A Dream Arts Festival in the East of Taiwan

• 2017花東原創生活節，Iyo Kacaw作品〈土地的內在結構〉局部。 Photo by鄒欣寧
2017花東原創生活節，林琳〈結繩記事系列—海上飄來的白色惡靈〉。 Photo by鄒欣寧
2017花東原創生活節，林淑玲〈路徑〉。 Photo by鄒欣寧

Arts Festivals are still flourishing all over Taiwan. There is no exception in either Hualien or Taitung. Original Sound Music Festival, 2009 to 2014, and, Original Living Art Festival since 2015 to date, are both designed to activate Hualien Cultural Creative Industries Park also as presenting platforms for all the artists in Hualien and Taitung. Supported by National Taitung Living Art Center, Original Living Art Festival covers more programs of original creations, craft works, creative products and live performances.

Located away from city center and along the coast, East Coast Land Art Festival and Mipaliw Land Art are derived from different demands. The former invites local and international artists, since 2015, to make site-specific creations on the east coast featuring with open-air natural space. The latter is succeeded from 2011 Wetland and Terraced Paddy Fields Installation and Music Festival. Its residency program invites artists in Makotaay, Taiwan and all over the world to feel the local living vibe and create on site.

Even with diverse themes, discourse and functions, these annual arts festivals do appear in Haulien and Taitung quite intensively. What kind of local qualities do they carry and convey? We talk to four veterans of arts festivals : Nakaw Putun, former curator of Original Living Art Festival and currently the head of Wata-art company; Lee Yun-Yi, owner of Moonlight café and gallery in Atolan; Malay Makaluwan and Huang Jin-Cheng, two principals of Pakavulay Studio, and ask their experiences, observations, reflections and suggestions regarding the arts festivals in eastern Taiwan.

Key Factor: Free Expression

With years experiences of curation and exhibition, Huang Jin-Cheng points out that it is crucial that government realizes its own responsibilities, functions, and needs.

Government holds a role of assessing the feasibility of curation then making suggestions but not questioning or intervening curator’s choices.

Malay Makaluwan, artist, states further “ art works would be appealing when artist could focus on art itself and express freely”.

See the Unseen

Lee Yun-Yi indicates that time would affect the depth and breadth of an arts festival. The geographic feature of east coast is long and narrow. Each tribe is like a nation. Only concepts could be delivered in such a short, three-month, preparation time.

In addition, it requires time to find the right languages and methods through experiment and execution in communicating with local communities. Marketing is an important means at final phase of festival execution. However, it often is compromised for the administration process of government tenders. “Enterprises won’t wait. You can’t expect them working with your marketing plans in such a short notice” Lee says. Once the marketing doesn’t work, all the festival events would easily fail on achieving the desired goals no matter how much time and efforts the team have invested.

Association to People and Needs

2017花東原創生活節展場一隅。 Photo by陀絜甯
2017花東原創生活節，林介文作品〈洛神洛神我愛你〉。 Photo by陀絜甯

Nakaw Putun believes that peoples’ connection is the biggest gain. All the connections between governments, organizers and local shop owners will be spread and grow. In her opinion, the good thing about Original Living Art Festival is to deepen the public’s understandings to Hualien and Taitung through art and cultural events. People aware that not only beautiful scenery but also rich culture, history and indigenous arts can be found in eastern Taiwan.

Malay Makaluwan finds that there are no rooftop nor seats at bus stops at east coast. The old and young can’t wait for bus in the shades and even have to sit on the ground. That inspires her to design characteristic bus shelters by combining art and architecture so that residents can wait for bus at ease.

Arts festivals can increase peoples’ interactions, make village and festivals create and grow together when the real local needs being seen and recognized.

What’s Next

Speaking of his expectation to arts festivals in the east, Huang Jin-Cheng says “Government would know their next step when they know how people feel, what people need and where to find money”.

Nakaw Putun thinks government policy determines where arts festivals go. If government changes policy direction, the previous efforts on festivals’ branding would probably be gone. There might be some hope if private funding had been put in. It would allow festivals to accumulate its previous accomplishment even able to reach its final goal: being self-sufficient by ticket selling.

Lee Yun-Yi suggests to change arts festivals’ term from annual to biannual or triennial so that there would be more time for more solid curatorial preparation.

The public welcome and expect the positive effects coming along with arts festivals no matter it’s more tourists’ numbers or more attention towards local issues. Nevertheless, what is “art” to government, organizing team and local people? Is it the possibility to create with unlimited freedom? Or is it a popular business? The ultimate question to all stakeholders, government, local people in Hualien and Taitung, and visitors would be: “what would the ‘local’ ‘arts festival’ you look forward to attending or being held be like?”