Theater
Republic Tuva Dancing Tour Performance (俄羅斯聯邦圖瓦共和國舞團巡迴表演) will embark on its seven-county tour of Taiwan sponsored by the Mongolian and Tibetan Affairs Commission (蒙藏委員會). The traditional “Sayan” dancing and singing group will show off traditional dances, magnificent costumes and perform exotic throat singing at the Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hall (國父紀念館) at 505 Renai Rd Sec 4, Taipei (台北市仁愛路四段505號). The tour will continue until Aug. 25. Tickets for the Taipei performance are free and are available by calling (02) 2747-7668 or (02) 8773-8532. For more information and tour dates around the island, visit www.mtac.gov.tw/news/194/index.html.
* Aug. 16 at 7pm
PHOTO COURTESY OF ROOM 18
German Film Master – Werner Herzog, a festival of films by the cinematic pioneer will run at the Kaohsiung Municipal Film Archive (高雄市電影圖書館), at10 Hehsi St, Kaohsiung (高雄市鹽埕區河西路10號). Call (07) 5511-211 or visit w4.kcg.gov.tw/~kmfa1 for more information
* Sunday until Aug. 27
Gezai Opera in the Garden (花園歌仔情), a presentation of Taiwanese performance arts including nanguan and beiguan music, Beijing opera and of course Gezai opera, at the Taipei Story House (台北故事館), 181-1 Zhongshan N Rd Sec 3, Taipei (台北市中山北路三段181-1號).
PHOTO COURTESY OF NTCH
* Sunday at 2:30pm
Classical
Paganini and Shuan Yin Festival Orchestra (俄羅斯的帕格尼尼與玄音節慶樂團), the seventh concert of Shuan yin Arts Concert Series (玄音之夜音樂會), will be held at the Taipei City Family Theater (台北市親子劇場) tonight. The concert will feature Russian violinist Dmitri Berlinsky, who arrived on the international music scene as the youngest winner in the history of the Paganini International Violin Competition in Genoa, Italy. Also, Taiwanese violinist Teng Hao-tun (鄧皓敦) will lead the orchestra to present Iogansen's Festival Fanfare, Elgar's String Serenade, and Vivaldi's Four Seasons.
* At the Taipei City Family Theater, 2F, 1 Shifu Rd, Taipei (台北市市府路1號)
* Tickets are NT$300 to NT$1,000 and are available through ERA ticketing
* Tonight at 7:45pm
Fourplay (爵士四人行) will perform at the National Concert Hall tonight. Fourplay is the “Dream Team” of 1990s jazz and is made up of four veteran musicians, each of whom has an international reputation in their own right. Legendary keybordist Bob James was named Jazz Artist of the Year by Cash Box in 1980, while bassist Nathan East has spent years as a session musician for artists such as Eric Clapton, Phil Collins, and BB King. Guitarist Larry Carlton, meanwhile, won a Grammy Award for Best Pop instrumental Performance in 1987, while percussionist Harvey Mason has earned seven Grammy nominations.
* At the National Concert Hall, Taipei
* Tickets are sold out
* Tonight at 7:30pm
Hung Chien-chih Oboe Recital VII – A la Rencontre de la Musique Moderne – Pour Hautbois (洪千智雙簧管音樂會—雙簧管現代與近代音樂的巡禮) will be presented at the National Recital Hall tomorrow. Hung studied oboe under the guidance of French oboe masters Claude Maisonneuve, Jean Claude Jaboulay, and Swiss oboe master Thomas Indermuhle. She will play modern and contemporary works for oboe, including Gliere's Andante for Oboe and Piano, No.4, Op.35, Delerue's Prelude et Danse for Oboe and Piano, Koechlin's Sonata for Oboe and Piano, Op.58, Maderna's Solo, Yang Tsung-hsien's (楊聰賢) Lacrumosa, and Dorati's Duo Concertante.
* At the National Recital Hall, Taipei
* As of press time, NT$300 and NT$400 tickets are sold out, but NT$200 seats are still available through ERA ticketing.
* Tomorrow at 7:30pm
Peng Yen Piano Recital (彭讌鋼琴獨奏會) will be held at Cultural Affairs Bureau of Hsinchu County (新竹縣文化局) on Aug. 16. Peng is in her junior year at the National Hualien University of Education's Department of Music, and has studied piano with Alfonso Gomez, Alexender Formenkou, and Vladimir Ashkennazy's favorite pupil Robert Shannon in the past. Peng will play works of Chopin, Debussy, Rachmaninov, and Samuel Barber.
