Preserving The Past At Pier-2 Art Center

There's a hidden homage to Pier-2 Art Center's maritime, commerce past among the renovated warehouses of the complex. A set of small dioramas have been installed in an exterior wall of one of the warehouses and each diorama depicts a slice of Kaohsiung port life, what existed before the ships rolled up and the artists moved in.

Bags of sugar and sugar cane shipping.

Ship building and a port side stack of crates.

Goods, ready to depart by rail.

Small, dock area supports Chinese shops.

Back to the sugar man, another pile to process.

Fun Signs In Kaohsiung

Some on purpose, some just by straight design, fun signs can be found around town in Kaohsiung.

In the Pier 2 arts district, co-opting one of the main sculptures for a sign. Do not cross the dragon monster.

Before and after, serious and silly. Falling rock sign and the artsy version.

Swimming allowed? Drowning allowed? Shark fin riding? Nice Speedo.

Man messing with a Dead End sign. If your town has cute, little cargo trucks, you can create a sign to ban said cute cargo trucks.

The real fire hydrant sign, no doubt you're in Chinese territory.

The Pier 2 Art Center In Kaohsiung

The classic urban renewal. Start with a bunch of abandoned dockside warehouses, move in some enterprising artists, get the government to jump start investment and renewal and, presto! - a new arts district and cultural hub.

Kaohsiung in Taiwan has a nice area developing, plenty of good spaces, nice location, hipness sniffing around. The renewal program started in 2006 and improvements and expansion are ongoing.

The big welcome sign on the side of one of the warehouses.

One of the mascots. Iconic sculpture for the port area, re-made shipping containers.

The area is still part of a working port, a nice mix of heavy industry and the arts community.

One of the main sculptures in the district, a snarling animal dragon thing. Maybe you'd snarl, too, if you had a unit like his?

Transformer monster. All sorts of fun sculptures dot the area.

More art,  an old, wood chair installation and blue horse head.

Perched to enjoy the scene.