Taipei Children’s Arts Festival kicks off July 1 in northern Taiwan, offering a smorgasbord of entertainment options certain to please the young and young at heart during summer.
Co-organized by Taipei City Government’s Department of Cultural Affairs and Taipei Culture Foundation, the festival features acrobatic, dance, mime, musical, puppet and theater performances by troupes from Taiwan, Austria, Belgium, Chile, Denmark, France, Italy and Spain.
“This year’s event focuses on fairytales and encourages children to let their imaginations run wild,” DCA Commissioner Ni Chung-hwa said. “Visitors can enjoy 93 free performances at community and major public venues such as Da-An Forest Park and Puppetry Art Center of Taipei, as well as eight ticketed shows at Taipei Cultural Center, Wellspring Theatre and Zhongshan Hall.”
Highlights of the event, which wraps up Aug. 9, include “Buchettino,” an avant-garde, sound-driven theatrical experience requiring audiences to fill visual gaps with their imaginations. Launched in 2010, the performance is co-produced by TCAF and Italy-based Societas Raffaello Sanzio.
Another is “Hans Christian, You Must Be an Angel.” The Danish theatrical production merges light, shadow and tableware and invites audiences to name characters from Anderson’s tales.
The festival also serves up a variety of activities enabling participants to look at objects and events in the daily life with a fresh and imaginative perspective. These include “Hello! Stranger: Bopi Space-Art Installations,” a monthlong joint exhibition between TCAF and Taipei–based Museum of Contemporary Art at Wanhua District’s Bopiliao Historic Block. (SFC-JSM)
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