Migration Music Festival
A fascinating mix of music groups from the four corners of the globe gave Da'an Forest Park an eclectic and festive atmosphere over two weekends in October. After last year, when the festival didn't take place, organizers went all out for a special series of shows complemented by well-attended seminars and workshops by the visiting musicians.
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Liang Shan-po and Chu Ying-tai (The Love Eterne)
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The craze for huang-mei musicals has not dimmed in the past 40 years, partly because of the classic movie The Love Eterne (
Wedding Memories
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With Wedding Memories (女兒紅), Hugh Lee (李國修) and the Ping Fong Acting Troupe managed to prove themselves wrong about the demise of Taiwanese drama. (Lee had even thought about closing up shop because of poor ticket sales.) To sell-out crowds, he presented his new show, which premiered on Nov. 3 this year and had audiences of all ages in tears and earned standing ovations from emotional crowds that must truly have warmed his heart. Wedding Memories follows in a line of semi-autobiographical works, in this case dealing with his family's relocation to Taiwan and his mother's nervous breakdown, all handled in a fine melodramatic tradition that touched a nerve among many Taiwanese. The work, which spans over two decades and switches between Shantung dialect, Mandarin, Taiwanese and Hakka, and deals with complex political and emotional issues, tries to encompass a uniquely Taiwanese experience and is a worthy successor to Beijing Opera: The Revelation.
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Tibetan Freedom Concert
Taiwan hosts some grand outdoor music festivals, but few concerts boast international names as big as the Beastie Boys. While their performance would have faired better in a smaller venue (minus a few thousand drunk and aggressive foreigners), an important cause, great sound quality and a highly charged atmosphere helped the occasion.
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Matsu Procession Festival
No event can unveil the genuine colors of Taiwan's religious culture better than the yearly procession of Matsu, a sea-goddess worshipped by fishermen, in central Taiwan. The event, which falls on the third month of the lunar calendar, lasts seven nights and eight days and goes from Dajia, Taichung County, to Hsingang, Chiayi County, covering a distance of more than 280km. To show their belief in the goddess, thousands of followers each year make the trip on foot and sleep in temples along the way to practice the virtue of thrift. Many residents on the procession route offer free drinks and food to the adherents to display their appreciation for the goddess' blessings.
National Symphony Orchestra: Tosca
The best show we saw in 2003 took place in the early hours of the year when Chien Wen-pin (
Cat Power gig at Taipei's Zeitgeist
The New York-based indi-rocker Cat Power (aka Chan Marshall) performed live in Taiwan for the first time, after establishing a small but avid fan base here with her 1998 album Moon Pix, a collection of poignant songs. After one hour of warm-up by Taiwanese singer-songwriter Sandy Chen (
Beneath the Red Banner
A dramatic work will occasionally gain importance for its place in history and occasionally for its exceptional literary value. Rarely will it be endowed with both. Beneath the Red Banner (
Ho-Hai-Yan Rock Festival in Taipei County
What a great idea: music, sun, sea and sand at a location conveniently close to Taipei. The Ho-Hai-Yan Rock Festival proved to be a big hit with little trouble and plenty to be happy about. One of the best things about the event -- apart from the perfect weather -- was the number of families that took part. Children played, adults watched and teens danced all day long. The main event for domestic bands was the Taiwan Indie Music Award, with NT$200,000 up for grabs, which was won by XL. One of the highlights of the show was a performance of the traditional Eight Generals, with Huang Yi-chin (黃一晉) of downtempo group 78Bpm, drum n' bass by DJ Ty and hip hop by DJ J4. On the Sunday, Magic Tribe, an Atayal Aboriginal rock band from Wulai, Taipei County, Junk Band from Hong Kong and Macau, and finally Jaurim and the Perishers, from Sweden, hit the stage. The outstanding performance, however, came from local stars Sticky Rice, who pretty much capped off a great weekend.
The Wedding Banquet
A combination of memorable performances by Welly Yang, Dina Lynne Morishita and Tyley Ross, a catchy score by Woody Pak and Jim Noone's creative and slick set design that made insightful use of projections saw John Tillinger's musical production of Ang Lee's (
A few weeks ago I found myself at a Family Mart talking with the morning shift worker there, who has become my coffee guy. Both of us were in a funk over the “unseasonable” warm weather, a state of mind known as “solastalgia” — distress produced by environmental change. In fact, the weather was not that out of the ordinary in boiling Central Taiwan, and likely cooler than the temperatures we will experience in the near-future. According to the Taiwan Adaptation Platform, between 1957 and 2006, summer lengthened by 27.8 days, while winter shrunk by 29.7 days. Winter is not
Taiwan’s post-World War II architecture, “practical, cheap and temporary,” not to mention “rather forgettable.” This was a characterization recently given by Taiwan-based historian John Ross on his Formosa Files podcast. Yet the 1960s and 1970s were, in fact, the period of Taiwan’s foundational building boom, which, to a great extent, defined the look of Taiwan’s cities, determining the way denizens live today. During this period, functionalist concrete blocks and Chinese nostalgia gave way to new interpretations of modernism, large planned communities and high-rise skyscrapers. It is currently the subject of a new exhibition at the Taipei Fine Arts Museum, Modern
March 25 to March 31 A 56-year-old Wu Li Yu-ke (吳李玉哥) was straightening out her artist son’s piles of drawings when she inadvertently flipped one over, revealing the blank backside of the paper. Absent-mindedly, she picked up a pencil and recalled how she used to sketch embroidery designs for her clothing business. Without clients and budget or labor constraints to worry about, Wu Li drew freely whatever image came to her mind. With much more free time now that her son had found a job, she found herself missing her home village in China, where she
In recent years, Slovakia has been seen as a highly democratic and Western-oriented Central European country. This image was reinforced by the election of the country’s first female president in 2019, efforts to provide extensive assistance to Ukraine and the strengthening of relations with Taiwan, all of which strengthened Slovakia’s position within the European Union. However, the latest developments in the country suggest that the situation is changing rapidly. As such, the presidential elections to be held on March 23 will be an indicator of whether Slovakia remains in the Western sphere of influence or moves eastward, notably towards Russia and