Taipei Cultural Center in New York

The Taipei Cultural Center in New York Taipei Cultural Center in New York proudly announces Taiwanese Author Horace Ho will present his novel The Tree Fort on Carnation Lane, translated by Darryl Sterk, on October 31, 7pm at 2019TIFA(Toronto International Festival of Authors ).
The Tree Fort on Carnation Lane is Horace Ho’s third novel. This novel is about three boys: Daniel, Brand and Ilya, who were born in the same neighborhood near a red light district in Taiwan during the 1970s and 1980s. Told through the lens of Daniel as the narrator, who is already in his mid-thirties, we travel between past and present, puberty and maturity, tradition and taboo, upscale residence and slum, life and death…trying to decrypt the reasons behind the shocking suicide of Ilya.
The three boys’ parents didn’t like them visiting the market by themselves and expressly forbade them from taking a single step into Carnation Lane. But the appearance of a chained orangutan in a night market spectacle the year the three friends turned twelve convinced them to defy the parental ban. While the adults were away at a protest against Taiwan’s endless Martial Law, they stole into the banned zone, released the beast from bondage and led it upstream, on a quest to find the fabled zoo.
The memory of this all-but-forgotten childhood experience comes back after news of his friend’s suicide. It seems to Daniel that the two events must somehow be connected. A cryptologist by training, he decides to investigate, hoping to solve the mystery of his friend’s death and decode the message contained within the memory that has shaped, even warped, their later lives.
Horace Ho (Ho Chih-ho) was born in Taipei in 1967. He received M.F.A. degree in Creative Writing from National Dong Hwa University and Ph.D. degree in Comparative Literature from Fu Jen Catholic University. He is the winner of several literature awards, including the United Daily News Literature Awards for Short Stories. He has published a collection of short stories The Night When the Night Was Lost (2001) , and three novels The melancholy of the white city (2005), The Offshore Island Bible (2008) and The Tree Fort on Carnation Lane (2013). Currently he is teaching Creative Writing at Chinese Culture University in Taipei.
Reading & Conversation: Rune Christiansen, Michael Crummey and Horace Ho
The writers in this forum tackle the difficult themes of grief and loss in childhood, in their latest works. Acclaimed Norwegian poet and novelist Rune Christiansen presents Fanny and the Mystery in the Grieving Forest, Taiwanese author and recipient of the United Daily News Literature Prize, Horace Ho, presents The Tree Fort on Carnation Lane, and Newfoundland author and award-winning poet Michael Crummey presents The Innocents (longlisted for the 2019 Scotiabank Giller Prize). Get to know these acclaimed writers through their fascinating conversation and learn from their resilient characters. This conversation will be moderated by Ania Szado. Hosted by Danila Botha.

Thursday, October 31, 2019 - 7:00 PM
Book Signing, Panel Discussion, Q & A, Reading: 40th Festival Edition | Festivals
Lakeside Terrace, Harbourfront Centre (235 Queens Quay West Toronto M5J 2G8)
https://festivalofauthors.ca/events/reading-conversation-rune-christiansen-michael-crummey-and-horace-ho

Toronto International Festival of Authors 2019

October 24–November 3, 2019
Various locations

Official hashtags: #FestAt40 #FestofAuthors19
Twitter | Facebook | Instagram: @festofauthors
Social media square and story images: https://bit.ly/2lLjMnD

The Taipei Cultural Center、New Asia Chamber Music Society and LUCA School of Arts together facilitate a cross-cultural music concert by introducing music talents from Taiwan, Belgium and the U.S. Two Taiwanese composers Chin Cheng Lin and Chien Chien Lu will bring out their fabulous compositions and share with the local audience in New York. “Listen to the sound” concert is presented at The DiMenna Center for Classic Music , Flagler Cary Hall on Octorber 26, 2019, 8pm. 

The Belgium LUCA percussion ensemble is led by percussionist and composer Chin Cheng Lin, with the creative thematic concert production, the ensemble will bring out and explore different style of music. Chien Chien Lu Quartet, created this year, the band gathers experienced musicians under the leadership of vibraphonist and composer Chien Chien Lu, as Chien Chien tells it “the music of the concert is the result of the unique experience of merging two cultures, Taiwanese and American, which sometimes complement and sometimes contradict each other, there is courage, insanity and passion combined Taiwanese lyricism and nostalgia. There is chaos and peace, questions and statements, angel and demon, powerful and delicate, and most of all, the in-depth search for the bigger meaning and truth.

