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Taiwan strengthens cultural ties with Southeast Asia

  • Date:2019-11-20
Taiwan strengthens cultural ties with Southeast Asia

Regional networking efforts of global NGO’s Taipei office yield fruitful results.



The number of cultural exchanges and cooperative programs with arts and cultural communities in Southeast Asia has grown since global arts organization Living Arts International (國際生活藝術組織) opened its Taipei branch office in 2018. Through these efforts, regional networking prospects and collaboration opportunities are now more available to cultural professionals at home and abroad.

Under a four-year agreement signed between the Ministry of Culture and Living Arts International, the NGO registered its Taipei office as "Living Arts International Taiwan Office (LAI Taiwan Office, LAI臺灣辦事處)" in August 2018 and has since been operating from the Taiwan Contemporary Culture Lab in Taipei's Daan District.

Encompassing 12 regional delegates on two-year terms representing nations including Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, Taiwan, Thailand, and Vietnam, the office also has its own Taipei team and is working to become a dynamic network that promotes better circulation of resources across South and East Asia while expanding access to international opportunities for individuals working in culture and the arts.

Since its establishment, LAI Taiwan Office has forged partnerships with the British Council and Helvetas, an independent organization for cultural development based in Switzerland. The office is now exploring the potential areas of collaboration with Artists at Risk Connection (ARC), a New York-based program dedicated to providing resources and emergency assistance to threatened artists.

Meanwhile, under the sponsorship of the Ministry of Culture, "A Requiem for Cambodia: Bangsokol," a collaborative musical by the Taipei Philharmonic Chamber Choir (台北愛樂) and artists from other countries, took the center stage at Arts4peace Festival 2019. Organized by Cambodian Living Arts, the 10-day festival is a high-profile event in Cambodia to celebrate local arts and reflect upon history since the fall of Khmer Rouge.

Under "SEAΔ (文化領航計畫)," a program co-organized by Cambodian Living Arts' sister organization Mekong Cultural Hub and the British Council, 10 cultural practitioners from Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Taiwan, Thailand, Vietnam, the Philippines, and the United Kingdom were selected to join a workshop in Phnom Penh this November.

Invited by Cambodian Living Arts, the 10 candidates were also connected with the vibrant arts and cultural scene in the Southeast Asian country while participating in the festival. Meanwhile, Helvetas teamed up with "SEAΔ" to provide the 10 candidates with the opportunity to work closely with three teams respectively based in Laos, Myanmar, and Vietnam that seek to embed the core value of sustainability in their business practices.

Through regional projects and international partnerships, LAI Taiwan Office has introduced the traditional practices, folk customs, cultivation of creativity and affinity for the arts, and cultural policies of Taiwan to more overseas art practitioners or organizations that are keen on future cross-disciplinary collaborations.

Such efforts came to early fruition in October when Djung Space Network Thailand travelled to Taiwan. During their trip, the Thai collective was introduced to Taiwan's artist-in-residency programs, schemes to preserve and revitalize traditional craftsmanship, specialized bookshops, and local community art festivals. Now another group of artists and cultural workers from Uttaradit, a province in northern Thailand, is scheduled to visit Taipei, Taoyuan, and Yilan later this month.

LAI Taiwan Office will continue to serve as an essential network in fostering collaboration among arts and cultural communities from home and abroad, while empowering Taiwanese cultural practitioners to play a more crucial role in cultural exchanges between Taiwan and Southeast Asia.