Goodwill ambassador of gay art

Patrick Sun finally got round to discussing homosexuality with his then 99-year-old father on the last day of the maiden LGBTQ+-themed exhibition he had put together. The show, held at Museum of Contemporary Art in Taipei in November 2017, was called Spectrosynthesis — Asian LGBTQ Issues and Art Now.

Sun junior took care to skim through the exhibits with pronounced erotic overtones during the private viewing for his father. In the end, the near-centennial acknowledged his ignorance of the subject but was pleased to see the exhibition being held in a government-run museum. Besides, the impressive audience turnout meant that his son must have been doing something right.

While discussions about sexuality, including his own gay status, rarely happens at family dinners even now, Sun says he's become more relaxed around his father. His Taipei show took place at a time when same-sex marriage was a hot political topic in Taiwan. Sun likes to believe his show played a part in the February 20, 2019 ruling legalizing gay marriages in Taiwan. This opening up of a space for dialogue about LGBTQ+ issues on both personal and international platforms became the fuel for Sun's subsequent Spectrosynthesis II — Exposure of Tolerance: LGBTQ in Southeast Asia exhibition at the Bangkok Art and Cultural Centre in 2019. A Hong Kong show is planned for 2022, when Asia's first Gay Games take place in the city.