Partnered with the Taiwan Academy of the Taipei Economic and Cultural Office in Los Angeles on the Spotlight Taiwan Project, the University of British Columbia (UBC) Department of Asian Studies launches eight virtual events titled "Indigenous Taiwan: Transpacific Connections" from Oct. 14 to Nov. 4.
Taiwanese indigenous novelist Badai (巴代) is invited to be the speaker for the first two lectures, "Indigenous Literary Practices in Postcolonial Taiwan" and "Indigenous Culture in Modern Society." Writer Ahronglong Sakinu and directors Wei Te-sheng (魏德聖) and Laha Mebow(陳潔瑤) will attend the following sessions.
"Indigenous Taiwan: Transpacific Connections," online series which focuses on two major themes, literature and movie, and represents various aspects of Taiwanese indigenous tribes, will teach the audiences more about their history, culture and current development.
Badai's novel "Sorceress Diguwan," the first roman-fleuve ever produced by Puyuma writers, was the winner of the Taiwanese Literature Golden Award. Some of his works were collected in the book "Indigenous Writers of Taiwan."
Director Wei's well-known epic film "Seediq Bale (賽德克‧巴萊)," portrays the Wushe Incident in 1930 which Mona Rudao led the Seediq tribe to fight against the long-term oppression by the Japanese authorities. The movie "Hang in There, Kids! (只要我長大)" by director Laha Mebow follows 3 young boys from the Taiwanese Atayal tribe to discuss the issues of children's education, environmental change and cultural heritage.
Initiated by Taiwan's Ministry of Culture in 2013, the Spotlight Taiwan Project seeks to establish long-term partnerships with global professional art, cultural organizations, and leading universities to host diverse events of Taiwan's culture. Being the project partner this year, the UBC Department of Asian Studies is one of the leading Asian Studies programs in Canada as well as one of the largest Asian Studies institutes in Northern America. It provides programs about Sinology, Japan, Korea, East Asia, Buddhism, the Chinese language, and Taiwan-related courses such as "Fiction and Film from Modern Taiwan" and "History and Culture of Taiwan."
For further information about the series, please visit UBC Department of Asian Studies' website.