investigates the boundaries of language, viz. text-image, text-body and text-object relations, often via East-West cultural exchange. His creative practice is interdisciplinary but centered around calligraphy. He studied Chinese calligraphy in Taiwan and at the University of ShaoXing in China, and is currently engaged in practice-led doctoral research on embodied performance and calligraphy at the International Research Centre for Calligraphy at the University of Sunderland, U.K. He has exhibited artwork at Tate Britain, UK, the Baltic Centre for Contemporary Art, UK, and various international venues. He has also lectured at universities in China, Taiwan and England, including at the Royal College of Art, London. He is a reviewer for The Journal of Embodied Research (JER) and a member of the research group Embodiment and Performance in the Arts (EPPA). He also works under the pseudonym Roland Kogalin and Roland Bai.
Education:
University of the Creative Arts (Canterbury): BTec Nat. Dip. (Fine Art)
University of Ulster (Belfast): B.A. Hons. (Fine Art)
Open University (Milton Keynes): M.A. (Hist. of Art)
University of Nottingham: P.G.C.E.(i)
National TaiChung University of Education (TaiChung): Chinese Mandarin
LanTing Academy of Calligraphy, University of ShaoXing: Calligraphy
University of Sunderland: Ph.D.
Selected Exhibitions / Performances / Projects:
“Prayers on Water”, from the performance series: ‘Praying to a Dead God, Faith as Physical Practice’, Lindisfarne island, Northumbria, UK., 17 Aug 2022
“Earth Requiem” (under the names Roland Bai and Roland Kogalin) (group show) ART CENTRE WASHINGTON, UK, 12th April – 28 May 2022
“Drawing Breath”, from the performance series: ‘Praying to a Dead God: Faith as Physical Practice’, screened at 23rd ONLINE PERFORMANCE ART FESTIVAL, 7 Apr 2022
“The Dao That Can Be Written”, from the performance series: ‘Praying to a Dead God, Faith as Physical Practice’, SHAUN PROJECT SPACE, University of Sunderland, UK., 17 Dec 2021
“Baltic Open” (group show) BALTIC CENTRE FOR CONTEMPORARY ART, Newcastle, UK, 19 May – 5 Sep 2021
“Forma e Transforma” (group show), ARCHIMUSEO ADRIANO ACCATTINO, Irvea, Italy, 24th March – 11 May 2018
“Wolverhampton Photo Festival” (group show), NEWHAMPTON ART CENTRE, Wolverhampton, U.K. 7th – 9th July 2017
“Communal Calligraphy” (participatory performance) in “On the tip of my tongue” (group show), FRINGE ARTS BATH FESTIVAL, Bath, U.K. 10th June 2017
“The Seagull’s Dream” (collaborative performance with Elaine Hickman-Luter and Hannah Wildwood) ARENA THEATRE, Wolverhampton, U.K. 2nd May 2017
“Asemic Tech” (group show), PUNT MULTIMEDIA, Barcelona, Spain. 28th Feb – 14th March 2017
“Collaborative Calligraphy” (performance piece with Chou, Cheng-Yu), HEI BAI QIE ART SPACE, Taichung, Taiwan. 23rd – 24th April 2016
“Collaborative Calligraphy” (exhibition of performance work), NAMI ART SPACE, Taichung, Taiwan. 25th April – 25th May 2016 and WOLVERHAMPTON SCHOOL OF ART, U.K. 15th Oct – 31st Oct 2016
“Calligraphy” (group show), CONFUCIUS TEMPLE, Taichung, Taiwan. 4th March – 2nd May 2016
“Holga, Out of the Box” (group show), TCC PHOTO GALLERY, Longview, Texas, USA. 2nd Oct 2014 – 14th Nov 2014
“7 Billionth Person” (group show) THE PARACHUTE FACTORY, New Haven, USA. 23rd Sept 2010 – 31st Jan 2011
“Art = Life” (group show), AVART GALLERY (Association of the Visual Arts in Taiwan), Taipei, Taiwan. 4th July – 25th July 2010