Musicians:
Chien Chien Lu, Vibraphone
Shedrick Mitchell, Piano
Richie Goods, Bass
Jonathan Barber, Drums
Chin-Cheng Lin, Marimba
Kjell De Raes, Marimba
Jacob Gernay, Percussion
Sancha Sampayo e Mello, Percussion

Concert Program:

Works by Chin-Cheng Lin
1.Angel & Demon – Chin-Cheng Lin
for one marimbists and 2 percussionists

2.Shi Za Kyoh En - Kaoru Wada
for one marimba and 3 percussionists

3.Star Splendors – Chin-Cheng Lin
for Marimba quartet

4.Valse Valse - Daniel Nikolas Wirtz
for percussion quartet
- Intermission -

Works by Chien Chien Lu

1.Effortless

2.128

3.Tears and Love

4.The Imaginary Enemy

5.New Cross Field

6.Blossom in a Stormy Night. (Arr.) 雨夜花

Concert information
Time: October 26, 2019 8 pm-10pm
Venue: The DiMenna Center for Classic Music , Flagler Cary Hall
(450 W 37th St. New York, NY10018)

Tickets are available at: https://www.tickettailor.com/events/newasiachambermusicsociety/303956?fbclid=IwAR1BEdAUa8EVcLnFwj1j_AOjl_XwYLRZsURJLIXCQRfryJOlNii_j98cfQs

A musical based on pan-toh (辦桌), a distinctive roadside banquet tradition unique to Taiwan, will tour Michigan this October. Featuring the Taipei-based National Chinese Orchestra (NCO, 臺灣國樂團) and Shintrun Taiwanese Opera Troupe (薪傳歌仔戲團) the performances will combine outdoor feasting customs with Taiwan's wedding culture.

Pan-toh, or roadside banquets, are held for a variety of special occasions, from wedding and funerals to housewarmings, teacher appreciation events, temple celebrations, and local elections. Friends, families, and neighbors are invited to join in and take part in the celebrations. There are a number of taboos and rules that need to be followed, with the choice and order of dishes and seating arrangements all strictly set out.

Pan-toh culture can be traced back to Qing-era Taiwan, when wealthy people would invite chefs to cook marvelous meals for them at home. This began to evolve into its more familiar form during the Japanese colonial era, when skilled cooks in villages would get together to prepare feasts for the community. These home chefs would also provide the tables, chairs, cutlery, and tableware, and community members would help themselves to the food.

Against the backdrop of an ensemble of traditional wind and percussion instruments, "Formosa Roadside Wedding Banquet" is a lively and storied production that aims to vividly present extraordinary tales as told by executive chefs catering to such roadside banquets.

The unique Taiwanese feast shall be replicated by integrating daily appliances including woks, bowls, gourd ladles, pots, stoves, and firewood with the striking sounds and unique reverberations of traditional percussion instruments to convey the joyful atmosphere of food-centric Taiwanese wedding rituals.
To delineate a chef's complicated emotions over his daughter's marriage as he caters for the wedding guests, members of the Shintrun Taiwanese Opera Troupe will also take up the roles of matchmaker, bride, groom, and executive chef, as well as portray a merry cast of friends and family members.

Apart from introducing the mesmerizing sounds of roadside banquets to American audiences, the National Chinese Orchestra of Taiwan will also hold a special concert titled "Splendid Taiwan" at the University of Michigan on Oct. 7.

BULAREYAUNG DANCE COMPANY, the leading indigenous dance company in Taiwan, embraces indigenous practices of the Taiwanese tribes and contemporary spirit, founded by internationally acclaimed choreographer Bulareyaung Pagarlava in 2014.

LUNA, a commission of National Taichung Theater, developed through field study at Luluna Village in Nantou County, Taiwan, and incorporates aspects of the pasibutbut, a complex polyphonic singing that is internationally recognized as a distinct aspect of Indigenous Taiwanese culture. In dialogue with the Luluna tribal people and with respect for the Indigenous traditions, Bulareyaung adapted the performing style of malastapang from the Bunun ritual praising the hunters’ achievements to, instead, dancers announcing their process of growth.

An international selection of current Indigenous dance expressions
With THE NEW ZEALAND DANCE COMPANY, MANI.DEUX(Canada) and JASMIN SHEPPARD(Australia) and BULAREYAUNG DANCE COMPANY(Taiwan)
Friday October 4, 7:30 pm
Saturday October 5, 7:30 pm | FREE Indigenous Food Tasting during intermission
Sunday October 6, 2:00 pm | Post-Show Artist Talk
Moderated by Santee Smith / Artistic Director, Kaha:wi Dance Theatre and Chancellor, McMaster University

Featured Panelists:
Bulareyaung Pagarlava / Artistic Director/Choreographer, Bulareyaung Dance Company
Kwonduwa / Dancer, Bulareyaung Dance Company
Cody Berry / Choreographer/Performer, Northfoot Movement
Shona McCullagh / Artistic Director, The New Zealand Dance Company
Chrissy Kokiri / Dancer, The New Zealand Dance Company
Jasmin Sheppard / Choreographer/Performer

Photo Credit | Lafun Photography

The Taipei Cultural Center in New York is thrilled to announce its collaboration with CUNY TV’s City Cinematheque to co-present a new five-part film series, “An Island of Stories: Recent Films from Taiwan,” set to debut on Saturday, October 5, and Sunday, October 6, 2019, both at 9 p.m. EST.

