Kaohsiung, the largest city in southern Taiwan, has long played an important role in the nation’s economic development. The metropolis is a vital industrial center, as well as home to one of the world’s busiest commercial ports. Until recently, however, its cultural scene left much to be desired.
“A city becomes great because of its culture,” Kaohsiung Mayor Chen Chu (陳菊) is fond of saying. With this in mind, the municipality has shifted gears during her administration to give cultural development a higher priority.
The park-style Pier-2 Art Center is a prominent symbol of Kaohsiung’s cultural transformation.
New Life to Old Wharf
The Port of Kaohsiung’s Pier-2 is a prominent symbol of the city’s cultural transformation. More than two decades ago, the area was home to a nondescript cluster of forgotten warehouses. It was not until Kaohsiung authorities were seeking a place to launch fireworks for National Day celebrations in 2000 that the potential cultural value of the site was discovered.
In 2001, the Kaohsiung City Bureau of Cultural Affairs started to work with the local cultural community to develop the area. The project began with the renovation of two warehouses, and has since led to the establishment of a sprawling campus of large, chic spaces designed to host an assortment of activities ranging from craft fairs and art shows to live performances and cultural festivals.
To increase the accessibility of the site, the bureau established a pedestrian zone in 2006 to link it with the West Side Harbor Line Bike Path. Extensive lighting was also installed to promote safety at night and improve the area’s aesthetic appeal.
An illustration featuring some of Kaohsiung’s well-known landmarks
The Pier-2 Art Center is now Kaohsiung’s most popular cultural destination, drawing millions of visitors annually. Numerous events, such as the Kaohsiung International Steel & Iron Sculpture Festival and Kaohsiung Design Festival, have been held at the venue over the years. These activities, as well as the center’s park-style design, have been well received by the public. Aaron Yin (尹立), organizer of the Kaohsiung Design Festival, believes that the site promotes communication between artists and designers and the general public. “A gallery or workshop is a good place for interactions, but such locations are often detached from the average person’s world,” he said. “Pier-2 has a more organic feel and doesn’t seem to have that distance, so it’s a perfect place for communication.”
Easy Access to Literature
Andrew Carnegie once said that a library “is a never-failing spring in the desert.” Mayor Chen, who was a librarian before entering politics, believes that literary projects can help improve perceptions of Kaohsiung’s cultural environment. Over the past decade, the municipality has built an average of one new library every year and is now home to 62 such facilities.
The Kaohsiung Main Public Library, located one block away from the port, is the hub of the city’s library network. According to Bureau of Cultural Affairs Director-General Shih Che (史哲), much of the credit for the institution’s design and services belongs to members of the bureau who visited and learned from successful libraries around the world.
A significant portion of the funds used to construct the 38,000-square-meter facility were donated by local enterprises and individuals, as were many of the books in the library’s collection. According to former curator Shih Chun-fu (施純福), the Kaohsiung Main Public Library received 150,000 visitors in the first 10 days after its grand opening in November 2014. “We want Kaohsiung to become a literature paradise,” he said.
The Kaohsiung Main Public Library
Rebuild and Restore
The Pier-2 Art Center and Kaohsiung Main Public Library are part of the city’s biggest development project—the Asia’s New Bay Area, a 10-kilometer-long waterfront zone for fostering creative and artistic endeavors. The Asia’s New Bay Area also includes the former British Consular Residence at Takao (Takao is an old name for Kaohsiung) and Hongmaogang Cultural Park, as well as the Kaohsiung Exhibition Center and nearly completed Maritime Cultural & Popular Music Center. All of these sites will be linked by a circular light-rail line now under construction.
While the development of the Asia’s New Bay Area involves numerous new building projects, many of the city’s future cultural programs will center around the promotion of existing assets. In the past, Kaohsiung was divided into the old town (Zuoying) and the new town (Fengshan). Zuoying has many unique features, including pristinely preserved old city gates, its own high-speed rail station, and scenic spots such as Sheshan, Guishan and Lotus Pond.
