The Ministry of Culture plans to establish a “cultural warehouse logistics park” to help solve the problem of storage faced by arts and cultural organizations, Minister of Culture Lee Yung-te (李永得) said on Tuesday.
In a morning interview with radio host Clara Chou (周玉蔻), Lee, who took over the cultural portfolio from Cheng Li-chiun (鄭麗君) on May 20, said the proposed facility would be a shared space that incorporates the latest technology.
Many theater, dance and performing arts troupes, as well as film productions, have props and costumes that are not being used, but still possess cultural significance and value, he said.
Photo courtesy of Hit FM via CNA
Publishers with offices in downtown areas also face storage problems, having to either rent expensive warehouse in central parts of a city or a space far away from their offices.
Lee said the people he has spoken to about the plan thus far have all agreed such a facility would help solve the problem of storage faced by many organizations.
The “logistics park” could also encourage groups to borrow costumes or equipment from one another, he said.
Regular exhibitions could be held at the park to display the costumes worn in popular shows, he added.
Lee said he hopes the park, which would be “one of a kind,” would be at least 3 to 5 hectares.
He is searching for land for the park, and expects there to be a clearer plan for the park by the end of the year, he said
The proposal comes after the Paper Windmill Cultural Foundation’s prop workshop in New Taipei City’s Bali District (八里) was damaged by fire on June 6, the latest in a series of blazes that have highlighted the precarious and hodgepodge nature of the studio and warehouse spaces used by many of the nation’s well-known companies.
The workshop, shared by the Paper Windmill Theatre (紙風車劇團) and the Greenray Theatre Company (綠光劇團), was used to store lighting, sound equipment, costumes, props and scenery.
Foundation deputy chief executive Chang Min-yi (張敏宜) has estimated the fire losses to be about NT$50 million (US$1.69 million).
A blaze on Aug. 13 last year at U-Theatre’s (優人神鼓) mountainside complex on Laoquanshan (老泉山) in Taipei’s Wenshan District (文山) destroyed many of the troupe’s drums, gongs and other instruments, as well as costumes and equipment.
However, perhaps the cultural sector’s most famous fire loss was the Feb. 11, 2008, pre-dawn inferno that destroyed most of Cloud Gate Dance Theatre’s (雲門舞集) 400 ping (661m2) rehearsal studio and warehouse complex in Bali Township (八里) in what was then-Taipei County, consuming decades of costumes, scenery and props, as well as lighting and office equipment.
Additional reporting by staff writer and CNA
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