Talking Taiwan

The Taiwanese American Arts Council (TAAC) and the Yale CHATogether Group have collaborated on the NYC Art Bridge program. Several of the artists in residence at the Taiwanese American Arts Council’s house on Governors Island, Building 7B, which has affectionately come to be called the Taiwan house, have participated in the NYC Art Bridge program and created artwork for it. In this episode I will be speaking to Luchia Meihua Lee, the Executive Director of the Taiwanese American Arts Council, Dr. Eunice Yuen, Founder and Director of CHATogether, Assistant Professor of Psychiatry at Yale School of Medicine and Yale Child Study Center, and LuLu Meng one of the artists in residence at the Taiwan house who participated in the NYC Art Bridge program. We previously had Dr. Eunice Yuen on Talking Taiwan in episode 93 to talk about CHATogether (Compassionate Home Action, Together). Related Links: https://talkingtaiwan.com/nyc-art-bridge-how-taac-and-chatogether-are-winning-at-achieving-emotional-wellness-through-art-ep-258/   There will be a closing ceremony for the Taiwanese American Arts Council’s house on Governors Island this Saturday, October 28 at 2:00pm. As a special treat Talking Taiwan’s very own Executive Producer Kaju will be performing as the artist Rad Jet at the closing ceremony with a special guest, Rico Jones, six time Downbeat Magazine Award Winner,Tenor Saxophonist. If you are in the New York area we hope to see you there at Building 7B located in Governors Island’s Nolan Park.   Luchia Meihua Lee, Executive Director of the Taiwanese American Arts Council     Eunice Yuen, MD, PhD. Founder and Director of CHATogether, Assistant Professor of Psychiatry at Yale School of Medicine and Yale Child Study Center     LuLu Meng, one of the artists in residence at the Taiwan house who participated in the NYC Art Bridge program   Here’s a little preview of what we talked about in this podcast episode: ·         The concept behind NYC Art Bridge and its connection to CHATogether ·         How NYC Art Bridge connects mental health with the arts ·         How graphic media, illustration and other visual art can be used as tools to discuss mental health ·         Through NYC Art Bridge there have been talks with the community, AAPI artists, a community art exhibition ·         The two community NYC Art Bridge events that have been held on April 29 at the Queens Community College and on September 16 at the Taiwan house (on Governors Island) ·         The CHATogether component of the NYC Art Bridge events and how it facilitated discussion among the audience ·         The three parts of NYC Art Bridge: 1) an art exhibit  2) workshop, artist talks, role play, conversation with mental health professionals 3) artist interviews ·         The purpose of the artist interviews ·         How NYC Art Bridge serves to bridge artistic work with child and family mental health ·         How art can be a powerful form of expression or communication without words ·         How CHATogether use theater as a medium to destigmatize mental health and make people feel more comfortable to talk about mental health ·         How CHATogether has components of drama therapy, psychodynamic psychotherapy and cognitive behavioral therapy ·         How CHATogether and NYC Art Bridge will be presented at AACAP (American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry) on October 25 and what will be presented there ·         Pages from the graphic novel, Healing the Whole Family are displayed at the Taiwan house ·         The graphic novel, Healing the Whole Family, that was based on a New York Times article written by CHATogether member Grace Chiang ·         The illustration artwork of Elaine Shin (a psychiatry resident from, Northwestern University) is displayed at the Taiwan house ·         LuLu Meng, one of the artists in residence at the Taiwan house who also participated in NYC Art Bridge ·         How LuLu went from being a chemical engineer to an artist ·         LuLu’s background and childhood in Taiwan ·         LuLu’s family portrait artwork piece ·         LuLu’s NYC Art Bridge interview and what it revealed ·         The artwork LuLu created for NYC Art Bridge ·         LuLu’s reflections and thoughts about the CHATogether workshop on April 29 at the Queens Community College ·         LuLu’s artwork that has been displayed at the Taiwan house and what inspired LuLu to create them ·         What being an artist means to LuLu ·         The closing ceremony of the Taiwan house (Building 7B in Governors Island’s Nolan Park) will feature a performance by Talking Taiwan’s very own Executive Producer Kaju, who will be performing as the artist Rad Jet at the closing ceremony with a special guest, Rico Jones, six-time Downbeat Magazine Award Winner, Tenor Saxophonist   Related Links: https://talkingtaiwan.com/nyc-art-bridge-how-taac-and-chatogether-are-winning-at-achieving-emotional-wellness-through-art-ep-258/  

