Treasure Hill Artist Village (寶藏巖國際藝術村) is celebrating spring with the Bow Power Life and Culture Festival (寶POWER: 寶藏巖生活文化節). The event, a joint effort by the residents of Treasure Hill and the artists who work there, takes place tomorrow afternoon.
Once a veterans’ community, Treasure Hill, located in Taipei City’s Gongguan (公館) area, reopened in October as an artist village following four years of renovations. Famous for its picturesque hodgepodge of aging illegal structures, Treasure Hill was designated a historical site by the Taipei City Government in 2004. In addition to artist studios, exhibition spaces and rehearsal rooms, the area is still home to 22 families.
The outdoor festival will open with a performance by a brass quintet organized by the Taipei Symphony Orchestra (臺北市立交響樂團), followed by a piece called Moving, Seeing, Listening to the Heart: The Sound of Movements by performance artist Lin Shuen-long (林舜龍). The exploration of sound, poetry and movement encourages audience participation by incorporating things like chalk graffiti and bamboo noisemakers to stimulate all the senses.
Photo Courtesy of Treasure Hill Artist Village
Lin will be followed by poet Tong Ya-li (彤雅立) and sound artist Wang Yu-jun (王榆鈞) with Poetry Sound and Sound Poems. The two collaborators attempt to expand the boundaries of their respective mediums in their experimental works.
Other artists featured in tomorrow’s festival include performance partners Ye Mimi (葉覓覓) and Chen Hung-chun (陳虹君) and Tsai Wan-shuen (蔡宛璇) and Yannick Dauby, as well as director and screenwriter Wang Ming-hsia (王明霞) and animator Chang Shu-man (張淑滿), aka Monster Chang.
Visitors walking through the winding, sloping alleyways of Treasure Hill will also see a public art installation by artist Chang Hui-lan (張惠蘭). Chang has erected tall, multi-colored rods around the settlement that point out notable views and scenic spots. People who visit all the rods will receive a prize.
Other events include a farmers’ market from 2pm to 8pm with produce grown by the residents of Treasure Hill and artists using sustainable farming methods.
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