In Fengshan, progress has already been made to highlight the area’s unique attractions. For example, the Qing-era Fongyi Tutorial Academy has undergone significant restoration. Visitors can tour the grounds of the traditional school, which was founded in 1814, and learn about the institution’s rich history.
Kaohsiung’s Dadong Arts Center opened in 2012 and houses Taiwan’s first public library dedicated to art publications.
Public Participation
As renovation and restoration projects to provide new facilities proceed, Kaohsiung is working to increase public participation in artistic and cultural affairs. To foster the development of local writers, for example, the city government has hosted the Takao Literature Awards every two years since 2003. The event was renamed the Takao Fengyi Literature Awards after Kaohsiung County was merged with Kaohsiung City to create a special municipality in 2010. Poet and regular member of the judging panel for the awards Tseng Kui-hai (曾貴海) has been impressed by the submitted works. “These awards encourage more people to give writing a try,” he said. “They’ve helped turn Kaohsiung from a cultural desert into a cultural garden, where all kinds of flowers blossom.”
In addition to the Takao Fengyi Literature Awards, the Bureau of Cultural Affairs has launched a number of other initiatives including the Kaohsiung Literature Writing Aid and Publishing Aid programs, and the Kaohsiung Youth Literary Award. These projects provide local writers with funds and advice regarding the design, publishing and marketing of their works, and have led to something of a literature revolution in southern Taiwan. The book “Writings Born of Salt and Sunshine,” published by the Bureau of Cultural Affairs in December 2015, showcases the literary styles of 30 Kaohsiung writers born during or after the 1960s.
The Kaohsiung Exhibition Center sits within the Asia’s New Bay Area, a 10-kilometer-long waterfront zone for cultural activities.
Year-round Festivals
Cultural and artistic events take place throughout the southern special municipality, from the bustling central business district to the green countryside. Take, for example, Music on Grass, one of the signature events of the Kaohsiung Spring Arts Festival, which is held from March through May each year. Festivalgoers sit on the lawn outside the Kaohsiung Main Public Library to listen to orchestras performing on a nearby stage. “The audience doesn’t have to dress formally or sit in a confined space as in a concert hall,” Director-General Shih said. “It offers a kind of liberating experience to music lovers.” Judging by the popularity of the event, which attracts thousands of spectators, locals and visitors are eager to sample these “liberating” concerts.
While the Kaohsiung Spring Arts Festival mostly takes place in the city, the Kaohsiung Jhuangtou Fringe Festival (jhuangtou means rural community), which runs from August to December, is held outside of urban areas. Now in its fifth year, the fringe festival features spectacles such as Taiwanese and Yu operas, children’s shows, and concerts. Renowned modern dance troupe Cloud Gate 2 has taken part every year and its performances are among the most popular at the event.
Kaohsiung Mayor Chen Chu, back row sixth right, poses with members of Taiwanese opera troupes who were invited to perform in the Kaohsiung Spring Arts Festival.
Festivals such as these illustrate Kaohsiung’s efforts to transform itself into a major cultural center. The city’s dedication is bearing fruit with the establishment of artistic venues and revitalization of historical sites. As more and more people travel south to experience the special municipality’s many unique cultural attractions, the sprawling metropolis that was once known only as a great shipping hub is quickly gaining a reputation as a beacon of art and creativity.
Copyright © 2016 by Kuo Han-chen
PHOTO CREDITS: Chang Su-ching, Chen Mei-ling, Chin Hung-hao, Chuang Kung-ju, Richard Chung, Huang Chung-hsin, Kuo Han-chen, Jimmy Lin, Appier Inc., Bocheng Long-term Care Services, Carbon-Based Technology Inc., Central News Agency, CommonWealth Magazine, Democratic Progressive Party, Executive Yuan, International Cooperation and Development Fund, Kaohsiung City Government, Kavalan Distillery, Legislative Yuan, Linking Publishing, Ministry of Economic Affairs, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, New Power Party, Shung Ye Museum of Formosan Aborigines, Taoyuan City Government, United Daily News
ILLUSTRATIONS AND INFOGRAPHICS: Cho Yi-ju, Yui Han, Kao Shun-hui