Written by Kuan-Wen Lin.
The Daxidaxi (大溪大禧) project aims to reshape an hundred year old local festival and revistalise a small town suffering from an exodus of rural population. Leading curator Tammy Liu (劉真蓉) and her team BIAS Architects & Associates describe the village rites as mixed textures of contemporary design and religious folklore giving the town of Daxi a new definition of a traditional festival.
Written by Chun-Ying Wei. The latest addition to Taiwan’s cultural intermediaries, the Taiwan Creative Content Agency （TCCA, 文化內容策進院）, marks another milestone in Taiwan’s cultural diplomacy. The incumbent Minister of Culture, Cheng Li-chun 鄭麗君, has proposed the idea of creating a ‘national team’ to promote Taiwan’s cultural and creative industries.
Written by J. Michael Cole. With Taiwan’s election campaign shifting into high gear, an escalating campaign of intimidation by one camp and a media consortium that backs its candidate threatens to seriously undermine the ability of journalists and political commentators, both local and foreign, to do their work. By doing so, that camp is hoping to impose its discourse on the process and to limit, if not silence outright, any criticism of its candidate and the proxies that are aligned with it.
Written by Chen-Yu Lin. 30 years since inception the Awards are still presented by the Ministry of Culture, but have also become a stage where musicians are free to make political statements.
Written by Maggie Yang. Given the reality that music promotion cannot completely rely on the government’s cultural policy and subsidy, more professionals based in overseas countries are dedicating themselves to increasing Taiwan pop music’s global visibility and audibility. The three speakers I invited to the talk were from academia and industry. What they have done in the past years has exceeded the government’s capability and had a real impact for Taiwan’s artists and the music industry. Through their efforts, and those of other artists and promoters, Taiwan’s pop music is being heard on some of the biggest stages in the world.
Written by Eden Townend. This is a clear manifestation of this mutually beneficial relationship at work. CD REV align their content with the CCP’s values and preferred narratives pertaining to Taiwanese reunification, and the CCP in turn provide the rap group with the necessary tools to be successful.
Written by Queer in the World. There’s always something exciting about visiting a place that is constantly changing and progressing, and Taiwan definitely fits the bill. The LGBT scene in particular is very exciting and we totally believe in supporting a country that’s so far ahead of its neighbours in terms of gay rights.
Written by Queer in the World. According to a 2016 study, tolerance towards homosexuality in Taiwan increased 132% between 1995 and 2012 and Taiwan’s reputation as the most gay-friendly country in Asia is certainly more than justified by this and its thriving gay community.
Written by Federica Passi. Overstressing the uniqueness of Taiwan literature can also force it in an isolated position. Instead, an approach that emphasizes the regularities and what connects the island’s literature with other literatures can possibly better integrate the image of Taiwan in a wider cultural context.
Conceptions of diplomacy held in Taiwan and Pacific nations like Tuvalu, Kiribati, the Marshall Islands, and Palau have often come into conflict. One example is how Taiwan’s presidential visits to the Pacific have been conducted and received. Since the Chen Shui-bian administration came to power in 2000, Taiwanese presidents have attempted to visit most if not all of Taiwan’s allies. However, in the Pacific, these visits are often quite abbreviated.
Written by Fangmei Lin. What is emphasized by Luo as “becoming non-human” is, in fact, becoming non-Taiwanese. The entire loop of becoming eventually demonstrates the paradox of the Taiwanese: unending deferral and the situation of absence constitute the meaning of being and becoming (non)-Taiwanese.
Written by Tsung-Lun Alan Wan. In Kinmen’s case, we see how geopolitical process can also be a sociolinguistic process, where Kinmenese people deal with the identity crisis of demilitarization through cultural imaginations about Kinmen-Taiwan differences.
