National Taiwan Normal University (NTNU) yesterday opened the Gao Xingjian Center (高行健資料中心) in Taipei, and launched an exhibition and a book showcasing the works of the Nobel laureate.
The center, on the sixth floor of NTNU’s Main Library, boasts a collection of 593 manuscripts and other materials donated by Gao, who was in 2000 awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature “for an oeuvre of universal validity, bitter insights and linguistic ingenuity,” the university said.
Once the items have been sorted and digitized, they are to be used for academic research, it said.
Photo: CNA
The university looks forward to the center becoming a powerhouse of research on the works of Gao in the Mandarin-speaking world, it said.
The center’s establishment coincides with the 10th anniversary of Gao’s appointment as a chair professor at the university, and demonstrates the friendship between Gao and the institution, it said.
The items donated by Gao, who also holds an honorary doctoral degree from NTNU, include early manuscripts, as well as various literature on his works, the university said.
They contain 58 Mandarin publications, 122 foreign-language publications, 53 videotapes, 15 DVDs, 64 posters, three musical scores, 12 prints and 49 magazines or booklets, it said.
Gao also donated 16 masks that were used as props in his film Requiem for Beauty (美的葬禮), the university added.
The materials arrived in Taiwan from Paris at the end of November last year, it said.
Gao’s new book Journey to Soul Mountain (靈山行) was published last month by the National Taiwan Normal University Press on the 30th anniversary of the release of his novel Soul Mountain (靈山).
Journey to Soul Mountain is a collection of 100 photographs that Gao took in China, as well as 40 paintings he created from 1979 to 2015, the university said.
The book features photographs that inspired him to write the novel, Gao, a Chinese-born French citizen, wrote in the preface.
The exhibition, also titled “Journey to Soul Mountain,” presents images from the new book, as well as 11 prints by Gao and an ink painting called The Thinker (沉思者) that Gao created in 2015 and donated to the university two years later, it said.
The exhibition is being held on the first floor of the library and runs through March 25, it said.
At a news conference yesterday to mark the center’s opening, NTNU president Wu Cheng-chih (吳正己) signed an agreement with the Taipei Symphony Orchestra for the orchestra to adapt Requiem for Beauty for stage, the university said.
LOUD AND PROUD Taiwan might have taken a drubbing against Australia and Japan, but you might not know it from the enthusiasm and numbers of the fans Taiwan might not be expected to win the World Baseball Classic (WBC) but their fans are making their presence felt in Tokyo, with tens of thousands decked out in the team’s blue, blowing horns and singing songs. Taiwanese fans have packed out the Tokyo Dome for all three of their games so far and even threatened to drown out home team supporters when their team played Japan on Friday. They blew trumpets, chanted for their favorite players and had their own cheerleading squad who dance on a stage during the game. The team struggled to match that exuberance on the field, with
Whether Japan would help defend Taiwan in case of a cross-strait conflict would depend on the US and the extent to which Japan would be allowed to act under the US-Japan Security Treaty, former Japanese minister of defense Satoshi Morimoto said. As China has not given up on the idea of invading Taiwan by force, to what extent Japan could support US military action would hinge on Washington’s intention and its negotiation with Tokyo, Morimoto said in an interview with the Liberty Times (sister paper of the Taipei Times) yesterday. There has to be sufficient mutual recognition of how Japan could provide
UPDATED TEST: The new rules aim to assess drivers’ awareness of risky behaviors and how they respond under certain circumstances, the Highway Bureau said Driver’s license applicants who fail to yield to pedestrians at intersections or to check blind spots, or omit pointing-and-calling procedures would fail the driving test, the Highway Bureau said yesterday. The change is set to be implemented at the end of the month, and is part of the bureau’s reform of the driving portion of the test, which has been criticized for failing to assess whether drivers can operate vehicles safely. Sedan drivers would be tested regarding yielding to pedestrians and turning their heads to check blind spots, while drivers of large vehicles would be tested on their familiarity with pointing-and-calling
A Taiwanese man apologized on Friday after saying in a social media post that he worked with Australia to provide scouting reports on Taiwan’s team, enabling Australia’s victory in this year’s World Baseball Classic (WBC), saying it was a joke and that he did not hold any position with foreign teams or Taiwan’s sports training center. Chen Po-hao (陳柏豪) drew the rage of many Taiwan baseball fans when he posted online on Thursday night, claiming credit for Australia’s 3-0 win over Taiwan in the opening game for Pool C, saying he worked as a physical therapist with the national team and
RSS