An annual Taichung festival that celebrates freedom began yesterday ahead of 228 Peace Memorial Day.
The fourth edition of the Born2BeFree Festival titled “What about? Communication?” is at the Taiwan Sun Cake Museum and runs through April 24. It was created by Cosmopolitan Culture Action Taichung (CCAT), a non-governmental organization that supports and curates cultural and political-themed events.
At the festival’s opening ceremony, CCAT executive officer Lin Fang-ju (林芳如) said that previous editions of the event celebrated the life and contributions of the late Taiwanese publisher and democracy advocate Deng Nan-jung (鄭南榕).
Photo: Su Ching-feng, Taipei Times
Deng founded the Freedom Era Weekly magazine and set himself on fire on April 7, 1989, after being charged with sedition and barricading himself in his office for 71 days, refusing to surrender to the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT).
However, this year’s festival aims to “return some color back to history,” so Taiwanese can better face their violent, but brave past head-on, Lin said.
Only by confronting and understanding Taiwan’s violent history can Taiwanese be reborn through transitional justice and thrive, she said.
The festival would feature performances and exhibitions focusing on 40 years of authoritarian rule in Taiwan, filling in parts of history that were redacted by the regime at the time, she said.
Lin added that she hopes all municipalities reflect on how best to remove authoritarian imagery within their jurisdictions to further the process of transitional justice.
This year’s festival also focuses on explaining the meaning of transitional justice through events such as symposiums and film screenings, she said
Tomorrow is 228 Peace Memorial Day, which was established in 1997 to commemorate the 228 Incident on Feb. 28, 1947, when protesters were shot by security personnel at Taipei’s Governor-General’s Office. Events escalated and resulted in the deaths of thousands during a military crackdown.
This year marks the 75th anniversary of the Incident.
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