Artists and musicians yesterday expressed their condolences for the passing of former president Lee Teng-hui (李登輝), as well as their appreciation of his support for the arts and cultural industries.
Wang Ying-hsin (王英信), who in 1997 was invited by Lee to create a 2.2m sculpture of the then-president, said that Lee loved art and he frequented many exhibitions during his time as president to support local artists.
Lee would even visit artists’ studios, as he wanted to get to know artists and their working environments better, Wang said.
Photo: CNA
As the media followed Lee wherever he went, artists that he met would appear in newspapers, magazines or on TV, increasing not only the artist’s profile, but also that of the whole industry, he said.
Lee was dedicated in promoting Taiwanese culture, Nantou County cultural worker Liang Chih-chung (梁志忠) said, adding that his efforts influenced academia, giving rise to more studies and conferences on Taiwanese culture.
Singer Julian Lo (羅俊穎) on Thursday wrote on Facebook that “had it not been for Lee, the art and cultural scene in Taiwan today would not be the same.”
Photo: Chen Feng-li, Taipei Times
“Lee introduced the concept of art festivals when he served as mayor of Taipei and it was after he was inaugurated that city residents began to have opportunities to watch live opera performances in the city every year,” Lo wrote.
“One year, when Faust was performed, Lee assisted with the Mandarin translation of the subtitles,” he wrote. “To date, which other mayor has had such an appreciation of art and culture?”
Musician Mali Liu also appreciated Lee’s love of music.
“When I was young, it was due to Lee’s introduction of musical festivals in Taipei that I could purchase tickets for high-quality classical concerts at an affordable price, or even for free,” Liu said.
When Japanese photographer Koki Sato took part in the art exhibition “Geisai Taiwan2” in Taipei in 2010, Lee was the subject of some of his works.
Lee attended the exhibition in person, where he extended his appreciation to Sato for the opportunity “to get a feel of young people’s creativity.”
Sato took photographs of Lee making funny poses and the changing images were projected on to a white wall behind the former president.
Although slightly shy at first during the shoot, Lee quickly “loosened up” and even came up with some creative moves and angles himself, Sato said.
Proposed legislation in the US outlines three conditions in which Washington would be authorized to protect Taiwan were China to invade, a report said yesterday. US Representative Ted Yoho this month said he would introduce a Taiwan Invasion Prevention Act, which would authorize US military force if China were to invade Taiwan-controlled areas, including its outlying islands. According to a version of the bill obtained by the Chinese-language Liberty Times (the sister paper of the Taipei Times), the bill lists three conditions in which a US president would be authorized to use military force to protect Taiwan: If China uses military force
Two new commuter trains are scheduled to be launched in January next year, the Taiwan Railways Administration (TRA) said yesterday. The acquisition of EMU-900 commuter train cars is part of the railway operator’s plan to replace 589 train cars that have been in operation for more than three decades. The agency has also placed orders to buy 600 intercity train cars. The first batch of 20 EMU-900 cars is to be delivered to the nation in September, although delivery might be delayed until October due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the agency said. The batch would be formed into two trains of 10
The Supreme Court on Tuesday found four men guilty of attempted murder in the 2017 stabbing of Spanish surfer Ignacio Prio on a Pingtung County beach in the final ruling in the case, sentencing them to three-and-a-half to six years in prison. The defendants had appealed their convictions for attempted murder in the first and second rulings, which had also led to prison sentences ranging from three-and-a-half years to six years. The then-42-year-old Prio went to Jialeshui Beach (佳樂水) near Kenting (墾丁) on March 31, 2017, was attacked after he asked four men to remove their fishing lines from an area
MEDICINAL HERB: The FRIL protein extracted from hyacinth beans helped laboratory mice survive H1N1 infection and effectively neutralized the coronavirus A protein isolated from hyacinth beans, a medicinal herb known for centuries, has been found to restrict the activities of SARS-CoV-2 and influenza viruses in laboratory experiments, a team of Academia Sinica researchers said yesterday. The beans’ curative effect is documented in the 16th-century Chinese medicine classic Compendium of Materia Medica (本草綱目) and they are also a food source in some countries, the Genomics Research Center’s Chemical Biology Division Director Alex Ma (馬徹) told a news conference in Taipei. Center senior research specialist Jan Jia-tsrong (詹家琮) experimented with up to 500 medicinal herbs to see if they could restrict influenza viruses and
RSS