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TAIWAN TO LAUNCH 'CULTURAL TOOLBOXES’: MINISTER

  • Date:2012-05-24

Taiwan is planning to launch a series of "cultural toolboxes” to help overseas groups and communities promote Taiwanese culture abroad, Culture Minister Lung Ying-tai said on Thursday.



The "cultural toolboxes,' or multi-language online resources, will be an important measure to promote Taiwanese culture to the world, Lung said at a press conference to announce the new Ministry's blueprint for cultural policy.



These online resources will help overseas groups, schools, government agencies and communities organize events to feature, for example, Taiwanese literature, film, popular music, Lung said.



A 'toolbox' on Taiwanese film, for example, will include information ranging from film forum topics to recommendations for guest speakers and copyright information, she said.



Lung further outlined the focus of her Ministry's policies on promoting Taiwanese culture in the world and in rural areas at home, transforming cultural value into economic value and digitalizing cultural resources.



To promote Taiwanese culture abroad, the Ministry plans to set up 11 more culture centers overseas that will help Taiwan engage in more international events such as book fairs and film festivals, Lung said.



At home, the Ministry will select leading communities and groups in Taiwan's 7,835 villages and districts to help with the task of integrating cultural resources in rural areas, Lung said.



The Ministry also plans to develop cultural industries in rural areas to convince youth to stay or return to their villages to work, she said.



To encourage the transformation of ideas from the cultural and creative sector into economic value, Lung said, the Ministry plans to launch an online matching platform inspired by KickStarter, a crowdfunding website for creative projects in the United States.



It will also establish a mechanism to make multiple use of cultural and creative work, for example, to turn literature into animation, comic books or TV mini-series, Lung said.



In addition, the Ministry will introduce an incentive program to encourage the film and television industries to collaborate with the literature and performing arts sectors, she said.



The Ministry will also digitalize cultural resources and provide mobile phone users with information on cultural facilities and arts and cultural events.