ART
Sculptor makes big Buddha
A Taiwanese sculptor has made a 2m tall crystal glass statue of the “Buddha of a Thousand Hands,” saying that she was inspired by an 800-year-old Yuan Dynasty paintings in China. Loretta Yang said the statue is twice as tall as one she made in 2006 that was recognized then as the world’s tallest crystal glass Buddha statue. She says her new statue has a few tiny cracks and is “less than perfect,” but fulfills her wish to preserve in crystal the famous fading Buddha images painted on the Dunhuang Cave’s walls in China’s Gansu Province. Yang is the artistic director and co-founder of glassmaker Liuli Gongfang. She is a Buddhist and has created Buddha statues and other glass works in traditional and modern styles that are on display in Taipei.
Music
Top orchestra to play Taipei
The Chicago Symphony Orchestra, one of the world’s top orchestras, will hold two concerts in Taiwan early next year, the event organizer said on Monday. It will be the first time the renowned orchestra, which was founded in 1891, has performed in Taiwan, said the organizer and promoter of the orchestra’s concerts in Taiwan, Management of New Arts (MNA). Led by Italian conductor Riccardo Muti, the orchestra will present a classical music program on Jan. 25 and a different program the following day at the National Concert Hall in Taipei, MNA said at a news conference. Taipei will be the first leg of the orchestra’s Asian tour early next year, it added. The orchestra is one of the five US orchestras commonly referred to as the “Big Five,” along with the New York Philharmonic, the Boston Symphony Orchestra, the Philadelphia Orchestra and the Cleveland Orchestra.
Staff writer, with agencies
‘NEVER!’ Taiwan FactCheck Center said it had only received donations from the Open Society Foundations, which supports nonprofits that promote democratic values Taiwan FactCheck Center (TFC) has never received any donation from the US Agency for International Development (USAID), a cofounder of the organization wrote on his Facebook page on Sunday. The Taipei-based organization was established in 2018 by Taiwan Media Watch Foundation and the Association of Quality Journalism to monitor and verify news and information accuracy. It was officially registered as a foundation in 2021. National Chung Cheng University communications professor Lo Shih-hung (羅世宏), a cofounder and chairman of TFC, was responding to online rumors that the TFC receives funding from the US government’s humanitarian assistance agency via the Open Society Foundations (OSF),
An alleged US government plan to encourage Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC) to form a joint venture with Intel to boost US chipmaking would place the Taiwanese foundry giant in a more disadvantageous position than proposed tariffs on imported chips, a semiconductor expert said yesterday. If TSMC forms a joint venture with its US rival, it faces the risk of technology outflow, said Liu Pei-chen (劉佩真), a researcher at the Taiwan Industry Economics Database of the Taiwan Institute of Economic Research. A report by international financial services firm Baird said that Asia semiconductor supply chain talks suggest that the US government would
ANNUAL LIGHT SHOW: The lanterns are exhibited near Taoyuan’s high-speed rail station and around the Taoyuan Sports Park Station of the airport MRT line More than 400 lanterns are to be on display at the annual Taiwan Lantern Festival, which officially starts in Taoyuan today. The city is hosting the festival for the second time — the first time was in 2016. The Tourism Administration held a rehearsal of the festival last night. Chunghwa Telecom donated the main lantern of the festival to the Taoyuan City Government. The lanterns are exhibited in two main areas: near the high-speed rail (HSR) station in Taoyuan, which is at the A18 station of the Taoyuan Airport MRT, and around the Taoyuan Sports Park Station of the MRT
Starlux Airlines on Tuesday announced it is to launch new direct flights from Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport to Ontario, California, on June 2. The carrier said it plans to deploy the new-generation Airbus A350 on the Taipei-Ontario route. The Airbus A350 features a total of 306 seats, including four in first class, 26 in business class, 36 in premium economy and 240 in economy. According to Starlux’s initial schedule, four flights would run between Taoyuan and Ontario per week: Monday, Wednesday, Friday and Saturday. Flights are to depart from Taoyuan at 8:05pm and arrive in California at 5:05pm (local time), while return flights