Keng Yi-wei (耿一偉) speaks of the Taipei Arts Festival (台北藝術節, TAF) as if she were a salon hostess trying to woo a circle of socialites she desires.
“It is like hosting a party. You need to take many factors into consideration, such as the artists you invite, box-office results and your reputation as an institute … You want to be able to say ‘such and such persons were here last year’ so that others would think of you as part of the circle and believe it would be a respectable thing to do to come to your party,” Keng told the Taipei Times.
Under Keng, who has been artistic director since 2012, TAF has placed great emphasis on international collaborations and exchanges as a way to gain visibility and recognition.
Photo courtesy of Home Green Films
“It is a question of reputation. You have to try to create an environment so that when people tour Asia, they would think of Taipei Arts Festival as a necessary choice,” Keng says.
Featuring 11 productions by artists and troupes from six countries, this year’s festival has a breakthrough with the participation of two international co-productions, The Monk from Tang Dynasty (玄奘) and Ubu and the Truth Commission.
Co-produced by TAF and Kunstenfestivaldesarts in Brussels among others, The Monk from Tang Dynasty is a challengingly slow and meditative theatrical creation by film auteur Tsai Ming-liang (蔡明亮). Devoid of dialogue and plot, the performance builds around Xuanzang (玄奘), a 7th century Buddhist monk travelling from China to India in search of Buddhist scriptures.
Photo courtesy of Wu Tien-chang
Tsai’s regular and muse, Lee Kang-sheng (李康生), stars as the central figure.
From Handspring Puppet Company in Cape Town, South Africa, Ubu and the Truth Commission is a co-production by TAF, Edinburgh International Festival and other arts festivals in Europe and the US. Blending puppetry, animation, documentary footage with live actors, the work tackles the madness and horror that overtook South Africa during apartheid as the country celebrates its 20th anniversary of democracy this year.
COLLABORATION
Photo courtesy of Ruphin Coudyzer
The annual festival has also become an important platform to encourage collaborations between local and foreign artists in the hope of establishing international relations that will lay the groundwork for future collaborations. Foreign artists are invited to develop shows with artists in Taiwan, and, as with any international co-productions, require significant time to plan. Collaborations are usually started two years in advance, Keng says.
“Our budget is limited compared to festivals in Tokyo and Hong Kong. We can’t offer international big names which only visit metropolises like Paris and New York. While everyone is wearing big brands like Gucci, I’d rather spend time working with up-and-coming, young artists with lots of potential,” he says.
“Taipei is not a first-rate city in Asia … It is not a very pretty city either. But my experience is that when foreign artists come and experience the city themselves, they find it interesting and filled with cultural activities. Then a network can develop.”
Photo courtesy of Judith Buss
Among this year’s co-productions, Mulian Rescues Mother Earth (目蓮拯救母親大地) is billed as a sci-fi fairy tale inspired by the Buddhist tale of Mulian Rescues His Mother (目蓮救母). It is a collaboration between acclaimed German stage director and playwright Kevin Rittberger and Taiwan’s Sun Son Theatre (身聲劇場).
With The 9 fridas, British playwright Kaite O’Reilly and stage director Phillip Zarrilli team up with Taiwan’s Mobius Strip Theatre and Hong Kong Repertory Theatre to create an unconventional portrait of Mexican painter Frida Kahlo.
BOLD PRODUCTIONS
Photo courtesy of Taipei Arts Festival
For local productions, the festival looks for something bold and different. They are usually works commissioned by and premiered at TAF.
“A festival is an occasion that goes beyond daily routines. During festivals, people would do things they don’t normally do in everyday life. So the [arts] festival needs to feature programs that are not normally seen,” Keng reckons.
Formosa Tempura (純情天婦羅), for example, is a production between film director Lee Chi-yuarn (李啟源), pop musician Bobby Chen (陳昇) and visual artist Wu Tien-chang (吳天章).
Unspoken Truth (不可言說的真實), a collaboration between five female artists from Hong Kong and Taiwan, including choreographer Ku Ming-shen (古名伸) and vocal artist Priscilla Leung (梁小衛), will explore Susan Sontag’s study on the act of seeing.
Both works illustrate this year’s theme of “looking,” designed to emphasize the visual aspects of performance art.
Apart from the performances, a series of lectures, workshops and talks will be held by participating artists and theater professionals including Zarrilli, O’Reilly, Tsai and Johan Simons, the artistic director of Munchner Kammerspiele.
Detailed information about the festival and the shows can be found at the event’s Chinese and English-language Web site at www.taipeifestival.org.tw.
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