Begun as a brochure that listed places worth visiting in the capital and distributed annually by Taipei City government’s Cultural Affairs Bureau (台北市政府文化局), the Taipei Culture Passport (台北文化護照) expanded to become a series of events that invites members of the general public to explore the city and experience its traditions, history and culture. Co-organized by South Village (南村落), this year’s event includes nearly 100 activities running from March to September.
This month’s theme is tea and mountain life. Tea experts and cultural workers such as Ho Chien (何健), Tseng Chih-hsien (曾至賢) and Lulu Han (韓良露), who is also the head of South Village, will lead tours to Dadaocheng (大稻埕), Nangang (南港) and the Yungkang (永康) neighborhood taking in old and contemporary teahouses, museums and plantations. Celebrated writer Liu Ke-xiang (劉克襄) is back with his popular walking tour of Muzha (木柵), which follows part of the old tea trade trail between Taipei and Ilan (宜蘭).
Next month, a series of exhibitions and lectures by cultural luminaries such as Chang Hsiao-hung (張小虹) and Chiang Hsun (蔣勳) will be held to mark the 90th anniversary of the May Fourth Movement (五 四運動). June’s theme is contemporary design and art, with guided tours of local designers’ boutiques and galleries in Tianmu (天母), Beitou (北投) and Shida (師大) and along Zhongshan North Road (中山北路).
From July to September, the food, religion, historical sites and ancient crafts of Wanhua (萬華) become the center of the attention.
Because of the limited number of places for outings and workshops, the activities fill up fast. Registration can be done by calling (02) 8369-2963 or online at www.southvillage.com.tw.
Culture Passport brochures containing detailed information on destinations and activities can be picked up at South Village or the Taipei Department of Cultural Affairs as well as various cultural venues including the Museum of Contemporary Art, Taipei (台北當代藝術館), Lin Yu-tang Residence (林語堂故居), Spot — Taipei Film House (光點—台北之家) and Red House Theater (西門紅樓). It can also be found online at culturepassport.culture.gov.tw.
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
A fossil jawbone found by a British girl and her father on a beach in Somerset, England belongs to a gigantic marine reptile dating to 202 million years ago that appears to have been among the largest animals ever on Earth. Researchers said on Wednesday the bone, called a surangular, was from a type of ocean-going reptile called an ichthyosaur. Based on its dimensions compared to the same bone in closely related ichthyosaurs, the researchers estimated that the Triassic Period creature, which they named Ichthyotitan severnensis, was between 22-26 meters long. That would make it perhaps the largest-known marine reptile and would