VIEW THIS PAGE Appearing tonight at Witch House (女巫店) is Swedish a cappella group #Imerlin# as part of the Taiwan International A Cappella Festival. For more information on the festival, visit blog.roodo.com/tcmc. Tomorrow alt-rock band Peppermint (薄荷葉) takes to the stage, and on Sunday it’s the Free Breathing Ensemble (世界軌跡), a jazz group that explores Latin, Indian and Chinese folk music.
▲7, Ln 56, Xinsheng S Rd Sec 3, Taipei City (台北市新生南路三段56巷7號). For more information, call (02) 2362-5494 or visit www.witchhouse.org
▲Performances start at 9:30pm. Restaurant/bar with queer/feminist bookstore and large collection of board games open 11am to midnight Sundays through Wednesdays; 11am to 1am Thursdays through Saturdays
▲Admission is NT$300 on evenings with music shows and includes one drink
Tonight Riverside Cafe (河岸留言) presents the RAY Band (雷樂隊), a trio of veteran session musicians who play power-rock originals and covers. Singer Waa Wei (魏如萱) makes an appearance tomorrow night. Her high-pitched wispy voice, cutesy delivery and indie-pop sensibility have earned her a following that will likely ensure a full house. On Sunday it’s OK Bomb and ska punk music from Shy Kick Apple.
▲B1, 2, Ln 244, Roosevelt Rd Sec 3, Taipei City (台北市羅斯福路三段244巷2號B1), next to Taipower Building (台電大樓). Call (02) 2368-7310 or visit www.riverside.com.tw for more information
▲Shows start at 9:30pm tonight and 9pm tomorrow and Sunday
▲Entry is NT$400 tonight, NT$450 tomorrow and NT$350 on Sunday
Dafu Jazz Quartet performs tonight at Sappho de Base, Taipei’s favorite late-night venue for impromptu jazz sessions. Black Sheep plays Texas-style blues tomorrow night. On Tuesday the Grace Jazz Trio plays a set, with an open jam afterwards, and on Wednesday it’s the Isiah Richardson Trio. Thursday night features singer-songwriter Dana Wylie and drummer and guitarist Jez Hellard.
▲B1, 1, Ln 102, Anhe Rd Sec 1, Taipei City (台北市安和路一段102巷1號B1). Call (02) 2700-5411 (after 9pm) or visit www.sappho102.biz for more information
▲Performances begin at 10:30pm on weekends, 10pm on weekdays
▲No admission fee
Rock and pop cover outfit Soma plays tonight at Tone 56 Live Bar. Tomorrow it’s house band Loaded, which plays everything from “rock classics to today’s hits.” Every Sunday features a regular rotation of groups; this week it’s blues, funk, and soul outfit The Blues Vibrations.
▲1F, 56, Minquan E Rd Sec 3, Taipei City (台北市民權東路三段56號1樓), near the corner of Fuxing North (復興北) and Minquan East (民權東) roads. Call (02) 2517-3869 for more information
▲Music shows go from 9:30pm to 12:30am tonight and tomorrow; 7:30pm to 9:30pm on Sundays
▲No admission fee
Every Wednesday night at the Cosmopolitan Grill there’s a blues open mic, held by the Blues Society on Taiwan and hosted by Torch Pratt. All are welcome to bring their instruments and sit in on guitar, bass, or drums.
▲1F, 218 Changchun Rd, Taipei City (台北市長春路218號1樓). Call (02) 2508-0304 or visit www.cosmo.com.tw for more information
▲Wednesday from 8pm to 11pm
▲No admission fee
Exhibitions
Masterpieces of Chin and Tang Dynasty Calligraphy (晉唐法書名蹟展). The exhibition puts together 15 calligraphic works inscribed by Chin and Tang dynasty calligraphers. Highlights include Tang Dynasty copies of Wang Hsi-chih’s (王羲之) three masterpieces, on display together for the first time.
▲National Palace Museum (國立故宮博物院), 221, Zhishan Rd Sec 2, Taipei City (台北市至善路二段221號). Open Mondays through Sundays from 9am to 5pm and Saturdays until 8:30pm. Tel: (02) 2881-2021
▲Until Nov. 20
Whispers of Blended Shadows: The Art of Jerry Uelsmann (疊影絮語:傑利尤斯曼). Dubbed a magician of images, the radical surrealist photographer rose to fame in the US in the 1960s and is known for his practice of “post-visualization.” Employing traditional darkroom techniques as a kind of alchemy, the artist frees photography from the shackles of “representation of the real world” to convey psychological truths through symbolic, metaphoric and conceptual images. The exhibition displays 79 of Uelsmann works.
