Despite facing a more severe pandemic challenge this year, Taiwan's long-term accumulated art and cultural works have become popular in the world recently, from receiving awards for pictures, illustrations, films to participating in important film festivals, performing arts and architectural exhibitions.
In terms of international awards for pictures and illustrations, Taiwanese artists have won many top prizes at this year's BolognaRagazzi Award including Lin Lian-en (林廉恩) in the fiction category for his book "HOME," and Animo Chen (阿尼默) in the poetry category for Taiwanese-Hokkien language book "Love Letter (情批)." "Crown Shyness (樹冠羞避)," by Taiwanese illustrator Cho Pei-hsin(卓霈欣) was named winner of the 11th edition of Bologna Children's Book Fair - Fundación SM International Award for Illustration. Moreover, Taiwanese artist Page Tsao's (鄒駿昇) illustration series "Invisible Bookstore(看不見的書店)" was selected as winner at 2021 American Illustration and 3x3 International Illustration show. Taiwanese artist Asta Wu's (吳雅怡) artwork "See you on the other side," based on the history of the White Terror era in Taiwan, won the silver award at 3x3 International Illustration show under the Professional Show category.
In terms of movies, Taiwanese production teams continue to shine on the world stage. Taiwanese director Lim Lung-yin’s (林龍吟) feature film "Ohong Village (蚵豐村)" was screened at Cine Doré at the FILMADRID International Film Festival. Taiwanese family drama "Synapses (那個我最親愛的陌生人)" directed by filmmaker Chang Tso-chi (張作驥) won the Best Film Award at the 18th edition Asian Film Festival. "My Missing Valentine (消失的情人節)" by Chen Yu-hsun (陳玉勳) won Crystal Mulberry Award (Gelso di Cristallo) and Black Dragon Award at Italy’s 23rd Far East Film Festival. In addition to winning film awards, Taiwanese films are also invited to feature in major film festivals around the world, such as the Neuchatel International Fantastique Film Festival. "Till We Meet again (月老)" directed by Giddens Ko (九把刀) will also be screened at the 25th edition of Bucheon International Fantastic Film Festival.
In terms of performance and visual arts exhibition exchanges, new dance piece "22° Lunar Halo(毛月亮)"by Taiwanese dance troupe Cloud Gate was presented at this year's International Society for the Performing Arts. Taiwanese artists, Chou Tung-Yen (周東彥), Chang Chung-An (張忠安), Lo Fang-yun (羅芳芸), Wang Yeu-kwn (王宇光), Wang Shih-wei (王世偉), Tien Hsiao-tzu (田孝慈) and their teams, participated in Canada’s CINARS Biennale 2021. Visual artworks by Taiwanese artist Lee Ming-wei (李明維) were presented in a special exhibition "Li, Geschenke und Rituale(禮物與禮儀) Museum Villa Stuck München in Germany. Taiwanese artist Luo Jr-shin (羅智信) was also invited to present his works at the Liverpool Biennial in the UK. Taiwanese artist Chou Ming-yi (周明毅) is also featured at HYBRID Contemporary Art Fair in Spain.
Moreover, Taiwan's architectural prowess has also received worldwide attention. Besides the Venice Biennale, The Architekturmuseum der TU München in Germany will be holding "Taiwan Acts!," the first international exhibition themed around Taiwanese architecture curated by architects Chiu Chen-yu (裘振宇) and Wang Chun-hsiung (王俊雄).
Culture Minister Lee Yung-te stated that since 2020, the global arts and cultural industries have been hit hard by the pandemic, but Taiwan's arts and cultural workers continue to work tirelessly to create, and even break through national boundaries to garner international recognition.
As the world slowly lifts restrictions, the MOC will keep working in support of the arts and cultural workers, help the arts and cultural industry return to normality, and make Taiwan an important arts and cultural center.