As a follow up to last week’s episode featuring my interview with General Yu, I invited Taipei Times columnist Michael Turton back on to Talking Taiwan to talk about the 1992 Consensus, a term that General Yu mentioned, and in the lead up to Taiwan’s presidential elections in January, the Kuomintang presidential candidate Hou Yi-ih brought it up. In the Related Links section below, we’ll share Michael’s Taipei Times article about the Kuomintang presidential candidate Hou Yu-ih’s support of the 1992 Consensus. Related Links: https://talkingtaiwan.com/michael-turton-tapei-times-columnist-talks-about-the-1992-consensus-ep-257/   Here’s a little preview of what we talked about in this podcast episode:   ·       The meeting in Hong Kong in 1992 between the Kuomintang (KMT) and People’s Republic of China (PRC) from which the term 1992 Consensus came ·        According to the KMT the two sides agreed that Taiwan was a part of China, but agreed to disagree on what China Taiwan was a part of ·       China insists that the One China principle means the People’s Republic of China ·       How Ma Ying-jeou, as Minister of Justice said that the People’s Republic of China wouldn’t accept any of the Kuomintang’s rational proposals, but later a president he said there was an agreement ·       How the KMT and PRC met throughout the 1990s until 1999 when President Lee Teng-hui described the relationship between Taiwan and China as state-to-state ·       The phrase 1992 Consensus doesn’t appear in the PRC until around 1997 ·       The phrase 1992 Consensus became popular in 2000 around the time of Taiwan’s presidential election, which was a three-way race between Chen Shui-bian, Lien Chan and James Soong ·       How the KMT have tried to use the 1992 Consensus to put a cage around the Democratic Progressive Party’s foreign policy ·       The 1992 Consensus was an agreement reached between the unelected parties of two authoritarian states ·       After martial law was lifted in Taiwan it was replaced by something the KMT passed called the National Security Law, and pro-democracy dissidents were still jailed in Taiwan ·       In the 1990s there was a shift in the people of Taiwan’s sense of identity as Taiwanese and a growing confidence in democracy ·       How western writers in the 1950s and 60s thought that the KMT would be marginalized as Taiwan democratized ·       How the KMT used the 1992 Consensus to cage Chen Shui-bian’s foreign policy ·       How the KMT took the Republic of China out of the United Nations when recognition was switched from the Republic of China to the People’s Republic of China as the representative of China ·       How the PRC has set rules about the usage of the term “1992 Consensus” in its media ·       A MAC (Mainland Affairs Council) poll from October 2022 had a 80% rejecting the 1992 Consensus ·       A Taiwan Public Opinion Foundation poll last year showed that 67% of people reject the 1992 Consensus ·       How the term 1992 Consensus disappeared during President Tsai Ing-wen’s administration ·       Why the KMT’s presidential candidate Hou Yu-ih brought up the 1992 Consensus ·       How it’s important to have balance so that one political party doesn’t too big or corrupt in Taiwan Related Links: https://talkingtaiwan.com/michael-turton-tapei-times-columnist-talks-about-the-1992-consensus-ep-257/

I first heard about Yú Běichén (于北辰) otherwise known as “General Yu” at the Taiwanese American Conference in July where he was one of the most popular speakers. General Yu is a retired army general, and now a Taoyuan city councilor, He ran as an independent in the November 2022 elections. I was able to interview General Yu when he was in New York with translation assistance from Winston Liao. This interview would not have been possible without the help of Jacy Chen, Sue Kuo, and Winston Liao. And a very special thanks to Meiling Lin, my mother for her help not only with translation of the interview, but for her assistance with research and preparation for this episode. Related Links: https://talkingtaiwan.com/general-yu-%e4%ba%8e%e5%8c%97%e8%be%b0-former-4-star-general-of-taiwan-army-shifts-from-kmt-to-independent-ep-256/   Here’s a little preview of what we talked about in this podcast episode: ·       General Yu’s upbringing and how he started his career in the military ·       How Taiwan has changed militarily during his 30-something years in the military ·       His thoughts on how to maintain peace for Taiwan ·       If people are willing and able to defend Taiwan if attacked by China ·       How China has invited Taiwanese soldiers, including General Yu to visit and has offered them favors and opportunities ·       The 2013 case of Hung Chung-chiu, who was a 