People sit on heavy carpets, illuminated by soft lighting and scented candles in a darkened room, drinking wine and listening to poetry and prose recitations and a capella songs.
Reminiscent of the literary salons of 18th-century France, this modern-day gathering put on by The Red Room Group happens on the third Saturday of every month.
This weekend fundraising is being added to the roster for the first time, with 50 percent of the NT$200 admission fee going to Playing for Change, a charity that builds music schools in impoverished areas of Africa and Nepal.
photo courtesy of The Red Room Group
The monthly events began in 2009, when a collection of friends came together with “the idea of creating a space in Taipei where people could enjoy the experience of sharing anything they wanted and be heard and accepted,” says Ayesha Mehta, one of the event’s nine founders.
Her brother Manav, an events and music manager, and her mother Roma, a businesswoman and artist, teamed up with others, including architect Leiven Hwang (黃立文) and organizer Prashantha Lachanna, to create the group.
A friend offered to let the group use a space at his workplace; they dubbed it the Red Room because of its deep red carpets.
Performers sign up for a five-minute slot at a welcoming table when they arrive — or sometimes a little later.
“New people are terrified,” Lachanna says. “But after the first half, the sheet starts to fill up rapidly. After a few drinks people start to pull out what they’ve been hiding.”
Hwang notes that the biggest development over the past couple of years is that a lot more Taiwanese are attending and performing, “sharing really intimate things that have affected them.”
‘VISIBLY VIBRATING’
“They come up and talk about their lives,” Lachanna says. “It’s so against the stereotype of what Taiwanese people are like — [they talk about how] they love to travel, love to love, there’s a feeling that they are dying to share, exploding with wanting to share so that you see sometimes they are visibly vibrating with happiness and the relief of sharing.”
All types of people participate.
“A 70-something-year-old Beijing opera-singing noodle vendor that has a noodle stand near Renai circle came,” she says. “[The crowd was] 90 percent 20-something Taiwanese kids, this guy got up and sang Beijing opera about a young man going to war … who sees a young woman and gets a visible erection … it’s a sad love story.”
Hwang interjects to explain that the literal translation for “erection” was “his fern straightened,” which he says amused an audience that was already so spellbound that “every single person was mesmerized, every mouth was hanging open.”
Lachanna says participants also help out behind the scenes “at the bar, door, kitchen, just stepping in” to do what is needed.
“The magical thing about the event is that it’s run by whoever participates, creating its own vibe every time,” said Manav Mehta, who often emcees the event. “The energy in the Red Room space is incredibly positive and supportive and even with a high percentage of newcomers each month, the intimacy and the magic never fade.”
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