Anyone who has traveled outside Taipei City will have noticed betel-nut beauties brightening the roadsides. Like brightly-plumed birds they flit in and out of their neon-framed stalls to serve drinks, cigarettes and the addictive nut that keeps truck drivers awake as they careen down the country’s highways.
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Betel-Nut Beauty: Exploring the Art, the Beauty and Heart aims to shine new light on the subject. The oft-held thesis is betel-nut girls are young and abused. The truth is they are adults who make a reasonably well-paid choice to sell the nuts, Openshaw said.
Bird-watching in Taiwan (Taipei Times)
Tobie Openshaw’s Flickr photos
Also by the artist: a teaser for a documentary called Chew on This: Betelnut Culture in Taiwan (YouTube)