An exhibition featuring Taiwan-designed products and artworks has opened in Tokyo, kicking off the months-long arts festival Taiwan NOW.
The arts festival is scheduled to run from Oct. 2 to Dec. 25, with events taking place in Tokyo, Kaohsiung and online. It features a wide range of art projects, such as short film screenings, performance art pieces and concerts.
Notably, there are several collaborations between Taiwanese and Japanese artists, including a large-scale art installation at the atrium of the Kitte Marunouchi shopping mall in Tokyo, and a Taiwanese opera performance at the National Kaohsiung Center for the Arts, also known as Weiwuying, in December.
The first event in the festival is an exhibition titled “Fictional Garden: TAIWAN HOUSE,” which features products and artwork created by eight Taiwanese design teams using sustainable materials.
Taiwan’s representative to Japan, Frank Hsieh (???), told CNA after visiting the exhibition on Sunday that he felt the pieces on display reflected the ingenuity of the designers and conveyed the essence of Taiwan.
Tomoharu Inoue, the chairman of Culture Vision Japan, one of the co-organizers of the Taiwan NOW festival, also visited the exhibit on Sunday, as did Hiroyuki Fukano, president and CEO of the Japan Institute of Design Promotion, another organization that helped create the festival.
Inoue said that he found the artworks and products colorful and aesthetically pleasing, adding that he hopes artists in Taiwan and Japan can continue to conduct exchanges and collaborate more in the future.
Meanwhile, Fukano said that the sustainably-minded designs with their focus on being environmentally friendly could provide people with a sense of hope in the era of COVID-19.
Taiwan NOW was jointly organized by the Cultural Taiwan Foundation and Culture Vision Japan, and supervised by Taiwan’s Ministry of Culture. It was originally scheduled to take place last year just before the Tokyo Olympics, but was delayed due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Source: Focus Taiwan News Channel