FESTIVAL | Taiwan looking to further cultural exchanges

Lucy Lu and Lu Chang-Shui

Taiwan is looking to foster cultural exchanges with Macau, said Lu Chang-Shui, director general of the Taipei Economic and Cultural Office. Mr Lu is one of the organizers of the Taiwan Festival taking place in the city between June 18 and 22.
“In our Macau office, we have been striving to promote the culture between Taiwan and Macau. We’re hoping that more artists from Macau could go to Taiwan; we would like to see more cultural exchanges between artists,” revealed Mr Lu.
The Taipei Economic and Cultural Office and the Kwang Hwa Information & Culture Center are launching  a Taiwan Festival leg titled “Reading Taiwan Lifestyle” in Macau for the first time. Running from June 18 to 22, the festival features a series of exhibitions, artistic performances and talks, all taking place at the Sun Yat Sen Memorial House and surrounding garden.
Lucy Lu, director of the Kwang Hwa Information & Culture Center in Hong Kong, told a press conference on Friday, “Taiwan is looking to capture the attention of people from Macau and encourage them to better understand the culture of Taiwan.”
“Everyone that has visited Taiwan talks about a unique Taiwanese cultural atmosphere. It’s a very relaxing atmosphere. That’s why we have chosen this memorial house to hold the festival. We thought we should bring this atmosphere to Macau while also bringing life to this building,” she said.
Mr Lu added that Taiwanese culture could be found in several places other than theatres and operas. “We have 24 hour book and coffee shops, where you can also enjoy our culture.”
It’s that relaxing and cultural engaging atmosphere that organizers are striving to bring here. The festival opens on June 18 with a concert by Voco Novo A Capella, a Taiwanese group that has won a gold medal at an Austrian Jazz festival.
On June 19, the same group will perform with singer and contemporary nanguan musician XinXin Nanguan. Nanguan is a style of Chinese classical music, originally from Fujian province.
Organizers have also invited lighting master Chou Lien, best known for his Statue of Liberty lighting project. In a city of neon lights, Mr Chou hopes to find inspiration for a lighting project that he will present on June 19.
On June 20, a new concept of library will be presented to Macau citizens by Spencer and Anson Ng. Back in Taiwan, they have developed a new project, through which they’ve built a magazine library.
Ms Lu said that they “are not selling any products, they sell space and time to read magazines.”
In Macau, they will be holding a mock magazine library and will partner with local bookshop Pin-to.
Folk and country musician Li Chien Fu will be performing on June 20, and the World Champion of Coffee Roasting, Jacky Lai, will give a talk on June 21.
Judy Wu and Pan Lee will host “Earth Singing” on June 21, a project aimed at recording the sounds of nature and animals to later create music.
The festival also features two exhibitions by a Taiwanese photographer and a contemporary artist.