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Taiwan's traditional arts find a new home

By Gavin Phipps
STAFF REPORTER
Sunday, Jan 27, 2002, Page 17

With no immediate end in sight to the political wrangling over the cost effectiveness and operational strategies of Taiwan's 20 national museums, the nation's newest such national institution has luckily managed to avoid being dragged into the fray.

Which is probably just as well. With costs totaling NT$2.2 billion to date, chances are that the National Center of Traditional Arts (NCTA, 國立傳統藝術中心), located in Ilan County's Wujie Township (五結鄉), would not be opening for business tomorrow had the idea for the center not been put forward almost a decade ago.

"With the present hullabaloo surrounding the nation's museums, we were lucky that the planning stage was completed six years ago when the government was more than happy to promote the arts and gave generously to such institutes," said Ko Chi-liang (柯基良), director of the NCTA. "Otherwise I'm sure we would not be moving into our new premises."

The organizational side of the NCTA was set up by the Council for Cultural Affairs, under the Executive Yuan in 1996 so that it might take over responsibility for the promotion and coordination of the nation's many traditional arts groups.

Although opening tomorrow, the National Center of Traditional Arts has already been actively involved in sponsoring traditional arts. PHOTO COURTESY OF THE NCTA

Since its founding, the NCTA has played a major role in the organizing of performances by some of Taiwan's oldest and most prestigious opera groups, such as the Lanyang Opera Troupe (蘭陽戲劇團).

Along with organizing performances nationwide, the center is responsible for publishing traditional arts-related magazines, including the popular Traditional Arts Bimonthly (傳統藝術雙月刊). The NCTA has also been heavily involved with the production of audio recordings of music of the Hakka and Aborigines.

Workers put the final touches on the National Center of Traditional Arts' new facility in Ilan County. PHOTO: GAVIN PHIPPS, TAIPEI TIMES

"The work that the center has pursued over the years has been very important," explained Chen Wen-han (陳文漢), head of the Lanyang Opera Troupe. "Through publications, recordings and performances, it has managed to breathe new life into and generate new interest in our traditional art forms." Popularity of traditional performance art, such as peikuan and nankuan opera (北南管戲), glove puppet theater (布袋戲) and shadow opera (皮影戲) to name but a few, were, according to Chen, on the brink of becoming little more than footnotes in the pages of history books when the center took control in 1996.

NCTA director Ko Chi-liang hopes a new facility can help revitalize many of Taiwan's traditional art forms. PHOTO: GAVIN PHIPPS, TAIPEI TIMES

"I don't think I'm exaggerating when I say that, without the intervention of the NCTA, we could have seen some traditional arts disappear completely," Chen said. "Because of the many performances they have organized, we have seen an increase in interest in traditional arts. And when the center in Ilan opens, Taiwan's traditional arts will reach an even larger audience." While several of the nation's larger cities were considered as locations for the NCTA, the final decision to locate outside of a major west-coast metropolis was two-fold.

"I don't think I'm exaggerating when I say that, without the intervention of the NCTA, we could have seen some traditional arts disappear completely."

Ko Chi-liang, director of the National Center of Traditional Arts

"First, as all the cities have their own arts centers, we figured that moving outside of the major cities was the only way to go," explained the center's director. "And second, we needed to ensure that both the land on which it was constructed and the surrounding area afforded an environment which would attract tourism."

After much deliberation and a bit of incentive from the Ilan County government, who offered to foot a large percentage of the final bill, an empty 24 hectare-plot of land in the heart of the Ilan County's fish-farming district was chosen.

In addition to the Ilan County government's generous offer, the NCTA management's decision was also heavily influenced by the area's already notable popularity as a tourist spot.

Three events organized by the Ilan County government attract some 1.8 million visitors to the area each year. The most popular of these is the annual children's festival in July, which draws in crowds of between 800,000 and 1.2 million.

According to Ko, even if the center only manages to attract a mere 10 percent of the visitors to the county government-sanctioned festivals, the NCTA will still be hailed as a success.

Not only does the center's management see an opportunity to capitalize on the large number of visitors to the adjacent Hsinshui section and Dongshan River scenic areas (新水段冬山河下游風景區), but when completed it is hoped that the center will become an integral part of the local scenic area.

"By early next year, most of the center's park will be completed, which will enable visitors to arrive at the center by either boat or bicycle from the adjoining parks," Ko said. "We would like to see people coming to the center and treating it as part of the local scenic area and not simply as its own entity."

Not that the choice of Ilan County as the location for the NCTA's showpiece education, exhibition and performance center was solely based on financial incentives and guaranteed visitors. The county's rich cultural heritage also played quite an important role.

Considered by historians and exponents of the arts alike as the true home of Taiwan's traditional art scene, art forms such as peikuan and nankuan opera, marionette theater (傀儡戲) and kun opera (崑曲) -- a form of music originating from the Kunlun mountains of China's Jiangsu Province -- all have strong ties with Ilan County.

Although nowadays the local arts scene is only a shadow of its former self, it is still one of the nation's most important centers of traditional arts, according to the NCTA director. Hence the east-coast county's excellent position to accommodate the center.

It's a point echoed by Ilan County Cultural Bureau's Lin Teh-fu (林德福), who feels that the center will be more than just another museum-cum-cultural center once it's completed.

"I think that the center will fill the void that exists at many local museums. Instead of simply having exhibits with written explanations, we will have exponents of the arts on hand," Lin said. "Which will leave both local and foreign visitors with a more in-depth understanding of our traditional arts."

As well as ensuring that there are qualified artisans on hand to give each exhibition a human element, NCTA management plans to accompany its performances with simultaneous bilingual translations and publish traditional arts-related journals in English.

Although staff will officially be taking control of their new buildings tomorrow, the center's new employees will not have much to do on their first day at work. Much of the plot in which the center is located remains little more than a construction site, and many of the buildings are still waiting for designers to move in and add the finishing touches to the interiors.

At present, the only completed parts are the exhibition center, reception area and a wing of the student activities center. The only one of these to go into immediate operation will be the exhibition hall, which will be holding a special exhibition of upwards of 120 traditional arts-related curios during this soft-opening period.

When completed, the 24-hectare site will be home to over 20 structures, including a sizable research and education center, two concert halls with the capacity to seat 280 and 400 people respectively, dormitories, restaurants, outdoor performance areas and even a lake for boating.

For the meantime, however, the center's staff will be have to busy themselves preparing for the center's second official opening in two months.

The center's concert halls will be opened mid-March to the public and performances of opera, puppetry and dance will begin. It is hoped that then artisans such as Chen Wen-han and his opera troupe will be able to give both local and foreign tourists alike a much-improved understanding of the nation's age-old arts.
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