▲Taipei Fine Arts Museum (台北市立美術館), 181, Zhongshan N Rd Sec 3, Taipei City (台北市中山北路三段181號). Open Tuesdays through Sundays from 9:30am to 5:30pm and Saturdays until 8:30pm. Tel: (02) 2595-7656
▲Until Jan. 11, 2009
Rocks and Water — Solo Exhibition by Monika Kropshofer (水石之間 — 德國藝術家柯玫妮個展). Neither photography nor painting, Kropshofer’s art is a combination of the two. Taken during several trips around the world, the photos are painted over with layers of bright colors by the artist who explores the concepts of surface and space.
▲German Cultural Center Taipei (台北德國文化中心), 12F, 20, Heping W Rd Sec 1, Taipei City (台北市和平西路一段20號12樓). Open Mondays through Fridays from 1pm to 8pm. Tel: (02) 2365- 7294
▲Until Nov. 11
New Germany Contemporary Art Exhibition (新德國當代藝術特展). The exhibition introduces visitors to the lasting influences of German expressionism, neo-expressionism and the New Leipzig School through the works of young German artists including Matthias Galvez, Martin Galle, David Ostrowski and Marcel Eichner.
▲AKI Gallery (也趣), 141 Minzu W Rd, Taipei City (台北市民族西路141號). Open Tuesdays through Sundays from 12pm to 6:30pm. Tel: (02) 2599-1171
▲Until Nov. 2
Hu Kun-jung’s Solo Exhibition (胡坤榮個展). A new series of Hu’s abstract paintings.
▲Main Trend Gallery (大趨勢畫廊), 209-1, Chengde Rd Sec 3, Taipei City (台北市承德路三段209-1號). Open Tuesdays through Saturdays from 11am to 7pm. Tel: (02) 2587-3412
▲Until Nov. 8
In late October of 1873 the government of Japan decided against sending a military expedition to Korea to force that nation to open trade relations. Across the government supporters of the expedition resigned immediately. The spectacle of revolt by disaffected samurai began to loom over Japanese politics. In January of 1874 disaffected samurai attacked a senior minister in Tokyo. A month later, a group of pro-Korea expedition and anti-foreign elements from Saga prefecture in Kyushu revolted, driven in part by high food prices stemming from poor harvests. Their leader, according to Edward Drea’s classic Japan’s Imperial Army, was a samurai
Located down a sideroad in old Wanhua District (萬華區), Waley Art (水谷藝術) has an established reputation for curating some of the more provocative indie art exhibitions in Taipei. And this month is no exception. Beyond the innocuous facade of a shophouse, the full three stories of the gallery space (including the basement) have been taken over by photographs, installation videos and abstract images courtesy of two creatives who hail from the opposite ends of the earth, Taiwan’s Hsu Yi-ting (許懿婷) and Germany’s Benjamin Janzen. “In 2019, I had an art residency in Europe,” Hsu says. “I met Benjamin in the lobby
April 22 to April 28 The true identity of the mastermind behind the Demon Gang (魔鬼黨) was undoubtedly on the minds of countless schoolchildren in late 1958. In the days leading up to the big reveal, more than 10,000 guesses were sent to Ta Hwa Publishing Co (大華文化社) for a chance to win prizes. The smash success of the comic series Great Battle Against the Demon Gang (大戰魔鬼黨) came as a surprise to author Yeh Hung-chia (葉宏甲), who had long given up on his dream after being jailed for 10 months in 1947 over political cartoons. Protagonist
Peter Brighton was amazed when he found the giant jackfruit. He had been watching it grow on his farm in far north Queensland, and when it came time to pick it from the tree, it was so heavy it needed two people to do the job. “I was surprised when we cut it off and felt how heavy it was,” he says. “I grabbed it and my wife cut it — couldn’t do it by myself, it took two of us.” Weighing in at 45 kilograms, it is the heaviest jackfruit that Brighton has ever grown on his tropical fruit farm, located