24-year-old military conscript who died three days before the end of his compulsory military service and how General Yu was asked to step in after this incident and make some reforms ·       General Yu’s thoughts on the Sunflower Movement ·       General Yu’s comments and thought on presidential candidates who have suggested another cross-strait service and trade agreement ·       General Yu’s thought on the Kumointang and how it needs to change ·       The importance of Taiwan having a healthy, normal democracy ·       The veterans group that General Yu used be a director of ·       How General Yu’s identity shifted from seeing himself as Chinese to Taiwanese   Related Links: https://talkingtaiwan.com/general-yu-%e4%ba%8e%e5%8c%97%e8%be%b0-former-4-star-general-of-taiwan-army-shifts-from-kmt-to-independent-ep-256/

We met Tom Fifield when he was in New York City at Passport to Taiwan in May. The Taiwan Employment Gold Card Office had a booth there and he stopped by the Talking Taiwan podcast studio, but the recording conditions were less than ideal since we had a very loud generator nearby. We re-recorded the interview remotely a few months later. Tom talked about how he later became a gold card holder, what he enjoys about living in Taiwan and later became a citizen of Taiwan Tom Fifield works for the Taiwan Employment Gold Card Office at Taiwan's National Development Council. His main role is to lead a whole-of-government task-force to improve Taiwan's migration and foreign investment environment.   Related Links: https://talkingtaiwan.com/tom-fifield-of-taiwan-gold-card-what-the-gold-card-is-and-why-you-would-want-one-ep-255/   Here’s a little preview of what we talked about in this podcast episode: ·       How Tom is from Australia and what brought him to Taiwan initially ·       How Tom decided to move to Taiwan and to get Taiwan citizenship ·       The myth that foreigners who apply for Taiwan citizenship have to renounce their other citizenship ·       What Tom finds so livable about Taiwan ·       How Tom became a gold card holder and involved with the Taiwan Employment Gold Card Office ·       Where the Taiwan Employment Gold Card Office is located ·       The 10 industries eligible to apply for the Taiwan Employment Gold Card ·       Why someone should consider applying for the Taiwan Employment Gold card ·       The most difficult thing about applying for a Taiwan Employment Gold Card ·       What the Taiwan Employment Gold Card Office does and offers ·       The Taiwan Employment Gold Card Office’s email address: help@taiwangoldcard.tw ·       How the Taiwan Employment Gold Card Office opened in 2020 during COVID ·       How Taiwan was one of the few places in the world to have a net migration increase in 2020 during the COVID pandemic ·       What Taiwan Employment Gold Card holders have gone on to do and work on ·       How Tom also helps others to become naturalized citizens of Taiwan ·       Other options for those who don’t qualify for the Taiwan Employment Gold Card   Related Links: https://talkingtaiwan.com/tom-fifield-of-taiwan-gold-card-what-the-gold-card-is-and-why-you-would-want-one-ep-255/

This is our long overdue "About Us" episode Related Links: https://talkingtaiwan.com/talking-taiwan-about-us-how-it-all-started-how-far-weve-come-and-where-we-are-going-ep-254/ In this long overdue About Us episode, Talking Taiwan’s producer and host Felicia Lin shares, in her own words, how she’s seen Taiwan transform, how Talking Taiwan got started, why she got involved with it, and who this podcast is for.   I may be dating myself, but I remember Taiwan still being under martial law. It wasn't until years after martial law was lifted (in 1987) that I made my first visit to Taiwan with my family. That's because there was something called the blacklist that kept certain overseas Taiwanese from being able to return to Taiwan.   And it wasn't until 1996 that Taiwan had its first direct presidential elections. This was also the time of the Third Taiwan Strait Missile Crisis, when China lobbed missiles across the Taiwan Strait as an intimidation tactic before Taiwan's first direct presidential election.   Four years later, in 2000, I remember the excitement over a three-way presidential race between Chen Shui-bian, Lien Chan, and James Soong. A few of my friends and I wanted to assess the different candidates, but it was hard to get English language sources on their backgrounds. It's hard to imagine that now because these days, Taiwan is known to be the most democratic country in Asia. But if you think about it, its democracy is not even three decades old. And the threat from China has only increased with daily incursions as it sends its military planes into Taiwan's ADIZ. That's a big part of why I do this podcast.   It's for the people who care about Taiwan.   