A Taiwanese literature exhibition, organized by the National Museum of Taiwan Literature and funded by the Ministry of Culture, is being held in the Scottish capital of Edinburgh and is to run until Thursday next week, after which it is scheduled to visit six other European countries.
The “Sailing Onto the World Stage: Themes in Taiwan Literature” exhibition first opened at the Scottish Storytelling Centre on Monday last week and moved to Edinburgh Central Library on Tuesday.
It is also to visit the Netherlands, Germany, Austria, the Czech Republic, Slovakia and Hungary in the coming months, the ministry said in a statement on Tuesday.
Photo: CNA
The exhibition displays English translations of Taiwanese authors’ works in different topics such as human rights, indigenous people, feminism, LGBTQ, ecology and culinary culture, the ministry said.
These include Pai Hsien-yung’s (白先勇) Crystal Boys (孽子), which depicts gay youth in Taipei the 1960s, and Notes of a Crocodile (鱷魚手記) written by Qiu Miao-jin (邱妙津).
The exhibition also shows Wu Chuo-liu’s (吳濁流) novel Orphan of Asia, which was written in Japanese during the last years of Japanese colonial rule in Taiwan, as well as indigenous writer Syaman Rapongan’s novel Eyes of Heaven (天空的眼睛), which tells the story of an indigenous elder’s life on Orchid Island (Lanyu, 蘭嶼).
The exhibition’s aim is to introduce the historical development, cultural uniqueness and literary achievements of Taiwan to the European public, so people better understand the literary context of the works, the museum said in a statement.
To celebrate the launch of the exhibition, museum director Nikky Lin (林巾力), along with foreign services’ officials and Cammy Day, the leader of the City of Edinburgh Council, attended a reception party on Friday last week, the ministry said.
Lin mentioned the cultural and historical links between Taiwan and Scotland by introducing the story of Scottish missionary and doctor James Laidlaw Maxwell, who imported the first moveable type printing press to Taiwan in the 19th century.
The story of another missionary, Hugh Ritchie, and his wife, Eliza Caroline Cooke, written in picture book form by Jenny Jamieson (陳韻如), was also read in Hoklo (also known as Taiwanese) and English at the reception by Jamieson and the pair’s descendant Joyce Lockhart, the ministry said.
Jenny Jamieson also gifted Day an oil painting of Taiwanese lilies and Scottish thistles thriving in the mountains of Taiwan, symbolizing growing bilateral cooperation, the ministry said.
Moreover, when speaking about bilateral exchanges, Day said that not only an Edinburgh delegation had visited Taiwan in March, but the city is also working with the Taiwanese authorities to erect a monument of Maxwell, as well as establish cooperation between The Usher Hall and the National Kaohsiung Center for the Arts (Weiwuying).
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
Taiwanese professional baseball should update sports stadiums and boost engagement to enhance fans’ experience, Chinese Professional Baseball League (CPBL) commissioner Tsai Chi-chang (蔡其昌) told the Liberty Times (sister paper of the Taipei Times) in an interview on Friday. The league has urged Farglory Group and the Taipei City Government to improve the Taipei Dome’s outdated equipment, including relatively rudimentary television and sound systems, and poor technology, he said. The Tokyo Dome has markedly better television and sound systems, despite being 30 years old, because its managers continually upgraded its equipment, Tsai said. In contrast, the Taipei Dome lacked even a room for referees