* At the Hsinchu County Cultural Affairs Bureau,146 Hsiencheng 9th Rd, Chubei City, Hsinchu County (新竹縣竹北市縣政九路146號)
* Free Admission
* Wednesday at 7:30pm
The Story of Carmen (卡門的故事) will be staged at the National Concert Hall on Aug. 16. The concert will feature a line up of three youth orchestras established under the Taipei Century Symphony Orchestra (台北世紀交響樂團). After the well-received concert on the theme of Grieg's Peer Gynt Suite last year, the three orchestras will join each other again to present Verdi's Triumph March, Delibe's Waltz from the ballet “Coppelia,” and Haydn's Toy Symphony Vivaldi's Concerto Grosso No.11, Op.3, Mozart's Symphony in D Major, No.23, KV181, and Bizet's The Story of “Carmen” adapted by Bruckner.
* At the National Concert Hall, Taipei
* As of press time, NT$800 tickets are sold out, but seats are still available from NT$200 to NT$600 through NTCH ticketing.
* Wednesday at 7:30pm
Contemporary
The Living Room (小客廳) features South African David Foster tomorrow night, U.T.A (屋塔) and Gold Day, which includes the lead singer and guitarist from Chicken Rice, tomorrow, punk band Headwind (逆風樂團) on Wednesday and Lily C on Thursday with the latest incarnation of her band Fresh Air (新鮮空氣)
* Tomorrow's show begins at 10pm, Tuesday and Wednesday's at 8:30pm and Thursday's at 9pm
* Entrance is NT$500 for tomorrow, all other shows are NT$400
* 3F, 8 Nanjing E Rd, Sec 5, Taipei (台北市南京東路五段8號3樓). Call (02) 8787-4154 or visit www.livingroomtaipei.com
The Wall (這牆) presents Punk Rock Revival Project Vol. I tonight with Old Skunk (前神經樂隊) and The Shaverz, tomorrow Piana and Four Color Ephemeral concert (曇花乍現音樂會) and Telephone Booth (電話亭), Challenging the Fire (火焰大挑戰) on Sunday with Hades, MMMs, EQ (娛樂品質), Nino and The Wacky among others, Lounge Futuro on Tuesday, Green! Eyes on Wednesday and When I'm Quiet (當我安靜) and Babel (聒噪) on Thursday.
* Entrance for tonight's show is NT$500, advance tickets cost NT$400, for tomorrow NT$650 at the door and NT$500 in advance, Sunday's show is NT$150, and Tuesday's is free, Wednesday and Thursday's shows both cost NT$400
* B1, 200 Roosevelt Rd, Sec 4, Taipei (台北市羅斯福路4段200號B1). Call (02) 2930-0162 or visit www.the-wall.com.tw
Nuno's Live House (老諾) features MaPi (馬屁) and Blue(流) tonight, Rolling Dice (搖滾骰子), FOAI and New Yorker (紐約客) tomorrow, (神經), Angry Young People (生氣的年輕人), Dami Kids and The Shaverz on Sunday.
* All shows begin at 8:30pm except Sunday's which starts at 3pm
* Tonight, tomorrow Sunday
* B1, 2 Alley 3, Tungyuen Lane, Chunggang Rd, Longjing Township, Taichung County (台中縣龍井鄉中港路東園巷3弄2號B1). Call (04) 2652-9768 or visit www.nuno.idv.tw
Grooveyard presents Delta 9 Ass Spank, a quartet that plays a fusion of acid jazz, rock and punk-a-billy tonight.
* The show begins at 10pm
* Entrance is NT$200
* 2F, 105 Hwamei W Rd, Taichung (台中市華美西街105號二樓). Visit www.grooveyardtaiwan.com
The Velvet Underground presents SteelCowboys (鐵牛仔), GiZi (桔子), MiYan (謎樣), Lucky Pie and Mango (芒果) on Sunday.
* The show begins at NT$300
* Entrance is 2pm
* B1, 50 Zongxiao E Rd Sec 1, Taipei (台北市忠孝西路一段 50 號 B1).Call (02) 2314-1868 or visit www.velvet-underground.com.tw
(Please note: Some of the listed bands do not have English names in which case the Taipei Times has included a translation or transliteration.)
Exhibitions
The God Must be Crazy? The Adventures of Max Liu (上帝也瘋狂—劉其偉的冒險), a series of paintings by the bold and vivacious artist reveling in the colorful world of nature. A fugitive from the civilized way of life, the 74-year-old artist has found the pure joy and richness in life living with Aboriginal tribes and brings back with him simple yet imaginative reflections on primordial beauty.
* Metaphysics Gallery (形而上畫廊), 5F, 218-1, Zhongxiao E Rd, Sec 4, Taipei (台北市忠孝東路四段218-2號5樓). Open Tuesday to Sunday from 11am to 6:30pm. Call (02) 2752-9974.
