“Of all the possible options, only creativity will enable Taiwan’s businesses to surpass the restrictions of the island’s limited land area, population and market size to tap large opportunities and gain substantial international recognition,” says Lin Fang-yin, chief curator of the Taiwan International Cultural Creative Industry Expo, which was held November 11–14, 2010 at the Taipei World Trade Center’s Nangang Exhibition Hall. As noted by Lin and other movers and shakers in the cultural and creative industry, countries around the world are recognizing the economic development potential of the sector. To realize that potential, nations are taking a close look at their cultural strengths and looking for ways to capitalize on them in the international market.
Taiwan is no exception to that trend and the expo represented one aspect of the Republic of China (ROC) government’s push to promote the island’s cultural and creative industry. The expo, which was held for the first time in 2010, was hosted by the Council for Cultural Affairs (CCA) and jointly organized by the General Chamber of Commerce of the ROC, Taiwan Institute of Economic Research and Bright Ideas Design Co.
“The main aim of the expo is to put Taiwan’s creative strength in the global spotlight by showcasing the high quality of its cultural and creative products,” says Emile C.J. Sheng, minister of the Cabinet-level CCA. “We see the expo as a way of building a matchmaking platform for designers, buyers and investors. That will help form an industrial supply chain for the local cultural creative sector.”
Attendance figures for the 2010 expo show that it successfully increased the visibility of Taiwan-made cultural and creative products and played a significant role in boosting sales. According to the CCA, the four-day event attracted more than 50,000 visitors. Local companies reported receiving domestic and international orders worth approximately NT$70 million (US$2.3 million), while retail sales during the fair amounted to NT$20 million (US$645,000) and letters of intent for future cooperative efforts reached a value of around NT$100 million (US$3.2 million).
At the expo, 450 exhibitors from home and abroad set up 780 booths at seven theme pavilions. The pavilions focused on home aesthetics, design and life, technology and culture, local specialties, conceptual design, international exhibitors and the cross-strait cultural and creative industry. The booths displayed a wide variety of creative products ranging from works of art, daily necessities, home decorations, lighting fixtures, jewelry, handicrafts, furniture, gifts and stationery to interactive multimedia products and animated films, as well as robots and other high-tech devices.
The expo was designed to showcase Taiwan’s quality cultural and creative products, as well as build a matchmaking platform for designers, buyers and investors. (Photo by Huang Chung-hsin)
Creations by prominent brands from around the world were also displayed in special areas, while documentaries about 100 disappearing traditional Taiwanese crafts were shown on monitors in order to raise public awareness about the need to conserve the crafts. Other features of the show included forums, seminars, workshops, trade meetings, a fashion show, a new product launch party and an awards ceremony honoring select creative products and inventors.
“We intend to use the expo to show the link between cultural and creative products and everyday living, as well as indicate how the products can improve people’s quality of life,” chief curator Lin Fang-yin says. “The expo can also help artists, designers and manufacturers interact with each other and different sectors. That’ll give them inspiration about how to use new materials and technologies to create better products and services. The goal is to help users slow down and lead a rich, environmentally friendly lifestyle.”
“The rising popularity of higher education in Taiwan and the easy acceptance of different cultures have helped nurture a number of talented artists and designers who are capable of creating ingenious, functional and aesthetic items,” says Fang Jy-shiuh, a department director at the CCA. Lin also praises Taiwan’s pool of creative talent, noting that a number of individuals have won major design awards and patents domestically and internationally.
Local artists and designers, however, have faced two major problems: the lack of capital sufficient to commercialize their ideas and a dearth of marketing experience. The best solution, Fang says, is to build a complete industry chain that stretches from product design and production to marketing and sales channels. The expo is a means toward that end, Lin says, as one of its goals is to promote the formation of a business mechanism to make it easier for manufacturers to locate talented designers, as well as help traders and distributors find good products to sell. Other goals include the promotion of cross-industry and international collaboration, as well as resource integration. Achieving those goals would help turn Taiwan’s design field into a strong industry and assist the island’s traditional industries with building their own brands, Fang says.
