Performances and an all-night party mark the end of an era at Huashan Arts District

Tomorrow will see the end of an era at Huashan Arts District (華山藝文特區), one of the most important venues for cultural activities in Taipei. As part of the Council for Cultural Affairs' Creative Taiwan: Creativity and Culture Industry Development Project (文化創意產業發展計畫) Huashan will transform itself into a more commercialized "creative cultural park" next year.

The Association of Culture and Environmental Reform in Taiwan (藝術文化環境改造協會), Huashan's current manager which consists mostly of artists, did not enter the bidding for future management rights of the space, as the new arrangement may allow for less creative freedom.

Huashan's future is currently uncertain as no one had won the bid to manage Huashan by press time, but the association has decided to mark its departure from the place with a "graduation ceremony," a free all-night party tomorrow, when its management contract expires.

When artist Tang Huang-chen (湯皇珍) and members of the Golden Bow Theater (金枝演社) found Huashan a suitable venue for their productions, the former Taipei Winery Building had remained abandoned for 10 years, despite having previously been selected as the site for the Legislative Yuan.

In 1997, Golden Bow Theater staged Trojans at Huashan, but the police raided the venue half way through the performance. More artists joined their efforts to open up the venue. After two years of street demonstrations, signed petitions, lobbying with legislators and pleading for support from the neighborhood, they finally won the management rights to Huashan.

The party will start with a movie, Huashan Tremors 1997 to 2003 (震盪華山), a 38 minute documentary about Huashan's history by well-known filmmaker Huang Ming-chuan (黃明川) will be screening on a loop on Huashan's second floor, starting 5pm. The outdoor party will last till 6am on Sunday.

A dozen performance groups will bring back parts of their shows which have premiered at Huashan. Among them will be modern dance troupes like Streamline Creative Group's (匯川創作群) Purging and Tai-gu Tales Dance Theater's (太古踏舞團) Praying for Rain and Contemporary Legend Theater (當代傳奇劇團), while Wu Hsing-guo (吳興國) will perform modern Chinese opera King Lear. Hong Kong performing artist Huang Shi-chun will perform his solo show Anger. There will also be drumming by Sun Son Theater (身聲演譯社), West African Tribe and Da'an Drumming Group. Musicians who have performed at the Huashan Music House, such as Lin Chiang, E.L., Emily and Hsiao-bai, Bohemia, Weatherman and SAM will link these performances with their music.

As a symbol of Huashan being handed over to new management, its buildings will be wrapped in red ribbons from tomorrow onwards.