The Taoyuan County Government yesterday held an outdoor event at the Wuteh Hall in Dasi Township (大溪), the birthplace of pop diva Fong Fei-fei (鳳飛飛), who died of lung cancer in Hong Kong on Jan. 3 at the age of 58.
However, an exhibition inside the hall of memorabilia related to the widely loved singer’s life will not open until Saturday, officials from the county’s Bureau of Cultural Affairs said.
The exhibition will feature Fong Fei-fei’s albums, videos and photos. Talks with the singer’s lawyer and concert agent over authorization are expected to be finalized in the next few days to pave the way for the inauguration of the show, bureau officials said.
Photo: Chou Min-hung, Taipei Times
The county government has decided to refurbish the historical Wuteh Hall as a temporary memorial hall for Fong Fei-fei. Her ashes have been placed at a -Fokuanshan-affiliated temple in the scenic mountain town.
Taoyuan county officials said Fong Fei-fei’s son, Zhao Wen Lin , had consented to turning the Wuteh building into a temporary memorial in honor of his mother.
“We are organizing an exhibition of the singer’s albums, photos, videos, costumes, hats and other artifacts at the hall,” a county cultural bureau official said.
An important part of the display will be a collection of hats the singer wore on stage.
Fong Fei-fei was known as the “Queen of hats,” because of her penchant for flamboyant headgear. The exhibition will run until April 8.
While Dasi is vying for a spot on a national top 10 beautiful townships list, the official said the county government will not exploit the upcoming memorial event to boost its cause.
Meanwhile, the county post office said it was planning to issue a collection of commemorative covers to honor Fong Fei-fei.
Yu Tian (余天), a veteran male singer, said on Friday he would seek the family’s consent to organize a special tribute concert.
In the course of her decades-long career, Fong Fei-fei produced more than 80 albums and held numerous sold-out concerts at home and abroad, particularly in countries with a large Chinese-speaking population.
Many of her fans in China have left mourning messages on the singer’s official Web site since her lawyer announced her death on Monday.
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