Maurice Chen, project manager of the General Chamber of Commerce of the ROC, says his organization was commissioned to invite buyers from Taiwan, mainland China, the United States and Europe to attend the Taiwan International Cultural Creative Industry Expo. “We mobilized our roughly 100 member groups and worked with other local industrial and business associations to get them to send their purchasing executives to the expo, where they could look for gift items for special occasions and festivals,” Chen says. “We know that developing sales avenues is the weakest point of the local cultural and creative industry, so we relied on our own resources to help expand domestic consumption as the first step.”
Studio Domo displays a number of its award-winning furniture items such as its Chopsticks Wardrobe, center. (Photo by Huang Chung-hsin)
Brenda Chen, manager of Cheerful Fashion Goods Co., was one of the exhibitors at the expo. “We’re displaying more than 100 innovative items created by 20 Taiwanese designers including stationery and household goods. We hope to explore strategic alliances and sales channels here,” Chen said at the show. “So far, we’ve talked to some potential business partners who’ve expressed interest in marketing our products. We’ve also had many local residents crowding our booth, asking about the design concepts behind our products. That shows people are paying more attention to product design.”
Chen says her company develops products under its “poodehii” brand by integrating aspects of Taiwanese culture with fashion and practicality. Poodehii is the Romanization of the Holo, or Taiwanese-language word for glove puppetry, which is a standout feature of the island’s culture. The company’s strategy of endowing products with distinctive design features and a local identity enabled it to gain a license to produce a series of items for this year’s celebration of the ROC’s centennial.
Studio Domo Inc., another exhibitor, showcased several award-winning furniture items such as its Chopsticks Wardrobe and Butterfly Shoe Rack. “We try to keep the concept of environmental protection in mind,” Domo chairman Lin Qing-lin said at the show. “The central idea of our product design is to minimize the use of materials when possible and make durable goods with practical applications for everyday life. Our emphasis is on the ‘design of modern objects’—that’s why our company is named ‘Domo’—with a simple, refined style.
Meanwhile, Interflow Corp., a company that boasts 20 years of experience in manufacturing electronic products, exhibited a selection of artistically designed light-emitting diode (LED) lighting fixtures under its SotaLite brand. Over time, the company has developed from operating as an original equipment manufacturer (OEM) to original design manufacturing (ODM) and most recently to original branding and manufacturing (OBM).
“Our LED lighting products are 100-percent designed and manufactured in Taiwan and have obtained 20 patents,” says Kenneth Chen, president of Interflow. “Over the years, we’ve devoted a lot of labor and capital to the effort to transform our business from OEM to ODM and then to OBM. We strongly believe that’s the way to sustain and grow our business.”
Interflow Corp. shows a selection of artistically designed LED lighting fixtures at the expo under its SotaLite brand. (Photo by Huang Chung-hsin)
Local companies are placing a much greater emphasis on design these days because of major changes in the domestic manufacturing environment. Chen says Taiwan is no longer a favorable place for mass-producing goods because mainland China has rapidly developed into the world’s factory for those products. Curator Lin Fang-yin also points to changes in the market, saying that “Taiwan has been known internationally for its manufacturing technologies, but its ability has weakened in recent years due to soaring land and labor costs. The nation really has to find a new growth engine to sustain its economic development.”
In Interflow’s case, the shifting market prompted a switch in focus to high added value, branded products. “By employing advanced technologies that we’ve cultivated over the years and working with local artists, we’ve been able to create functional but decorative LED lighting,” he says. “We present inspirational and positive themes about love and happiness in an artistic form. That’s helped our products enjoy a rising market demand and gain sales space at upscale department stores in the United States and Europe.”
International exhibitors, meanwhile, had their own reasons for attending the expo. Peter Tullin curated the International Pavilion at the Taiwan International Cultural Creative Industry Expo and is also the managing partner of CultureLabel.com, which sells thousands of products from 200 leading museums and art galleries in the United Kingdom. The International Pavilion featured examples of products available in UK museums ranging from books, clothing and toys to furniture and interior displays. Contributors to the pavilion included gift shops at the United Kingdom’s Tate Museum, Design Museum, British Museum, Science Museum and London Transport Museum, among others.
