TaiwanFest2020, a month-long event dedicated to promoting Taiwanese culture in Canada, kicked off on Aug. 30 online with the theme "The Survived" to inspire change through arts during these challenging times.
From its humble beginnings as the Music Night of Taiwanese Composers in 1990, TAIWANfest has grown to be the largest English/Mandarin bilingual cultural festival in all of Canada, and the largest event outside the island nation to bear the name "Taiwan," according to Asian Canadian Special Events Association, co-organizer of the festival.
Joined by Canadian Heritage Minister Steven Guilbeault and British Columbia Premier John Horgan, Culture Minister Lee Yung-te extended greetings to online viewers at the festival's virtual opening on Aug. 30.
Remarking the festival’s theme "I’m different, just like you," Minister Lee urged people to rethink issues related to racial discrimination and expressed his expectation that people of all races would have better understanding of one another through cultural exchanges.
Although the festival went virtual this year, it will be an event rich with a series of online activities, including virtual exhibitions, a live-stream concert with musicians from Canada and Taiwan, interviews with a focus on Taiwan-based independent bookstores, and conversations with Taiwanese artists, Minister Lee added.
Following Lee's remarks, the festival opened with a virtual symphony concert "The Island and the Maple Leaf" performed by Canada-based Taiwanfest Orchestra and Chin-ai String Orchestra, the first and only Indigenous string orchestra in Taiwan.
With a virtual edition of "The Survived," Taiwanfest returns this year featuring 40 online programs of seven major subjects that shed light on the uniqueness and influence of Taiwan's culture through the topics surrounding the ongoing epidemic.
The festival presents a special virtual series "I'm different, just like you," including Artist Talks, which gives a glimpse of the off-stage lives of Canadian and Taiwanese artists, and an interactive project that displays the images of the front-line workers, including medical staff, police officers, firefighters, scientists, and health officials from all over the world.
In addition, viewers will have a chance to enjoy an online interactive art exhibition "Mirrors," which examines what independent individuals share in common – from the The festival presents a special virtual series "I'm different, just like you," including Artist Talks, which gives a glimpse of the off-stage lives of Canadian and Taiwanese artists, and an interactive project that displays the images of the front-line workers, including medical staff, police officers, firefighters, scientists, and health officials from all over the world.
In addition, viewers will have a chance to enjoy an online interactive art exhibition "Mirrors," which examines what independent individuals share in common and the pursuit of peace from the perspective of a peace symbol dove.
Tune into the TaiwanFest YouTube and Facebook for the events!