While most foreign embassies and diplomatic missions in Taiwan celebrate their national days with cocktail receptions or banquets, the Israeli Economic and Cultural Office in Taipei has chosen to present a series of cultural events to mark the 60th anniversary of the State of Israel.
Raphael Gamzou, Israeli representative to Taiwan, said the events would give Taiwanese a taste of Israeli culture.
"We attach a great deal of importance to the exposure of Israeli creativity and novelty in Taiwan, not only through our cutting-edge high technology, but through artistic expressions and cultural events," Gamzou said.
The State of Israel was founded in 1948 after millions of Jews died in the Holocaust during World War II.
Ahead of the anniversary celebrations, an exhibition entitled The 60th Anniversary of Israel -- Birth of a State: Photo Exhibitions of Paul Goldman and David Rubinger & the Art of Design: Dan Reisinger was launched at the Taipei Fine Arts Museum (TFAM) on March 13. The exhibition features photographs that document key moments in Israel's history, as seen through the lens of two photo journalists.
performance
A performance choreographed by Yossi Berg and Oded Graf, Israeli resident artists at the Taipei Artist Village, was staged on Saturday.
Starting on Thursday, a contemporary version of Sophocles' Antigone, a joint production by the Israeli Habima National Theater and Hkameri Tel-Aviv Municipal Theater that has already earned great acclaim in Israel and elsewhere, will be staged at the International Theater Festival at the National Theater at National Taiwan Democracy Memorial Hall in Taipei.
Gamzou said Beaufort, which was nominated for the best foreign film award at the Oscars, would be screened in Taipei next month.
In May, virtuoso percussionist "Percaduo" will take part in a percussion festival at National Concert Hall, while a photographic exhibition and concerts by violinist Maurice Sklar from the US are planned for Tainan.
An installation by the multi-disciplined "Zik" artists group will be loaned on a long-term basis to the Kaohsiung Museum of Fine Arts, Gamzou said.
In June, the Taipei International Film Festival, organized by the Taipei City Government's cultural affairs department, will focus on Israeli movies. The "first lady of Israeli cinema," actress Gila Almagor, will be the festival's guest of honor.
Last but not least, Gamzou said, the Efroni Children's Choir will perform at the International Choir Festival organized by the Taipei Philharmonic Foundation for Culture and Education in August.
"We are happy and grateful to all the local cultural institutions and venues that collaborate with us so enthusiastically, helping us introduce important aspects of our reality to the Taiwanese public," Gamzou said.
STRONG RELATIONSHIPS: China would not blockade Taiwan, because President Xi respects him, and Russia would not have invaded if he were president, he said Former US president and the Republican candidate in next month’s presidential election Donald Trump said he would impose additional tariffs on China if China were to “go into Taiwan,” the Wall Street Journal (WSJ) reported. “I would say: If you go into Taiwan, I’m sorry to do this, I’m going to tax you, at 150 percent to 200 percent,” Trump was quoted as saying in an interview with the WSJ published on Friday. Asked if he would use military force against a blockade on Taiwan by China, Trump said it would not come to that because Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) respected
HACKERS’ MARKET: Chat logs about Taiwan and documents outlining ways to take over online accounts were leaked from a company that sells data from hacks Taiwanese cybersecurity specialists found 577 leaked documents which show that the Chinese Communist Party is engaging in “cognitive warfare” against Taiwan through cyberattacks and disinformation campaigns, a documentary released last month by Japanese public broadcaster NHK showed. The filmmakers behind Tracking China’s Leaked Documents said they spent six months visiting seven countries, including Taiwan, where they interviewed members of TeamT5, a malware research and cybersecurity firm, which found the leaked documents. TeamT5 said they discovered a string of mysterious URLs on the social media platform X, which they suspected could be accounts created by hackers or people who leaked data, which led
The Taipei Department of Transportation discouraged YouBike 2.0E users from taking them on long-distance trips after a Taipei city councilor said that riders often use the new electric bike, YouBike 2.0E, to climb Yangmingshan (陽明山). Taipei earlier this year began offering the first 30 minutes of YouBike 2.0 rentals for free, with Taipei and New Taipei offering the YouBike 2.0E on Aug. 30 to encourage rider usage. For YouBike 2.0, the rate is NT$10 per 30 minutes within the first four hours, NT$20 per 30 minutes for five to eight hours and NT$40 per 30 minutes after eight hours. Meanwhile, for e-bikes,
RESOURCE RICH: Taiwan is located in the Pacific Ring of Fire and has up to 30 gigawatts of the potential energy, of which 10 gigawatts could be economically viable Academia Sinica and CPC Corp yesterday began drilling the nation’s first deep geothermal well in Yilan County’s Yuanshan Township (員山). The 4km-deep well is expected to take 18 months to complete and has an estimated investment of NT$337 million (US$10.54 million), Academia Sinica President James Liao (廖俊智) said. “While Taiwan has up to 30 gigawatts of potential deep geothermal energy, with an estimated 10 gigawatts being economically viable, only by digging wells can we determine the actual amount of commercially viable geothermal energy,” Liao said at the project’s opening ceremony. Data collected during and after the excavation process would be used for future