“Our intention is to inspire and entertain visitors with a group of objects that take museum shopping to the next level—shopping as an art form!” Tullin said at the show. “These items can be purchased online so that people can get them whenever and wherever and at affordable prices. That does help bring art into the home.”
Tullin said his trip to Taiwan had been rewarding, as he was able to introduce his country’s products to local and international buyers at the expo, meet with Taiwanese artists and visit the National Palace Museum. “The expo is a fantastic event that brings a variety of creative products together in one place for people to appreciate and purchase,” he added. “It also enables us to start a dialogue with local artists and museums and see how we can work together to develop the market.”
A wide variety of creative products such as robots and other high-tech devices were on display at the expo. (Photo by Huang Chung-hsin)
Just Getting Started
Maurice Chen of the General Chamber of Commerce of the ROC says the 2010 expo was only part of a comprehensive plan initiated by the CCA to assist the local cultural and creative industry. The CCA also offers subsidies to local designers and manufacturers to attend important international design exhibitions like 100% Design London, 100% Design Tokyo and the China Beijing International Cultural and Creative Industry Expo. The subsidies cover airline tickets, booth rental fees and exhibition planning expenses.
“Given the small domestic market, it’s essential for Taiwanese manufacturers to develop sales in the international market. Participating in overseas exhibitions is a good approach to help them gain more exposure for their products,” Chen says. “Mainland China’s market offers a particularly lucrative opportunity, and its culture and language are similar to Taiwan’s, so we’ve been making more efforts to consolidate cross-strait exchanges, including exhibitions.”
CCA Director Fang Jy-shiuh points out that the cultural and creative industry is seen as a potential core economic driver for Taiwan. In recognition of the increasingly important role it plays, the government has listed the sector among the six emerging industries entitled to strong support.
As an example of the government’s commitment to the sector, Fang points to the Cultural and Creative Industries Development Plan, which was launched in 2009 and designates a total investment of NT$26.2 billion (US$873 million) through 2013. The investments target building a friendly environment conducive to upgrading the sector with the goals of first securing a strong presence in Taiwan, then making inroads into mainland China and eventually into the international market.
The five-year plan is being implemented by four government agencies. The Ministry of Education is charged with developing human resources, the CCA with developing the arts sector, the Government Information Office with developing the media industry and the Ministry of Economic Affairs (MOEA) with developing the design area. The MOEA also acts as a cross-departmental coordinator for the project.
The expo’s International Pavilion featured examples of products available in UK museums ranging from books and toys to interior displays. (Photo by Huang Chung-hsin)
Fang says 2010 was a significant year for Taiwan’s cultural and creative industry because the Act for the Development of Cultural and Creative Industries was passed by the Legislative Yuan in January last year. First drafted in 2003, the law was promulgated in August 2010 upon the ratification of its 13 bylaws by the Executive Yuan. “The law governing the development of the cultural and creative industry lays a legal base for the implementation of many policies and measures that can stimulate and sustain its growth,” Fang says. “That’s why we used ‘Start Off’ as the theme of the 2010 cultural and creative industry expo—it signifies that the sector is poised to take off.”
Specific Assistance
The law divides the cultural and creative industry into the subsectors of television, film, popular music, digital content, design and handicrafts. It also specifies the government’s assistance in the areas of research and development, subsidies for creative ideas, tax credits, venture capital, loan guarantees, personnel training and incentives designed to increase domestic spending on fine arts and culture.
As provided for under the law, the CCA has set up a dedicated office in Taipei to provide administrative support, legal services, business consulting services and marketing strategies for local companies in the cultural and creative industry. Furthermore, the council is assisting in the establishment of five cultural and creative industrial parks in the cities and counties of Taipei, Taichung, Chiayi, Tainan and Hualien. Some of the parks are already open, while others are still in the planning stage. The goal of the parks is to provide a concentrated center, or cluster effect, where related products, services and activities can be offered and organized.
“Many business opportunities have emerged from tapping into cultural identity,” Fang says, “and there’s a global trend to pursue spiritual values rather than just material gain. By combining its rich culture with creativity and technological ability, Taiwan is apt at creating more and more products that can touch people’s hearts. That helps us showcase our soft power to the international community.”
Write to Kelly Her at kelly@mail.gio.gov.tw