“The Last Book” (group project with Luis Camnitzer), ZENTRALBIBLIOTHEK, Zurich, Switzerland and BIBLIOTECA NACIONAL ARGENTINA, Buenos Aires. Ongoing from 2008
“2nd Annual Juried Pinhole Show” (group show), RAYKO PHOTO CENTRE, San Francisco, CA. USA. April 27th – May 28th 2008
“2nd International Pinhole Photography Exhibition” (group show), CENTRE CULTUREL ANDRE MALRAUX, Le Bourget, Paris, France. 4th March – 27th April 2008
“How we are now” (group show), TATE BRITAIN, London, UK. 6th Aug – 2nd Sept 2007
“B.A. Fine Art Degree Show” (group show), UNIVERSITY OF ULSTER, Belfast, Northern Ireland. 8th June – 15th June 1995
“Subterraneans” (group show), CATALYST ARTS, Belfast. Northern Ireland. May-June 1995
“Hit and Run” (group show), WILMONT HOUSE, Belfast, Northern Ireland, 22nd June – 25th July 1994
“Student work” (group show), HERBERT READ GALLERY, Kent Institute of Art and Design, Canterbury, UK. June-July 1991
Publications:
Buckingham-Hsiao, R., 2023. ‘Drawing Breath’, Drawing: Research, Theory, Practice, 8 (1) forthcoming
Kogalin, R., 2022. Songs of Despair and Other Poems, Trickhouse Press: Dundee, UK
Buckingham-Hsiao, R., 2022. Erased Words, Paperview Books: Leiria, Portugal
Buckingham-Hsiao, R., 2018. ‘Drawn words: Pictographs in the Chinese language and visual culture’, Drawing: Research, Theory, Practice, 3 (2), pp. 229-240
Buckingham-Hsiao, R., 2017. ‘Collaborative Calligraphy’, Liminalities: A Journal of Performance Studies, 13 (2)
Buckingham-Hsiao, R., 2016. ‘Hybrid Calligraphy’, Letter Arts Review, 30 (3), pp. 48-53
Artwork Publications:
Video still of ‘Bloom’, in Critical Moss: Art Outside the Bubble, 2019 (ed. Aldobranti) (edizioni FoscoFornio)
‘Visual Haiku No. 26’, Stone Boat Literary Journal, 2018, Vol. 8, Issue 2, Spring
‘Visual Poem Nos. 7, 30, 53’, Metonym, 2018, Vol. VI, Spring
‘Communal Calligraphy’, Diaphanous: Journal of Literary and Visual Art, 2017, Vol. 1, Issue 2, Fall
‘Visual Haiku No.69’, Borfski Press Magazine, 2017, Issue 3, Fall
‘Fragment 172’, Corvus Review (Cover Artwork), 2017, Issue 9, Fall
‘Haiga No.6′, Shanghai Literary Review, Issue 2, 2017, Fall / Winter
‘Visual Poem No.40’, Zoomoozophone Review (Cover Artwork), 2017, Issue 15, October
‘Haiga No.3 (1st version)’, Coldnoon: International Journal of Travel Writing and Travelling Cultures, 2017, October
‘Visual Haiku No.57’, Third Wednesday: Quarterly Journal of Literature and Visual Arts, 2017, Vol 10, Issue 4
‘Visual Haiku Nos. 23, 71, 74’, Cha: An Asian Literary Journal, October 2017, Issue 37
‘Visual Haiku No. 72’, Stone Bridge Press, 2017, October
‘Visual Haiku Nos. 45, 51, 52’, The Scene and Heard: Journal of Artistic Reflections, 2017, September
‘Visual Haiku Nos. 12, 38, 48’, Utsanga Magazine, 2017, Issue 13
‘Each Different, Each the Same’, Guanxi Magazine, 2015, Issue 19, p.2
Conferences and Lectures:
“Cross-cultural Artistic Practice”, lecture. Royal College of Art, London, UK, 14th August 2019
“English Language Structures”, teaching Session. University of ShaoXing, China, 2nd May 2019
“Collaborative Calligraphy”, RAW2016: Research in the Arts at Wolverhampton. University of Wolverhampton, UK, 9th Sept 2016
Awards:
University of Sunderland, Research Funding, Sept, 2019
University of Sunderland, Travel Funding, June 2019
University of ShaoXing, Academic Exchange Scholarship, 2019
U.K.A.P.C.E. Chinese calligraphy competition, 2nd place award
University of Sunderland, Travel Funding, April 2018
Calligraphy Research 