The Neihu Community College has joined forces with the Dream Community (夢想社區) of New Taipei City’s Shijr District (汐止) and Canadian author, photographer and director Alexandra Lefebvre to produce a cross-cultural light show, Even the Gods Are Crazy (神明也瘋狂), in Taipei’s Neihu District (內湖) next week.
The hour-long shows are being offered at two “historic” locations — a traditional courtyard home and a clan hall — for two nights each.
Lefebvre, who has been in Taiwan working on the project for three months, will utilize the walls of the buildings as well as screens to project photographs and video footage to tell a story based on local Neihu stories, Taiwan’s traditional religious cultures and her own experiences. Musical accompaniment will be provided by a traditional Chinese orchestra.
Photo Courtesy of Dream Community
There is no parking near the venues, so organizers are strongly encouraging people to take public transportation.
Festivalgoers are also urged to monitor the weather forecasts and check the college’s Web site (www.nhcc.org.tw). If there is more than a 60 percent chance of evening rain, that night’s show will likely be canceled.
■ 7pm to 8pm, Wednesday, May 10 to Saturday, May 13
■ May 10 and May 11 at the Lin family house (林宅三合院), 2, Alley 113, Lane 66, Wende Rd, Neihu District, Taipei (台北市文德路66巷113弄2號). May 12 and May 13 at the Guo family estate (郭子儀紀念堂), 19, Lane 267, Wende Road, Neihu District, Taipei (台北市文德路267巷19號)
■ Admission is free, but seats are limited and must be reserved in advance by calling Kim Chen at the Neihu Community College at (02)8751-158
The problem with Marx’s famous remark that history repeats itself, first as tragedy, the second time as farce, is that the first time is usually farce as well. This week Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chair Cheng Li-wun (鄭麗文) made a pilgrimage to the People’s Republic of China (PRC) “to confer, converse and otherwise hob-nob” with Chinese Communist Party (CCP) officials. The visit was an instant international media hit, with major media reporting almost entirely shorn of context. “Taiwan’s main opposition leader landed in China Tuesday for a rare visit aimed at cross-strait ‘peace’”, crowed Agence-France Presse (AFP) from Shanghai. Rare!
What is the importance within the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) of the meeting between Xi Jinping (習近平), the leader Chinese Communist Party (CCP), and Cheng Li-wun (鄭麗文), the leader of the KMT? Local media is an excellent guide to determine how important — or unimportant — a news event is to the public. Taiwan has a vast online media ecosystem, and if a news item is gaining traction among readers, editors shift resources in near real time to boost coverage to meet the demand and drive up traffic. Cheng’s China trip is among the top headlines, but by no means
Sunflower movement superstar Lin Fei-fan (林飛帆) once quipped that the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) could nominate a watermelon to run for Tainan mayor and win. Conversely, the DPP could run a living saint for mayor in Taipei and still lose. In 2022, the DPP ran with the closest thing to a living saint they could find: former Minister of Health and Welfare Chen Shih-chung (陳時中). During the pandemic, his polling was astronomically high, with the approval of his performance reaching as high as 91 percent in one TVBS poll. He was such a phenomenon that people printed out pop-up cartoon
The town of Jhihben (知本) in Taitung County is most well-known for its hot springs, but if you’re looking for an interesting nearby daytime excursion to complement an evening soak at your hotel, don’t miss the Jhihben National Forest Recreation Area (知本國家森林遊樂區). From the resort area, simply take Bus 8129 down to the last stop at the end of the main road and then walk across the bridge and turn left for the ticket gate. This bus can also be taken right from the Taitung Bus Station or from the Zhiben TR station, and runs approximately once an hour all day