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Taipei honors art hall by renaming L-shaped alley

The Taipei City Government yesterday renamed the L-shaped alley between Sungshou Park and Shin Kong Mitsukoshi Department Store “Novel Hall Lane” (新舞台巷) to recognize the long-term contributions the hall has made to the city’s arts and culture.

The Novel Hall for Performing Arts, which is located in Xinyi District (信義) behind Taipei City Hall, was constructed in 1997 by late Straits Exchange Foundation (SEF) chairman Koo Chen-fu (辜振甫) and Jeffrey Koo (辜濂松), chairman of China Trust Commercial Bank (CTC), to promote arts and culture.

Over 10 years, the hall has housed more than 2,500 performances and its shows have attracted more than 1.36 million people. Beijing opera star and educator Li Bao-chun (李寶春) and Cloud Gate founder Lin Hwai-min (林懷民) were invited to serve as artistic directors and introduce quality performance groups to audiences.

Taipei Mayor Hau Lung-bin (郝龍斌) yesterday announced the name change for the L-shaped road in recognition of the hall’s promotion of arts and culture in Taipei City and promised to give more resources to promote performing arts.

Attending the ceremony, Jeffrey Koo recalled the history of the hall and said the Koo family would continue to serve residents with high-quality performing arts at the hall.

The Koo family established the “Taiwan New State” in the port area of Dadaocheng (大稻程) in the 1930s and constructed the Novel Hall years later after the stage was destroyed during World War II.

After the ceremony, Hau and Jeffrey Koo unveiled a statue of a cartoon figure created by Hong Kong cartoonist Danny Yung (榮念曾) with the name of the lane engraved at the bottom. Yung said the cartoon character, named Tien Tien (天天), represented ordinary people and their desire to strive for a better future.

“Novel Hall Lane” was the third lane to be renamed by the Taipei City Cultural Affairs Department over the years to recognize certain groups’ dedication to the field of art.

“Cloud Gate Lane,” located off Fuxing N Road, was renamed by the department in 2003 as a celebration and recognition of the 30th anniversary of Cloud Gate Dance Theatre.
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