Taipei Arts Festival in Taiwan and the London International Festival of Theatre (LIFT) in the UK will work together on a two-year research and exhibition project "Bat Feast Lab," as part of an International Collaboration Grants program launched by the British Council.
Inspired by the ancient Chinese "Imperial Manchurian Feast" ceremony and contemporary fears around the viral controversy surrounding the bat, Taiwanese artist Ku Kuang-yi (顧廣毅) and British designer Robert Johnson will create work and public performance events together. Their collaborative artwork explores environmentalism, genetics, biotechnology, and human/non-human relationships.
In collaboration with the National Culture and Arts Foundation (NCAF), the project will culminate in a full exhibition and experience at both Taipei Arts Festival (in 2022 and 2023) and LIFT (in 2024). Through the exhibition and experience events, the audience will be encouraged to confront issues, including racism, colonialism, nativism, environmentalism, food futures, genetic and biotechnologies, global fear, human and non-human relations.
To support the UK and global arts organizations to collaborate internationally, the British Council has launched an International Collaboration Grants program, providing grants totaling around £3.5 million. This year, a total of 94 projects from 41 countries were selected out of 940 submitted worldwide.
The International Collaboration Grants are designed to support artists to make and develop creative artwork with their international peers and encourage new international partnerships and innovative ways of collaborating. The selected organizations can receive grants of £5,000 to 75,000, which aim to support international collaborations between arts organizations to work together on digital, face-to-face, and/or hybrid artistic projects. Projects can address any subject or theme – but in Taiwan, the British Council particularly invites collaborations that focus on gender, race, ethnicity, disability, inclusion, ageing, and other areas of diversity.