With less than two weeks to go until the May 20 inauguration of president-elect Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文), the event’s planning and preparation committee yesterday unveiled the design concepts for the ceremony’s outdoor main stage in front of the Presidential Office Building.
The main stage was designed by a four-person team: stage designer Tseng Su-ming (曾蘇銘), technical director Austin Wang (王孟超), illustrator Kuan Yueh-shu (官月淑) and art director Lee Liang-jen (李良仁), who was the creator of a 10m-tall sculpture that featured in the New Power Party’s (NPP) campaign rally ahead of the Jan. 16 legislative elections.
The team was assembled by committee executive director Lee Yung-feng (李永豐), who is also executive officer of the Paper Windmill Cultural Foundation.
Photo: CNA
“The design for the main stage’s structures was drawn from a Taiwanese religious ceremony called Jian Jiao (建醮), which features the erecting of an altar to pray to the gods to ensure that the nation is prosperous and the people are at peace,” Tseng told a news conference in Taipei yesterday morning.
Tseng said that instead of emphasizing the artists’ personal styles or resorting to abstract design ideas, the main stage would be embellished with illustrations in red that are simple and easy to understand.
To draw attention to the land and the people, the images depict the nation’s main workforces, including fishermen, farmers and office workers, as well as some endangered or endemic species, such as the Formosan black bear, Formosan sika deer and leopard cats, Tseng said.
They also feature elements of the life of common people — ranging from night market vendors and stinky tofu to religious festivals and noodles — in addition to famous scenic locations, such as Yushan (玉山), Taiwan’s highest peak at 3,952m, and New Taipei City’s Yehliu Geopark (野柳公園), Tseng added.
Lee Liang-jen said a 12m-tall art installation entitled Formosa: A Multifaceted Taiwan is to be erected on Ketagalan Boulevard in front of the Presidential Office Building.
“I am hoping to demonstrate the energy of the land and the vitality of its people through this artwork, and allow onlookers to see the nation’s different cultures, histories and ethnic groups,” Lee Liang-jen said.
The design team also showcased a souvenir that is to be given to guests attending the ceremony: a rectangular towel printed with the nation’s geographic contours that comes in three different colors, green, blue and yellow.
“We have all shed sweat and tears for this land. Now it is time that we head toward new milestones,” said Chen Ming-chu (陳明珠), hostess of Hakka TV’s gourmet program Flavor of My Hometown, who is to host Tsai’s inauguration ceremony.
To prepare her for the ceremony, Chen said that her grandmother gave her a jar of pickled white radish that was made 27 years ago when Chen was born.
“We Hakka people call aged pickled white radish ‘ginseng of the poor,’ because we believe it is good for your health and is especially helpful for maintainting your voice,” Chen said.
“I did not know the jar existed. It is often used for cooking on a girl’s wedding day — I think my grandmother thinks hosting the presidential inauguration is as important as my wedding,” she added.
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