The exhibition about how a small town in Taiwan produced half of the world’s Barbie dolls from the 1960s to the 1980s proved to be a sensational hit, earning huge mainstream media coverage and an invitation to this year’s Cultural National Exhibition, the world’s sixth biggest fair.
On discovering 10 broken dragon boats near Sun Moon Lake
From 2001’s outdoor temple fair to the dragon boat races began in 2003, Wu has been inspired by what he calls the “turning-off-the-light theory.”
“When you turn the light off, you can no longer see the limits that stop you from going forward. This way you can jump the existing frame, asking yourself ‘what else can I do, and look for new potential,” Wu said.
In the eyes of other leaders of overseas Taiwanese communities, TCF provides a successful model for similar events. Ten permanent members of staff are employed to work on the festival with an annual budget of NT$30 million.
“Mainstream organizations are unwilling to work with non-profit, voluntary-based groups because the risk factor is high. So we need to show them that we are a professional event-planning group and convince them there will be maximum profits … . We also take the initiative to exchange resources with other groups so that everybody involved can benefit from the whole thing without added expense. It’s a win-win situation,” Wu said.
Like a daring entrepreneur, Wu refuses to be limited by the funding resources at his disposal. “We don’t need cash to do everything. We just need to be creative,” Wu said.
The lantern festival Wu and his team helped to organize in the small village of Cumberland on Vancouver Island was extremely popular.
With a population of about 2,500, the town saw around 12,000 tourists flock to visit the festival last year and 25,000 this year.
“It’s rather moving to see a community that has nothing to do with Taiwan welcome its cultures and gain from it. I think it is multiculturalism at its best,” Wu said.
Now spending lots of time traveling around North American cities to share his experience with local communities, Wu believes culture is the best platform to bring people together. “Taiwan is a multicultural country and cultures are not dead things but constantly flowing,” said the Taiwanese Canadian who is not only proud of his Taiwanese roots but also wishes to make a contribution to his chosen homeland.
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