Tainan has been selected as host of this year’s Taiwan Design Expo in celebration of the 400th anniversary of the city’s founding, the Tainan City Government said on Tuesday.
The annual expo, co-organized by the Taiwan Design Research Institute, is to be held in October at the Tainan Art Museum and the historic West Market (西市場), the city government said in a news release after the Ministry of Economic Affairs announced the host city on Monday.
Tainan’s unique urban design would be showcased at the expo through the combination of its built environment, commerce and art, Tainan Mayor Huang Wei-che (黃偉哲) said.
Photo: Hung Jui-chin, Taipei Times
Tainan’s culture has been nurtured by its long history, set to reach the four-century milestone next year, Tainan Cultural Affairs Bureau Acting Director Chen Hsiu-cheng (陳修程) said.
The organizers are to combine this rich culture with design talent long cultivated in the city to bring an expo rich in diverse styles, Chen said.
The event would be organized around the themes of “eating and wearing,” the city government said.
Taking stock of Tainan’s unique culinary and fashion philosophies, the spirit of daily life is to guide the organizers, it said.
Sustainable and innovative design are to be sought from across generations of residents, industries, mediums and cultures, it added.
The Tainan Art Museum is one of the city’s foremost cultural stages, while the West Market has recently undergone renovations, the city said.
The West Market was built in 1905 during the Japanese colonial era as a more sanitary venue for food vendors, and was reconstructed twice in 1911 and 1920, data provided by the Ministry of Culture showed.
Stores were built around the market starting in 1933 to create the Asakusa Shopping Center (淺草商場), which still serves as a popular center of commerce today.
Together, the two venues would represent the “new” and the “old” to show how Tainan, as a historic city, is navigating the challenges of sustainable and innovative design, the city government said.
It added that it hopes to attract designers and artists of all kinds to experience for themselves Tainan’s transformation over the past four centuries.
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