Last Sunday’s Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) national congress was the most anticipated in years, and produced some drama and surprises. As expected, party chair President William Lai (賴清德), his New Tide (新潮流系統, usually abbreviated to 新系) faction and his allied “trust in Lai” (信賴) coalition of
Stepping inside Waley Art (水谷藝術) in Taipei’s historic Wanhua District (萬華區) one leaves the motorcycle growl and air-conditioner purr of the street and enters a very different sonic realm.Speakers hiss, machines whir and objects chime from all five floors of the shophouse-turned- contemporary art gal
Keita Suzuki leads a group of young analogue photography fans around a coastal city in Japan, stopping to snap pastel hydrangea blooms with bulky vintage film cameras.The participants later share their lush retro-looking snaps online — a trend a top Japanese camera brand wants to capture with its fi
If one thing is certain about Deadpool, it’s that its titular hero, for reasons never explained, understands his place in the world — well, in our world.Indeed, the irreverent and raunchy mutant is sure to belabor his awareness of the context in which he lives — namely an over-saturated, increasingl
Major new films from the directors Mike Leigh and Angelina Jolie and actors such as Jennifer Lopez, Hugh Grant and Pamela Anderson are toplining this year’s Toronto film festival.The annual festival brings together a host of world premieres at a key stage in the race toward the Oscars.Mike Leigh is
Allegations of corruption against three heavyweight politicians from the three major parties are big in the news now. On Wednesday, prosecutors indicted Hsinchu County Commissioner Yang Wen-ke (楊文科) of the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT), a judgment is expected this week in the case involving Hsinch
The ability of dogs to sniff out stress levels in humans has been known for some time.But the relationship between woman and man’s four-legged best friend is two-way, and scientists now believe they have discovered that when a dog senses a person in distress, it has a knock-on effect in the behavior
“I am not a biographer, in the usual definition of that term,” Ann Powers writes in her introduction to Traveling, describing herself instead as “a critic, a kind of mapmaker.”Her book follows Joni Mitchell’s trail across eight decades, mapping out not just the artist’s singular musical journey, but
Some people are afraid of sharks, but sharks have a good reason to fear humans even more. Throughout the world last year, there were just 69 confirmed unprovoked shark attacks on people, and a mere 14 fatalities. By contrast, it’s estimated that humans kill between 80 million and 100 million sharks
Two exiled pro-democracy Hong Kong activists have been blocked from accessing their pensions, depriving them of tens of thousands of US dollars of their savings and raising questions about the complicity of western financial institutions in the persecution of Chinese government critics.Assets, inclu
An alluring artwork sits on the floor in the center of Asia Art Center’s gallery. Jade-colored and made from bronze, it looks like an AI device has been tasked to print a 3D sculpture of a classical ink painting. The bronze has been folded like silk and the lines engraved in it look like a fantastic
Obnoxious camera-wielders block live concerts; cinemas are lit by furious screen tappers; museums become photoshoots; the Mona Lisa has been reduced to a background prop. Were you even there if you didn’t take a picture? One art exhibition, however, embraces the Instagram of it all. TeamLab art exhi
In Taiwan there are two economies: the shiny high tech export economy epitomized by Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) and its outsized effect on global supply chains, and the domestic economy, driven by construction and powered by flows of gravel, sand and government contracts. The
July 22 to July 28 The Love River’s (愛河) four-decade run as the host of Kaohsiung’s annual dragon boat races came to an abrupt end in 1971 — the once pristine waterway had become too polluted. The 1970 event was infamous for the putrid stench permeating the air, exacerbated by contestants splashing
The Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) National Congress tomorrow will potentially be one of the most consequential in the party’s history. Since the founding of the DPP until the late 2000s or early 2010s, the party was riven with factional infighting, at times getting very ugly and very public. Fo
The tropic of cancer bisects the city of Chiayi (嘉義). The morning heat is, predictably, intense. But the sky is blue and hued with promise.Travelers brave the heat to pose for photos outside the carriages lined up at the end of platform one. The pervasive excitement is understandable. HISTORIC RAILW
Her FBI colleagues describe Agent Lee Harker (Maika Monroe) as “highly intuitive.” And if the term sounds like federal agency code for something ominous and slightly sinister, that’s because it is. Harker might lack social graces (she’d sooner lurk alone in her coffin-like, wood-lined cabin than eng
There’s nothing I find so cheering, these days, as the rise of the horror movie. Take its intrusion into this year’s summer blockbusters. We have the usual soulless franchises and deadly repeats — Despicable Me 4, Deadpool 3, Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga, Bad Boys: Ride or Die — and then we have a flicke
In a warehouse in the lush humid farmlands of central Thailand, thousands of pythons lie coiled in containers, rearing and striking at the glass as people pass by.They are being raised for their robust, diamond-patterned skins, which are sold to high-end European fashion houses for belts, bags and h
In a year of major elections that will determine thae destinies of many countries, China’s ruling Communist Party is holding closed, top-level meetings in Beijing to set strategies for reviving its slowing economy.State media likened the meetings that end Thursday to reforms started in the late 1970