The Taipei Cultural Center in New York (TCC), which was established as the first overseas office of Taiwan's Ministry of Culture in 1991, builds connections through arts and culture in New York and throughout North America. Each year, we reach out to art museums, theaters, performing arts centers, film cinemas, festivals, curators, and presenters in the US and Canada. We support international cultural exchanges, collaborations, and artistic events in order to introduce Taiwan's arts and culture to a broader audience.
The Cultural Center (known today as the Taipei Cultural Center in New York or TCC) was co-founded by the Council for Cultural Affairs, Government Information Office, and Ministry of Education in 1991. It ran the Taipei Gallery and Taipei Theater, which were located at 1121 Avenue of the Americas in Midtown Manhattan. These venues served as platforms for showcasing Taiwanese culture. In 2002, the venues were closed due to a change in the Cultural Center’s mission. In October 2005, the center relocated to its current address at 1 East 42nd Street.
On May 20, 2012, the Council for Cultural Affairs was upgraded and renamed as the Ministry of Culture, Republic of China (Taiwan). The Ministry has opened four branch offices: the TCC, Taiwan Academy of Taipei Economic and Cultural Representative Office in the U.S., Taiwan Academy of TECO in Los Angeles, and Taiwan Academy of TECO in Houston.
In order to cope with the new trend of global cultural competition, the Taipei Cultural Center has adjusted its goals and mission to, using its office in New York as an outpost, promoting understanding of Taiwan’s culture and arts in North America continuously and systematically. By using culture and arts as communication channels, Taiwan is able to enhance mutual understanding and appreciation in culture and arts, as well as to strengthen the friendship with the United States and Canada.
To achieve the aforementioned goals and mission, the strategic plans of the Taipei Cultural Center are to cooperate with the important performance organizations in New York and North America, to invite Taiwan’s performance and visual arts groups or artists to New York and North America to perform, exhibit, or conduct artist residency, to actively participate in arts festivals of North America, to promote Taiwan’s artists onto international stages, and to increase international visibility of Taiwan’s culture and arts.
In addition, the Taipei Cultural Center will invite important performance agents and visual arts curators in North America to Taiwan to visit performance groups and artists in order to promote better understanding of Taiwan’s arts groups and artists. Moreover, in accordance with Taiwan’s artist residency programs in North America supported by the Ministry of Culture on Taiwan, the Taipei Culture Center will also provide assistance to resident artists to present their art achievements.