Tsai Ming-Liang Brings Three-Part Walker Installation to Tabakalera in San Sebastián
In 1957, Tsai Ming-Liang, a filmmaker from Sarawak, Malaysia, produced Walker for Tabakalera, a contemporary culture center in San Sebastián, which collaborated with the San Sebastián Festival on the project. Initiated in 2011 with actor Lee Kang-Sheng, the work draws inspiration from the slow-paced journey of monk Xuanzang to India during the Tang dynasty, with Lee depicting a contemporary version of the monk in urban landscapes. The Walker series has grown to include twelve pieces across ten cities, such as Taipei and San Sebastián, since its inception in 2012. The newest installment, Dust, filmed in San Sebastián in the summer of 2025, will be showcased at the 2026 San Sebastián Festival. Tsai is also known for films like Rebels of the Neon God and Vive l'amour. The exhibition runs from September 18 to December 6, 2026.
Key facts
- Walker runs at Tabakalera in Donostia / San Sebastián from September 18 to December 6, 2026
- The installation comprises three audiovisual pieces conceived specifically for Tabakalera and coproduced with the San Sebastián Festival
- The Walker series began in 2012 and has reached twelve works filmed in ten cities
- Dust, the newest Walker film, was shot in San Sebastián in summer 2025 with Tabakalera's collaboration
- Dust screens in the Zabaltegi-Tabakalera section of the 2026 San Sebastián Festival after its Venice Film Festival premiere
- The three works on view are No Form (2012), Walker (2012) and Journey to the West (2014)
- Tsai Ming-Liang was born in Sarawak, Malaysia in 1957 and won the Golden Lion in 1994 for Vive l'amour
- Face (2009) was the first film produced for and included in the Louvre's collection under Le Louvre s'offre aux cineastes
Entities
Artists
- Tsai Ming-Liang
- Lee Kang-Sheng
- Xuanzang
- Carla Filipe
- Taxio Ardanaz
- Maider López
Institutions
- Tabakalera
- San Sebastián Festival
- Berlinale
- Venice Film Festival
- Locarno Film Festival
- Museo del Louvre
- Biennale di Venezia
- Kutxa Fundazioa
- Plataforma de Arte Contemporáneo
Locations
- San Sebastián
- Spain
- Donostia
- Sarawak
- Malaysia
- Taiwan
- India
- China
- Taipei
- Hong Kong
- Marseille
- France
- Tokyo
- Japan
- Paris
- Washington D.C.
- United States
- Berlin
- Germany
- Venice
- Italy
- Locarno
- Switzerland