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International Puppet Theatre Festival in Elbe-Elster-Land to hold 'Taiwan Day' Event

  • Date:2020-09-11~2020-09-20
International Puppet Theatre Festival in Elbe-Elster-Land to hold 'Taiwan Day' Event

The 22nd International Puppet Theatre Festival in Elbe-Elster-Land, Germany, which will showcase more than 60 exhibitions and present 20 puppet shows in 45 different venues from Sept. 11 through 20, will have a special "Taiwan Day" program on Sept. 18, featuring a Taiwanese puppets exhibition, a photo exhibition, screening of a puppet-themed documentary "Father (紅盒子)" and music performance .

The Elbe-Elster-Land is considered the cradle of the travelling puppet theatre in Middle Germany. Each year, the 250-year-old tradition is celebrated in September through the International Puppet Theatre Festival.

Titled "Kaspers Welten," a new exhibition at Mitteldeutsches Marionetten Theater Museum (Mitteldeutsches Marionetten-Theatermuseum) in Bad Liebenwerda will be opening the festival on Sept. 11, introducing Menzel-Schäfer's creation "The Power of Destiny," and hosting a puppet show at night.

The "Taiwan Day" event will unveil with a performance of Taiwanese popular folk songs, including "Longing for Spring Breeze (望春風)," and improvised "Wen. Bei Guan (文. 北管)," by Taiwanese flute musician Liu Shih-cheng (劉士誠) and violinist Tseng Hsien-wen (曾憲文), at Mitteldeutsches Marionetten Theater Museum.

On behalf of the Ministry of Culture, Taiwan's Representative to Germany Shieh Jhy-wey (謝志偉) will present traditional hand-made puppets of heroic figures, Five Tiger Generals (五虎將) , to museum director Ralf Uschner for the theater museum's permanent collection section. Uschner, together with curator Angela Ping-fen Hsu (許萍芬) and German photographer Sinan Ertugrul (爾思南), will lead a special exhibition tour on that day.

The museum will be presenting a special exhibition from Sept. 18, 2020, through Jan. 24, 2021, showcasing Taiwanese puppet collector Dr. Shun-chi Wu's (吳森吉博士) extensive puppet collection and photographer Ertugrul's "Three visits to Taiwan" photo exhibition, highlighting Taiwanese folk customs and traditions, and temple puppet culture. There will be a special screening event for the documentary "Father (紅盒子)," which illustrates the life story of Taiwan's renowned glove puppeteer Chen Hsi-huang (陳錫煌) and his relationship with his father Li Tian-lu (李天祿), an iconic Taiwanese puppeteer.

"Taiwan Day" is a joint collaboration between Mitteldeutsches Marionetten Theater Museum, the Ministry of Culture, and the Taipei Representative Office in Germany.

Since 1998, the International Puppet Theatre Festival has been held annually with an increased number of visitors every year. According to official figures, 5800 tickets were sold in 2019, with a 20% expected growth in 2020. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, visitors will be requested to wear face masks and maintain social distancing regulations.