Live shows, craft workshops now available again at the NCFTA Yilan park in northeastern Taiwan
After a long break due to the global COVID-19 pandemic, the National Center for Traditional Arts' Yilan Park will restart its group events in July with a series of performances by Nanguan and Beiguan musicians, traditional puppetry artists, and Taiwanese chant-song performers. In addition, the park's Traditional Craftsmanship Workshop is also set to offer visitors an opportunity to enjoy exquisite artworks by its artisans-in-residence.
The upcoming performances will be featuring ensembles led by prominent artists such as Liao Chiung-chih (廖瓊枝), who is the first Taiwanese opera actress to perform a leading role on local television, Yang Xiu-qing (楊秀卿), one of the last remaining professional chant-singers in the country, and living treasure and puppetry maestro Chen Hsi-huang (陳錫煌).
In addition, visitors will also be able to enjoy performances by legendary Beiguan (北管) musician Chiu Huo-jung's (邱火榮) three stellar disciples — Lin Yong-zhi (林永志), Hsieh Chiung-chi (謝琼崎), and Wu Sheng-jie (吳聲杰). Lin and Hsieh will lead Yanlexuan Beiguan Troupe (延樂軒北管劇團) to present the best of their music genre, whereas Wu is slated to shine on stage with his Taipei Puppet Theater (臺北木偶劇團) — a troupe mainly composed of established artists who consider passing down traditional Taiwan puppetry their life-long mission.
Growing up in a family of Beiguan musicians, Chiu is a rare, all-round artist in Taiwan who mastered the accompanying music for Beiguan, Peking opera, traditional glove puppetry, and Taiwanese opera. With apprentices all over the country, Chui was bestowed with the title of "National Living Treasure" by the Ministry of Culture in 2015 for his lifelong contributions to Taiwan's cultural heritage.
While Yanlexuan Beiguan Troupe will present productions characterized by a traditional school of Beiguan music known as hok-lōo-hì (福路戲) and four Beiguan classics taught by maestro Chiu, the Taipei Puppet Theater will offer viewers a taste of sin-lōo-hì (新路戲) — a relatively modern school of the traditional genre — by presenting two productions called "Battle of Changban (長坂坡)" and "The Haunting by an Ex-Lover (活捉三郎)."
Starting July 1, apprentices of 11 nationally designated preservers of important traditional crafts will demonstrate the process of how they create their artworks at the park’s Traditional Craftsmanship Workshop area and hold educational sessions to promote the intangible cultural knowledge that they've inherited from their respective mentors.
Established to promote the nation's traditional craftsmanship in lacquer arts, bamboo weaving, divine statue decoration, Taiwanese tin art, traditional wood carving, and other forms of artistry, the workshop will offer visitors hands-on classes to create their own individualized art items.
To take into account the services needed by hearing-impaired visitors, the park will launch seven sign-language guided tours for the ongoing exhibition on Taiwan's Beiguan arts starting July 6. The NCFTA Yilan Park supports equal access to the arts.