Jiasian Cat Year: Reimagining Jiasian District Through Art and Memory

　Kaohsiung's Jiasian District（甲仙區）is the gateway to the Southern Cross-Island Highway（南橫公路）, a spectacular high-altitude road connecting the southwest of Taiwan with Taitung in the east. Jiasian itself has long been known for its taro, bamboo shoots, and plums. In 2025, however, the district gradually reinvented itself through the Jiasian Cat Year Project.

　Jiasian is not a town overrun by cats—so why make cats the central theme? Lin Wei-ling（林瑋凌）, chairperson of the Jiasian Image Business District Promotion Association（甲仙形象商圈促進會）, explains that Jiasian's affectionate relationship with cats dates back to the 1970s and 1980s. At the time, residents fed cats in the back alleys, turning narrow lanes into secret pathways where children played with felines. This childhood memory of “cats and back alleys” inspired the creation of the first “Cat Alley” in 2015, a mural street jointly painted by local residents and schools. The project was further expanded in 2025. According to project advisor Huang Cong-jyun（黃琮駿）, its core concept is “using cats to tell stories in a town without cats.” Once a shared memory, cats have been transformed into a symbolic presence that invites visitors to pause, explore, and imagine.

　Initiated by Lin Wei-ling with support from the graffiti art team CITYMARX, the Cat Year Project invited artists from around the world to take up residencies. Dutch artist Fleks and French artist Doom created Godzilla Meow and The Coolest Little Town, respectively; Taiwanese artists COLASA and Mr. Ogay collaborated on Hundred Cats; and Hong Kong artist SINIC produced Cats in Bloom, Fortune Abounds. During the creation process, local residents bridged language barriers by offering tea and snacks to the artists, creating moments of warmth where community spirit and art resonated deeply.

　Stretching from Jiasian Commercial District to Jhongsiao Road and Linsen Road, the artworks form a new travel route. Visitors are invited to follow the trail of cat paw prints and write their own chapter in the story of this mountain town.

甲仙貓元年 藝起來躲貓貓
文/李曉萍
攝影/Cindy Lee、黃敬文
高雄市甲仙區是南橫公路門戶，因芋頭、竹筍、梅子等特產遠近馳名，2025年透過「貓元年」藝術計畫，悄悄變身。

並非滿街是貓的甲仙，貓為何當上主角？甲仙形象商圈促進會理事長林瑋凌表示，甲仙與貓的緣分始於七、八零年代，當時居民在後巷餵貓，小徑成了孩子與貓咪玩耍的祕徑。這份「後巷與貓」的童年印記，於2015年催生第一條由在地居民與學校合力彩繪的「貓巷」。2025年計畫升級，商圈促進會顧問黃琮駿說明計畫核心是「在沒有貓的城鎮，用貓來說故事」。貓從集體記憶變身引人駐足與探索的城市符號。

林瑋凌發起「貓元年」計畫，塗鴉藝術團隊CITYMARX協力，邀請多國藝術家駐村，有來自荷蘭的Fleks與法國的Doom繪製《哥吉拉喵》與《最酷的小鎮》、臺灣藝術家COLASA與Mr.Ogay黑雞先生合作《百貓圖》及香港藝術家SINIC創作《貓開花富貴》。繪製期間，居民跨越語言隔閡為藝術家遞上茶水點心，動人溫情與藝術共鳴。

作品沿甲仙商圈至忠孝路與林森路，形成嶄新旅遊動線，邀請旅人，順著貓足跡，寫下山城故事。