A parade today launched a series of events held by the National Taiwan Museum of Fine Arts in Taichung as part of its Art Day celebrations during the weekend. The museum has organized the celebration since 2009 to promote fine arts.
The Republic of China has celebrated the Art Day since 1943. After the Second Sino-Japanese War broke out in 1937, a group of Chinese artists felt that arts could help cheer people up at the time of war. Therefore, they founded a fine arts society that used paintings and other artworks to encourage the public.
In 1940, they proposed designating March 3 as the Art Day, but the Ministry of Education changed the date to March 25 when it approved the proposal.
The activities this year include exhibitions, a gathering of artists, various educational and do-it-yourself events, as well as a fashion market. The celebration continues through March 24.
Art students from three universities -- National Taichung University of Education, National Changhua University of Education and Tunghai University, were the main performers on parade.
The students from Changhua wore big masks of water buffalo to symbolize a sculpture by Huang Tu-shui, one of Taiwan's best-known sculptors in the 20th century. A fiberglass copy of the sculpture titled "Water Buffalo” is one of the museum's three most important collection items.
Equally creative were a group of students from Tunghai University who dressed up as Japanese geishas and samurais.