Hosted by Jerry W. Carlson, professor of Cinema Studies at The City College and Graduate Center CUNY, this series features interviews with five Taiwanese filmmakers who are representative of post-Taiwanese New Wave cinema in the 1980s. They are Wei Te-sheng, Chung Mong-hong, Chang Tso-chi, Midi Z, and Yang Ya-che. The interviews will be accompanied by these directors’ recent and well-known works that show how they adopt bold and fresh perspectives on film aesthetics and genre concepts to broaden Taiwan’s cinematic landscape.

“We are proud to share this milestone series with the U.S. audience for the first time,” said Su-pao Chang, director of the Taipei Cultural Center in New York. “Taiwan is an island of stories owing to its complex history and cultural diversity. Through a selection of captivating Taiwanese cinematic works, this series aims to not only showcase veteran and rising Taiwanese filmmakers, but also deepen the general public’s understanding about Taiwanese contemporary cinema, which is very much influenced by the cultural and historical exploration prominent in the works of Hou Hsiao-hsien, Edward Yang, and Tsai Ming-liang—iconic filmmakers of the Taiwanese New Wave movement. We hope Taiwan cinema will continue to offer a unique perspective for the contemporary world cinema.”

“The five film selection ‘An Island of Stories: Recent films from Taiwan’ seeks to…open the door to a treasure trove of films thrilling in their diversity and pure cinematic craft,” said Jerry Carlson, producer and host of City Cinematheque. “No film, of course, can tell the whole truth about being Taiwanese. But taken together, the five movies project a beautiful prism, each color telling its own part of the story in its own light.”

Featured titles are Wei Te-sheng’s CAPE NO.7, the highest grossing Taiwanese domestic film of all time; Chang Tso-chi’s prizewinner Thanatos, Drunk; Chung Mong-hong’s chilling psychological thriller Soul; Midi Z’s tragic love story The Road to Mandalay; and Yang Ya-che’s feminized crime drama The Bold, the Corrupt, and the Beautiful. For more info, visit https://tv.cuny.edu/show/citycinematheque/

About CUNY TV and City Cinematheque:
“An Island of Stories: Recent Films from Taiwan” is a production of CUNY TV, in association with the Taipei Cultural Center in New York, for production in Taipei. CUNY TV’s City Cinematheque, which has run for 29 years, is presented every weekend with the same film on Saturday and Sunday nights at 9 p.m. and repeated the following Friday night, early Saturday morning at midnight.

CUNY TV airs its programs in the New York metropolitan area (including areas of Long Island, Westchester, NJ, and CT within 35 miles of Times Square) on digital Ch. 25.3, and cablecast in the five boroughs of New York City on Ch. 75 (Spectrum and Optimum), Ch. 77 (RCN) and Ch. 30 (Verizon FiOS).

CITY CINEMATHEQUE_Taiwan Cinema_Curator's Note.pdf

Film Description and Air Times

Cape No.7 directed by Te-sheng Wei (2008)
Saturday 10/5 and Sunday 10/6 at 9 pm; Saturday 10/12 at 12 am
A box office sensation in Taiwan beating the record set by Titanic, the film weaves together a romantic comedy about putting on a rock-‘n-roll show with a serious melodrama about an intercultural love affair set during the Japanese colonial occupation of the island.

Soul directed by Mong-hong Chung (2013)
Saturday 10/12 and Sunday 10/13 at 9 pm; Saturday 10/19 at 12 am
A young sushi chef collapses. When he regains consciousness he claims to be someone else. Is this a problem of psychology or demonology? The film twists and turns in ways that would please Bunuel, Hitchcock, and Lynch.

Thanatos, Drunk directed by Tso-chi Chang (2015)
Saturday 10/19 and Sunday 10/20 at 9 pm; Saturday 10/26 at 12 am
All families experience crises. But some families are a crisis without end. Brothers Rat and Shanghe operate at the margins of Taiwanese society. They are the left behind, the ones who need to reinvent their lives on a daily basis to survive.

The Road to Mandalay directed by Midi Z (2016)
Saturday 10/26 and Sunday 10/27 at 9 pm; Saturday 11/2 at 12 am
Two young people meet as they flee Burma (Myanmar) to seek a better life in Taiwan. But they get waylaid in Thailand as they struggle to find jobs that will finance their journey into a fully modern Taiwan.

The Bold, the Corrupt, and the Beautiful directed by Ya-che Yang (2017)
Saturday 11/2 and Sunday 11/3 at 9 pm; Saturday 11/9 at 12 am
Madame Tang uses any means necessary to improve the lot of her all female family. Each step forward in their fortunes is a step back in their humanity. There is more than one way to murder someone.