The outbreak of COVID-19 has disrupted cultural life nationwide as health authorities advise against indoor gatherings of more than 100 people and urge social distancing.
Several performances have been canceled since March 19, including the Taiwan International Festival of Arts. The event, hosted by the National Performing Arts Center, has been an annual showcase for local and global artists for more than a decade.
To curb the spread of COVID-19, the Central Epidemic Command Center on March 25 announced an advisory against indoor gatherings of more than 100 people and outdoor events involving more than 500 attendees.
Photo courtesy of the Taipei Philharmonic Chorus
The advice led the Ministry of Culture to suspend events that were to be held at its venues or by affiliated groups, including the performing arts center.
The National Theater and Concert Hall in Taipei, the National Taichung Theater in central Taiwan and the National Kaohsiung Center of Arts (Weiwuying) have either canceled performances by foreign artists or postponed those by local performers.
The National Theater and Concert Hall said that a couple of privately organized performances are still scheduled to go ahead this month, but it has stopped offering guided tours.
Restaurants and shops at the venue late last month reduced service hours in response to the outbreak.
National Taichung Theater is keeping its public area open, but all performances scheduled for this month have been canceled or postponed.
The venue, a tourist hotspot designed by Japanese architect Toyo Ito, still provides guided tours, but to smaller groups.
Weiwuying has also canceled all indoor performances for this month. It continues to offer guided tours, but the number of people in tours has dropped, often to fewer than 10.
Weiwuying said it would continue to host a series of free monthly outdoor dance events.
However, a ballroom dance-themed program on Wednesday last week was changed to a single-person format to avoid physical contact between participants. The next event is scheduled for May 6.
Four Taiwanese groups selected to present their works at Scotland’s Edinburgh Festival Fringe this summer would instead participate in next year’s festival after event organizers on Wednesday last week canceled all events scheduled for August.
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