Tonight, preparations for a two-day New Year's event will begin at the intersection of Kunming Street (昆明街) and Omei Street (峨嵋街) in Hsimenting. According to Jimmie Wing, one of the event's organizers, an important aspect of the party will be to increase AIDS awareness among young people, but he insists this serious topic will not interfere with the party atmosphere.
The event is geared towards peer education, and the activities that make up the event tonight and tomorrow reflect the usual flair of Hsimenting's youth culture. Rap music, graffiti artists, skateboarding and DJs will all make this a learning moment without any hint of the schoolroom. "It's all about peer education," Wing said, adding that it will mainly be through the artists and their crews that the message about safe sex will be passed on.
Wing said he hopes there will be participation in the graffiti projects tonight and invites anyone to take a turn at freestyle rapping tomorrow. There will also be a mini-ramp for skateboarders, a nod to the board riders who gather in this area most nights.
"But everything will be AIDS-related," Wing said. "The paintings, the rap -- the artists will know it has to be related to promoting safe sex practices. We might even have condom police."
The event will begin tonight with the setting up of six graffiti "bombs" -- large panels on which graffiti artists can display their work. Some of Taiwan's foremost exponents of this media will be present, such as the Kaohsiung-based DJ King, who will also be taking a turn spinning the disks tomorrow.
One of the big draws of the occasion tomorrow will be MC Hotdog, along with foreign DJs such as MC168 from Canada and DJ DJ and MC HeadSpinna from the UK. The mixture of Chinese dialects and English is intended to create greater communication between local and foreign cultures.
The event is organized in coordination with Living with Hope, a non-governmental organization committed to AIDS prevention.
What AIDS Prevention Party
When Graffiti artists will kick off the event tonight around 7pm; main event will begin 2pm tomorrow Where STD Clinic Plaza, Hsimenting at the corner of Kunming St. (昆明街) and Omei St. (峨嵋街)
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