Taipei’s private Hong Foundation has presented its 2025 Tung Chung Prize Special Achievement Award to Taiwanese American artist Tehching Hsieh, in recognition of his exceptional achievements in contemporary and performance art. 

Now in its 10th edition, the NTD 1 million (USD 32,545) accolade is granted annually to an outstanding artist who is based in Taiwan or of Taiwanese descent. Alongside the prize, the Hong Foundation announced its support for Hsieh’s first retrospective, “Tehching Hsieh: Lifeworks 1978–1999,” which runs through 2027 at the Dia Beacon in New York.

Born in 1950 in Nanzhou, southern Taiwan, Hsieh emigrated to the US in 1974 to pursue his artistic career. The exhibition at Dia Beacon covers pivotal chapters in Hsieh’s creative journey, presenting documentation and objects that he collected from his radical long-term performance projects, each of which unfolded under extreme conditions—from spending a year locked in a cage and another living entirely outdoors, to being tied to another artist with a rope. Also on view are works from Thirteen Year Plan (1986–99), for which he rigorously produced art that was not publicly displayed for more than a decade. 

Grace Cheung, executive director of the Hong Foundation, remarked in a press release that Hsieh’s works “speak powerfully on migration, freedom, endurance, and personal beliefs. Supporting this retrospective, and witnessing his practice showcased at such an important institution, is a deep honor.”

In a statement, Hsieh thanked the foundation for its unwavering support, noting that the award “carr[ies] profound meaning.”

Iain Cocks is an editorial intern at ArtAsiaPacific.