About 300,000 selected photographs recording a five-year tour of performances by entertainment troupe Paper Windmill Theatre (紙風車劇團) were officially accepted into the permanent collection at the National Museum of History yesterday, highlighting years of devotion and effort by the group and its supporters’ that aim to bring arts to children living in the country’s 319 townships.
Dubbed First Mile, Kid’s Smile: Arts for Children in 319 Townships, the tour was envisioned as a cultural movement dedicated to youngsters who are deprived of access to the arts in the nation’s rural areas.
Not accepting any government funding in order to remain autonomous, the troupe relied on individual donors, volunteers and corporate sponsors to bring a live 90-minute performance to any township that could raise NT$350,000 for the production that required a crew of 20 to 30 people.
The tour began in Yilan County’s Yuanshan Township (員山) in 2006. For the next five years, the troupe ventured into each one of the country’s 319 townships as far afield as Wuciou Island (烏坵), Kinmen County, where there are only about 40 inhabitants. The last show took place in New Taipei City’s Wanli Township (萬里) on Dec. 3 last year, in front of an audience of more than 6,000 people.
Designed to showcase different facets of the performing arts, the production combined theatrical performances, music, dance and multimedia shows with puppetry and an autobiographical theatrical piece that recounted the on-the-road adventures of theater director Wu Nien-jen’s (吳念真) when he was eight years old.
According to Chuang Chiung-ju (莊瓊如), the group’s artistic director, the troupe owed its success to everybody that had participated in the tour.
“In remote villages such as in Alishan (阿里山), school teachers and parents would charter buses to send children to see our shows. One of our most memorable performances was in Jianshih (尖石) in Hsinchu County [a remote Atayal community], where kids came from different hamlets in the mountains during a typhoon,” Chuang said at a press conference yesterday.
The troupe raised more than NT$260 million in the past five years through donations, and it is estimated that nearly 800,000 people attended its performances.
National Museum of History Director Chang Yui-tan (張譽騰) said he was initially surprised when Lee Yung-feng (李永豐), chief executive of the Paper Windmill Cultural Foundation, approached him regarding collecting the photographs.
“I want to thank [the Paper Windmill] for reminding us that our museum is not just about collecting antiques, but is also obligated to build relations and dialogues with society,” Chang said.
The photographs documenting about 380 performances over five years were shot by 14 volunteer photographers, including Tsai Yu-hao (蔡育豪) and Kao Hsiu-min (高修民).
SHIPS, TRAINS AND AUTOMOBILES: The ministry has announced changes to varied transportation industries taking effect soon, with a number of effects for passengers Beginning next month, the post office is canceling signature upon delivery and written inquiry services for international registered small packets in accordance with the new policy of the Universal Postal Union, the Ministry of Transportation and Communications said yesterday. The new policy does not apply to packets that are to be delivered to China, the ministry said. Senders of international registered small packets would receive a NT$10 rebate on postage if the packets are sent from Jan. 1 to March 31, it added. The ministry said that three other policies are also scheduled to take effect next month. International cruise ship operators
HORROR STORIES: One victim recounted not realizing they had been stabbed and seeing people bleeding, while another recalled breaking down in tears after fleeing A man on Friday died after he tried to fight the knife-wielding suspect who went on a stabbing spree near two of Taipei’s busiest metro stations, Taipei Mayor Chiang Wan-an (蔣萬安) said. The 57-year-old man, identified by his family name, Yu (余), encountered the suspect at Exit M7 of Taipei Main Station and immediately tried to stop him, but was fatally wounded and later died, Chiang said, calling the incident “heartbreaking.” Yu’s family would receive at least NT$5 million (US$158,584) in compensation through the Taipei Rapid Transit Corp’s (TRTC) insurance coverage, he said after convening an emergency security response meeting yesterday morning. National
PLANNED: The suspect visited the crime scene before the killings, seeking information on how to access the roof, and had extensively researched a 2014 stabbing incident The suspect in a stabbing attack that killed three people and injured 11 in Taipei on Friday had planned the assault and set fires at other locations earlier in the day, law enforcement officials said yesterday. National Police Agency (NPA) Director-General Chang Jung-hsin (張榮興) said the suspect, a 27-year-old man named Chang Wen (張文), began the attacks at 3:40pm, first setting off smoke bombs on a road, damaging cars and motorbikes. Earlier, Chang Wen set fire to a rental room where he was staying on Gongyuan Road in Zhongzheng District (中正), Chang Jung-hsin said. The suspect later threw smoke grenades near two exits
The Forestry and Nature Conservation Agency yesterday launched a gift box to market honey “certified by a Formosan black bear” in appreciation of a beekeeper’s amicable interaction with a honey-thieving bear. Beekeeper Chih Ming-chen (池明鎮) in January inspected his bee farm in Hualien County’s Jhuosi Township (卓溪) and found that more than 20 beehives had been destroyed and many hives were eaten, with bear droppings and paw prints near the destroyed hives, the agency said. Chih returned to the farm to move the remaining beehives away that evening when he encountered a Formosan black bear only 20m away, the agency said. The bear
RSS