The Council for Cultural Affairs will step up the nurturing of artistic and cultural talent in southern Taiwan in anticipation of the construction of an arts and culture center there, Minister Chiu Kun-liang (邱坤良) said yesterday.
He made the remarks when he met with the cultural heads of local governments, the second such meeting this year sponsored by the council.
Chiu was referring to the Weiwu Camp Arts and Cultural Center to be located in a 66-hectare park on the border of Kaohsiung City and Kaohsiung County.
Chiu said that in anticipation of the construction of the center, the council would have to step up cultural talent nurturing, adding that the work should start now.
He announced a plan for the development of performing arts in southern Taiwan, saying that the first stage will be carried out between next year and 2009 and will cover the cities of Kaohsiung, Tainan and Chiayi and the counties of Yunlin, Pingtung, Kaohsiung, Tainan and Chiayi.
Yang Hsuan-chin (楊宣勤), a council departmental director, said that the plan is aimed at helping the development of performing groups in southern Taiwan, providing them with a wholesome and creative environment so that they will be able to gradually upgrade themselves into world-class performing groups.
Chiu said that in central Taiwan, Taichung is also currently planning to construct an opera house.
The council wants to upgrade the cultural environment in central Taiwan as well as in eastern Taiwan, he said.
Meanwhile, faced with the closure of the Min Sheng Daily, a newspaper which made a priority of cultural news, as well as the shrinking space for cultural news in other newspapers, Chiu said that he is mulling the possibility of launching a cultural newspaper. However, cultural officials attending the meeting differed on whether to publish a newspaper or cooperate with established media outlets.
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