The Ministry of Culture on Monday unveiled subsidies for performance arts groups that have to cancel events due to the local COVID-19 outbreak.
Performing art groups and event organizers can apply for up to NT$2.5 million (US$83,873) for costs related to the production, promotion, venue rental, rehearsal or marketing of performances from April 1 to June 30, the ministry said in a news release.
Eligible groups include those that canceled a performance as performers or employees were quarantined, or the closing of the performance venue due to COVID-19, it said.
Subsidies would also be granted for ticket cancelations, it said.
The policy was drafted in response to flagging ticket sales and cancelations following COVID-19’s resurgence in Taiwan, it said, adding that last month, 46 performances were canceled outright, resulting in an estimated NT$16.44 million in lost revenue.
Citing data from the National Theater and Concert Hall’s OPENTIX system, the ministry reported a cancelation rate of 5 percent by customers for shows that went on as planned, and 11 percent for shows that were rescheduled.
Overall performance revenue fell 33 percent compared with the same month before a COVID-19 outbreak in 2019, and 27 percent compared with the same month during last year’s outbreak, it said.
Applications for subsidies will be open from Monday until July 15 via an online platform, it said, adding that additional information can be found at www.moc.gov.tw/information_250_145264.html.
The ministry added that it would announce details about other measures to boost businesses in the cultural sector at a later time.
These policies include subsidies for organizers of book fairs and festivals; subsidies for the visual arts, museums and galleries; promotions for virtual and brick-and-mortar bookstores; joint marketing programs for local films; and debt relief for art groups, it said.
A New York-based NGO has launched a global initiative to rename the nation’s overseas missions, most of which operate under the name "Taipei," to "Taiwan Representative Office (TRO)," according to a news release. Ming Chiang (江明信), CEO of Hello Taiwan, announced the campaign at a news conference in Berlin on Monday, coinciding with the World Forum held from Monday through Wednesday, the institution stated in the release. Speaking at the event, Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Huang Jie (黃捷) said she believed this renaming campaign would enable the international community to see Taiwan
DEFENSE: The US should cancel the US visas or green cards of relatives of KMT and TPP lawmakers who have been blocking the budget, Grant Newsham said A retired US Marine Corps officer has suggested canceling the US green cards and visas of relatives of opposition Taiwanese lawmakers who have been stalling the review of a proposed NT$1.25 trillion (US$39.7 billion) special defense budget. The Executive Yuan has proposed the budget for major weapons purchases over eight years, from this year to 2033. However, opposition lawmakers have refused to review the proposal, demanding that President William Lai (賴清德) first appear before the Legislative Yuan to answer questions about the proposed budget. On Thursday last week, 37 bipartisan US lawmakers sent a letter to Legislative Speaker Han Kuo-yu (韓國瑜), the heads
TOO DANGEROUS: The families agreed to suspend crewed recovery efforts that could put rescuers in danger from volcanic gases and unstable terrain The bodies of two Taiwanese tourists and a Japanese pilot have been located inside a volcanic crater, Japanese authorities said yesterday, nearly a month after a sightseeing helicopter crashed during a flight over southwestern Japan. Drone footage taken at the site showed three bodies near the wreckage of the aircraft inside a crater on Mount Aso in Kumamoto Prefecture, police and fire officials said. The helicopter went missing on Jan. 20 and was later found on a steep slope inside the Nakadake No. 1 Crater, about 50m below the rim. Authorities said that conditions at the site made survival highly unlikely, and ruled
The Grand Hotel Taipei on Saturday confirmed that its information system had been illegally accessed and expressed its deepest apologies for the concern it has caused its customers, adding that the issue is being investigated by the Ministry of Justice Investigation Bureau. The hotel said that on Tuesday last week, it had discovered an external illegal intrusion into its information system. An initial digital forensic investigation confirmed that parts of the system had been accessed, it said, adding that the possibility that some customer data were stolen and leaked could not be ruled out. The actual scope and content of the affected data
RSS