In a bid to study the reasons behind the success of Denmark's creative industry, a delegation led by Council for Cultural Affairs Chairwoman Tchen Yu-chiou (陳郁秀) arrived in Copenhagen on Monday for three days of talks with members of Denmark's cultural establishment.
The delegation, which is slated to leave for London today to continue its fact-finding tour of another leader in the creative industry, was hosted by the Danish Center for Cultural Development (DCCD), an autonomous body under Denmark's Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
In a speech Monday, Tchen pointed out the similarities between the two countries, noting that they are about the same size and both have a long maritime history. She was warmly greeted by Grethe Rostboll, the chairperson of the DCCD and former minister of culture, and on Tuesday met with the current Minister of Culture Brian Mikkelson.
The real work of the delegation began on Tuesday with a daylong seminar and discussion session at the Danish Design School. The ambitious program sought to cover broad issues related to the creative industry, from government policies to ways that urban renewal can serve as a greater force to bring the products of the creative industry into the community.
Given the complexity of the issues being discussed and the lack of detailed knowledge of the situation in Denmark on the part of the Taiwanese, and visa versa, there was not too much expectation of any substantive results within such a short time, although Tchen said that the ideas thrown up on Tuesday would bear fruit in the shape of substantive deals to be announced tomorrow.
In a friendly and courteous atmosphere, cultural representatives set about getting to know one another.
On the Taiwan side, these included Wu Jing-jyi (吳靜吉), head of the Foundation for Scholarly Exchange, Ping Heng (平珩), a director of the Performing Arts Alliance, Ray Chen (陳瑞憲), one of the top architects of Chinese decent, according to Asahi Shimbun and Margaret Shiu (夏麗虹), chairperson of the Association of Cultural Environment Reform.
Tuesday afternoon was set aside for group discussions, which while they did not produce any dramatic results, were, according to Ray Chen, a valuable process "of getting to know one another."
Peng Heng drew considerable attention when discussing the success of the Little Asia Theater event that she organized for a number of years.
"But of course, working with theaters from around Asia, we had the chance to try out small projects before moving on to bigger ones," to become more acquainted, she said.
The Danish response in this case served to underline the fact that while the delegation is here to learn, it also feels that it has much to offer.
Tchen emphasized that the only way to sustain the momentum created by the current visit is to initiate projects.
In the short term, there is the Images of Asia exposition to take place in August and September this year.
"We are discussing sending some of our young people to take part in the administration process of this huge event," Tchen said.
"This is only possible because of the close ties we have developed with the Danes."
The push towards upgrading the standing of culture that this current delegation to Denmark and the UK represents is in part the result of a priority being placed on cultural content being listed as one of the 10 projects of the Challenge 2008 national development plan.
This is the first time that cultural content has been incorporated into a National Development Plan in Taiwan.
Taiwan was listed in 14th place among the world's wealthiest country in terms of GDP per capita, in the latest rankings released on Monday by Forbes magazine. Taiwan's GDP per capita was US$76,860, which put it at No. 14 on the list of the World's 100 Richest Countries this year, one spot above Hong Kong with US$75,130. The magazine's list of the richest countries in the world is compiled based on GDP per capita data, as estimated by the IMF. However, for a more precise measure of a nation's wealth, the magazine also considers purchasing power parity, which is a metric used to
Taipei’s Ximending (西門町) shopping area welcomed the most international visitors, followed by Taipei 101, Songshan Cultural and Creative Park and Yangmingshan National Park (陽明山國家公園), a list of the city’s most popular tourist attractions published by the Taipei Department of Information and Tourism showed. As of August, 69.22 million people had visited Taipei’s main tourism spots, a 76 percent increase from 39.33 million in the same period last year, department data showed. Ximending had 20.21 million visitors, followed by Taipei 101 at 8.09 million, Songshan Cultural and Creative Park at 6.28 million, Yangmingshan at 4.51 million and the Red House Theater (西門紅樓) in
Renovations on the B3 concourse of Taipei Main Station are to begin on Nov. 1, with travelers advised to use entrances near the Taiwan Railway or high-speed rail platforms or information counter to access the MRT’s Red Line. Construction is to be completed before the end of next year, Taipei Rapid Transit Corp said last week. To reduce the impact on travelers, the NT$95 million (US$2.95 million) project is to be completed in four stages, it said. In the first stage, the hall leading to the Blue Line near the art exhibition area is to be closed from Nov. 1 to the end
WARNING: Domestic coffee producers mainly grow arabica beans, as they self-pollinate, but they are more likely to have consistency issues, an expert said Taiwan ranks third in coffee consumption per capita in Asia, the latest Ministry of Agriculture data showed. Taiwanese consume 1.77kg, or 177 cups of coffee, per person each year, less only than Japan and South Korea, at 600 cups and 400 cups respectively, the ministry’s Tea and Beverage Research Station said. Although the nation mainly relies on imported coffee, there has been an increase in home-grown coffee bean production, the ministry said. Cuttings and other techniques are commonly used to ensure domestic beans have stronger floral and fruity flavors, it said. It is a fast-expanding market with Taiwan’s coffee consumption
RSS