A fire on Feb. 11 burned the Cloud Gate Dance Theater's painstaking efforts to the ground and, at the same time, exposed the government's indifference to arts and culture. Why was the internationally renowned troupe forced to reside in an unsafe and illegal sheet metal building for 15 years? When such an influential and well-known arts group still struggles over production funding and warehousing location, it means that it is even more difficult for other artists to earn the recognition of society a large.
At the end of the 1990s, through the intervention of artists and the Taiwan provincial government's department of culture, unused warehouses and factories belonging to state enterprises were released according to a policy for space reuse. Examples such as the Huashan Culture Park, or Stock 20 in the Taichung Railway Station, opened their doors to artists under this policy. In 2001, the Council of Cultural Affairs' Chen Yu-chiou (
Operations at those locations was contingent on government budgets that were entrusted to officials who organize arts and culture events. In other words, aside from the maintenance of physical structures, the government had to create an operational budget and organize events to attract viewers.
However, recent research has shown that some of these locations were remote and only received 3,000 to 4,000 visitors annually.
What if these spaces of "cultural consumption" were changed into areas of "cultural production"?
As a result of industrial transformation and some sectors of the industry relocating abroad, Taiwan has many empty factories and offices. If government could free up these locations through legislation and, following some maintenance work to ensure safety, lease them at affordable rates to arts groups for long-term residency, it would address safety concerns, eliminate the need for annual events budgets and generate a steady income.
This mechanism would help concentrate more arts and cultural energy and encourage autonomous economic development. Although "cultural production" would not immediately offset the costs of other investments, if this gesture of goodwill managed to produce 10 groups of international status over a decade, as well as dozens of locally recognized troupes or arts communities, the added value would most certainly justify the investment.
Western countries often provide stable creative environments and resources for emerging arts groups, which allows them to expand their influence and enrich the culture.
In Asia, there have been many similar examples in recent years. In 1985, to promote national arts and culture, the Singaporean government promoted the "Art Housing Scheme" to help arts groups with good levels of performance rent space as long-term bases from the national property administration. A portion of the rent is sponsored by Singapore's National Arts Council, thus sparing arts groups concerns over high commercial rates and allowing them to focus on their art.
The Hong Kong Arts Development Council has implemented a similar scheme to assist arts groups seeking to obtain space through a periodic exchange of contracts, such as in the old cattle quarantine station, which is now the Cattle Depot Artist Village.
The Yokohama government in Japan acquired empty space and used lower rents to attract artists, inviting them to develop Yokohama's image as a city of creativity.
Last year, Taipei City also put forward an arts space network, which arranged for local communities to release seven old dormitories, now known as O Space, on Zhonghua Road, to long-term residency for arts groups, thus planting the prototype of an arts community.
This kind of cooperation allows property owners and arts groups to help each other fulfil their development goals.
If the fire at Cloud Gate fails to awaken politicians to their responsibility for the nation's cultural development, then people involved in the arts and culture will need to mobilize to get their attention. The National Property Administration, the Council of Cultural Affairs and local governments should approach the cultural spaces policy with a view to fostering the creative industry, rather than lavish their money on local cultural events.
Margaret Shiu is director of the Bamboo Curtain Studio and Bamboo Culture International in Taipei.
Translated by Angela Hong
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