The Ministry of Culture and the Foundation for Scholarly Exchange (FSE, Fulbright Taiwan) yesterday signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) to launch the “Fulbright-Taiwan Ministry of Culture, Arts Professionals Grants” — a newly named and upgraded initiative.
The signing ceremony was held at the National Theater in Taipei and attended by Minister of Culture Lee Yung-te (李永得), FSE executive director Randall Nadeau and American Institute in Taiwan (AIT) Director Sandra Oudkirk, who serves as honorary chair of the FSE board.
Since 2018, the ministry and the Fulbright Program have partnered to select and send Taiwanese professionals in the arts and cultural sectors to the US for exchanges, the ministry said in a statement.
Photo: Ling Mei-hsueh, Taipei Times
With the help of the AIT and the FSE, the collaboration between the ministry and the Fulbright Program received the US Department of State’s approval in July to be offered as an independent hyphenated grant, titled the “Fulbright-Taiwan Ministry of Culture, Arts Professionals Grants,” the statement said.
The upgraded initiative carries an important symbolic significance for cultural cooperation between Taiwan and the US, the ministry said.
The grants have also expanded their recipients to include professionals working in the fields of management, technical support, curation and arts criticism, the ministry added.
As a leading educational and cultural exchange platform in the world, the Fulbright Program, which celebrates its 75th anniversary this year, has sponsored exchanges to the US by more than 1,700 Taiwanese, the ministry said.
At yesterday’s event, performances were given by Resident Island Dance Theatre (滯留島舞蹈劇場) and Twincussion Duo (雙子二重奏).
US TOUR
The two Taiwanese groups would be setting out on a month-long tour in the US during the 2022-2023 performing arts season as part of the sixth season of the department’s Center Stage exchange program.
Lee said he looked forward to the Fulbright grant and Center Stage providing Taiwanese professionals in the arts and cultural industries with more learning opportunities, deepening cultural exchanges between Taiwan and the US, and deepening the international community’s understanding of Taiwan.
The signing of the MOU and the selection of the two Taiwanese performing art ensembles for the Center Stage initiative are concrete examples of the deep and broad ties between the US and Taiwan, Oudkirk said.
“Such exchanges not only deepen our friendship, but also ensure that cultural exchanges of both the United States and Taiwan continue to grow,” she added.
Civil society groups yesterday protested outside the Legislative Yuan, decrying Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) efforts to pass three major bills that they said would seriously harm Taiwan’s democracy, and called to oust KMT caucus whip Fu Kun-chi (傅?萁). It was the second night of the three-day “Bluebird wintertime action” protests in Taipei, with organizers announcing that 8,000 people attended. Organized by Taiwan Citizen Front, the Economic Democracy Union (EDU) and a coalition of civil groups, about 6,000 people began a demonstration in front of KMT party headquarters in Taipei on Wednesday, organizers said. For the third day, the organizers asked people to assemble
Taipei is participating in Osaka’s Festival of Lights this year, with a 3m-tall bubble tea light installation symbolizing Taiwan’s bubble tea culture. The installation is designed as a bubble tea cup and features illustrations of Taipei’s iconic landmarks, such as Taipei 101, the Red House and North Gate, as well as soup dumplings and the matchmaking deity the Old Man Under the Moon (月下老人), affectionately known as Yue Lao (月老). Taipei and Osaka have collaborated closely on tourism and culture since Taipei first participated in the festival in 2018, the Taipei City Department of Information and Tourism said. In February, Osaka represented
POOR IMPLEMENTATION: Teachers welcomed the suspension, saying that the scheme disrupted school schedules, quality of learning and the milk market A policy to offer free milk to all school-age children nationwide is to be suspended next year due to multiple problems arising from implementation of the policy, the Executive Yuan announced yesterday. The policy was designed to increase the calcium intake of school-age children in Taiwan by drinking milk, as more than 80 percent drink less than 240ml per day. The recommended amount is 480ml. It was also implemented to help Taiwanese dairy farmers counter competition from fresh milk produced in New Zealand, which is to be imported to Taiwan tariff-free next year when the Agreement Between New Zealand and
IDENTITY SHIFT: Asked to choose to identify as either Taiwanese or Chinese, 83.3 percent of respondents chose Taiwanese, while 8.4 percent chose Chinese An overwhelming majority of Taiwanese, 71.5 percent, think that Taiwan should compete in international competitions under the name “Taiwan,” a Taiwan Brain Trust survey published yesterday showed. Referring to Taiwan’s victory last month at the World Baseball Softball Confederation’s Premier12, the survey results showed that 89.1 percent of respondents said that Taiwan’s exceptional performance in sporting competitions furthers national unity. Only 18.8 percent of respondents supported Taiwanese teams’ continued use of the name “Chinese Taipei” in international sporting competitions, the survey showed. Among Taiwan’s leading political parties, the name “Team Taiwan” was supported by 91.1 percent of self-identified Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) supporters,
RSS