* Until Aug. 20
Singing in Your Brain — Video and Interactive Installation Solo Exhibition by Tsao Hsun-chih (在腦海中歌唱–曹訓誌錄像與互動裝置個展). By altering the ways to perceive the visual and the audio, the artist asks the viewer to reflect on the acts of experiencing and sensing. The relation between the subject and the object is from a phenomenological point of view to raise the big question: what is being?
* Shin Leh Yuan Art Space (新樂園藝術空間), 15-2, Ln 11, Zhongshan N Rd, Sec 2, Taipei (中山北路二段11巷15-2號). Open Wednesday to Sunday from 1pm to 8pm. Call (02) 2561-1548.
* Until Aug. 27
Project Nano: the Body Trilogy Part I — the Materialized Sense (器質性官能). Following Project Nano 2003, artist Liu Yian-sheng (劉寅生) continues to study the inter-disciplinary vocabulary with his “nano” spirit, that is, a microcosmic way of perceiving. Vocabularies of different fields are molded into a unique narrative structure.
* Hua Shan Cultural and Creative Industry Center (華山創意文化園區), 1 Bade Rd Sec 1, Taipei (台北市八德路一段1號). Open Tuesday to Sunday from 10am to 6pm. Call (02) 2392-6180.
* Until Sunday
A Place for Women in Taipei (台北女子所在), a joint exhibition on stories of .women and men Lexa Walsh from the US invites locales to participate in her “The Immortalization Project” to share stories behind their beloved belongings. Thai artist Teerawate Mulvilai makes intimate portray of Thai women in Taipei through their diaries while local artist Hsu Chia-jung's (許嘉容)video installation piece leaves a stirring traces of memories and family life.
* Taipei Culture Center (台北市立社會教育館), 25 Bade Rd Sec 3, Taipei (台北市八德路三段25號). Open Tuesday to Sunday from 9am to 5pm. Call (02) 2577-5931.
* Until Aug. 31
The Metamorphosis of Art Among the Rukai of Wutai Village (當代時空裡的原生藝術–霧台魯凱族藝術蛻變), starting from works by three generations of artists from a Rukai family in Wutai, the exhibition presents the dynamism and originality of the Aboriginal tribe. Art works related to Wutai by non-aboriginal artists are also included to reflect multiple viewpoints.
* Hong Gan Museum (鳳甲美術館), 5F, 260 Daye Rd, Taipei (台北市大業路260號5樓). Open Tuesday to Sunday from 10:30am to 5:30pm. Call (02) 2894-2272.
* Until Aug. 27
Last week Joseph Nye, the well-known China scholar, wrote on the Australian Strategic Policy Institute’s website about how war over Taiwan might be averted. He noted that years ago he was on a team that met with then-president Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁), “whose previous ‘unofficial’ visit to the US had caused a crisis in which China fired missiles into the sea and the US deployed carriers off the coast of Taiwan.” Yes, that’s right, mighty Chen caused that crisis all by himself. Neither the US nor the People’s Republic of China (PRC) exercised any agency. Nye then nostalgically invoked the comical specter
April 15 to April 21 Yang Kui (楊逵) was horrified as he drove past trucks, oxcarts and trolleys loaded with coffins on his way to Tuntzechiao (屯子腳), which he heard had been completely destroyed. The friend he came to check on was safe, but most residents were suffering in the town hit the hardest by the 7.1-magnitude Hsinchu-Taichung Earthquake on April 21, 1935. It remains the deadliest in Taiwan’s recorded history, claiming around 3,300 lives and injuring nearly 12,000. The disaster completely flattened roughly 18,000 houses and damaged countless more. The social activist and
Over the course of former President Ma Ying-jeou’s (馬英九) 11-day trip to China that included a meeting with Chinese Communist Party (CCP) leader Xi Jinping (習近平) a surprising number of people commented that the former president was now “irrelevant.” Upon reflection, it became apparent that these comments were coming from pro-Taiwan, pan-green supporters and they were expressing what they hoped was the case, rather than the reality. Ma’s ideology is so pro-China (read: deep blue) and controversial that many in his own Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) hope he retires quickly, or at least refrains from speaking on some subjects. Regardless
Approaching her mid-30s, Xiong Yidan reckons that most of her friends are on to their second or even third babies. But Xiong has more than a dozen. There is Lucky, the street dog from Bangkok who jumped into a taxi with her and never left. There is Sophie and Ben, sibling geese, who honk from morning to night. Boop and Pan, both goats, are romantically involved. Dumpling the hedgehog enjoys a belly rub from time to time. The list goes on. Xiong nurtures her brood from her 8,000 square meter farm in Chiang Dao, a mountainous district in northern Thailand’s