Getting back to how this podcast got started. It was 2012 when Gus reached out to me about a podcast idea that he was working on, called Talking Taiwan. He was looking for a female voice talent, as he put it, to host the show and asked if I knew anyone. I didn't even know exactly what a podcast was at the time, nor did I know anyone I could recommend for the job.   But as I thought about it, I found myself coming up with all sorts of episode ideas, so I pitched myself as the host.  It was on a very auspicious day, October 31st of 2012, which also happens to be my birthday, and here in New York City we were in the midst of dealing with Hurricane Sandy, no less.   It was on that day that Gus and I exchanged messages on LinkedIn and agreed to start working on Talking Taiwan together. By the way, for those of you who don't know, Gus Adapon is the founder of Forumosa. com, which is why, in case you've ever wondered, the show's outro mentions that Talking Taiwan is brought to you by Forumosa.com.   So I became Talking Taiwan's host and learned the ropes and booked all the guests.   In the early years of Talking Taiwan, it was just a fun side project, and we didn't have a regular production schedule. Then in late 2018, Gus decided to step down and handed the podcast over to me. I stepped into the role of producer of the show, and I knew that if I wanted to restart Talking Taiwan, I needed to find someone to help me with the sound engineering and technical aspects of producing the podcast. So the show went into hiatus until Kaju decided to come on board right before the pandemic.   And then when the pandemic hit in March of 2020, he and I decided to commit to producing weekly episodes of Talking Taiwan, and we haven't looked back since. We covered many topics related to the pandemic, including Taiwan's, early response to the pandemic, and how Taiwan was the only place at one time where professional baseball games were being played in the world.   In 2021 Talking, Taiwan won a Golden Crane Award for best special Interest podcast. We remain committed more than ever to producing content that matters to people who care about Taiwan. You'll hear not only from interesting people from all walks of life who are connected to Taiwan in some way, but about historically relevant topics, current events, issues and news related to Taiwan, social movements, and topics we believe our listeners care about. Related Links: https://talkingtaiwan.com/talking-taiwan-about-us-how-it-all-started-how-far-weve-come-and-where-we-are-going-ep-254/

Taliyah Huang is the creator of Bobaway, an online translator that converts English text into a Taiwanese audio clip. She is a sophomore studying biomedical engineering at Johns Hopkins University. After months away at college Taliyah felt her Taiwanese was out of practice so she created Bobaway to get better at Taiwanese and converse fluently with her grandparents. In June she posted a YouTube video about how she created it. A lot has happened since then. She’s been interviewed by TaiwaneseAmerican.org and listed on the Taiwanese American Archives. Many generous donors have allowed her to continue running Bobaway and she’s purchased a domain for it so now you can use Bobaway at Bobaway.org. Related Links: https://talkingtaiwan.com/taliyah-huang-young-inventor-of-bobaway-online-translator-that-converts-english-to-taiwanese-ep-253/ She’s continuing to work on improvements and additional features for BobaWay, but at much slower pace now that she’s busy with school. If you want to support her development of Bobaway visit her website ww.taliyahhuang.com.   Here’s a little preview of what we talked about in this podcast episode: ·       What motivated Taliyah to create Bobaway ·       How Taliyah got interested in technology ·       Taliyah’s first invention was a contraption to clean her flute ·       How Taliyah presented her first invention to US Vice President Mike Pence ·       Taliyah’s background and upbringing ·       Taliyah’s relationship with her grandparents ·       Taliyah’s favorite phrases in Taiwanese ·       How Taliyah learned to program and code ·       What Taliyah enjoys most about being an engineer ·       How Taliyah installed 100 different libraries and made 17 attempts to create Bobaway ·       How long it took Taliyah to create Bobaway ·       Why Taliyah decided to make and post a YouTube video showing how she created Bobaway ·       How Taliyah wants to inspire other young women to be interested in technology and engineering ·       Why Taliyah thinks it’s important for women to other women in STEM (Science Technology Engineering Math) ·       What kept Taliyah going and how she was not able to give up on creating Bobaway ·       How long it took Taliyah to make the YouTube video about Bobaway ·       Where the name Bobaway comes from ·       What her parents and grandparents think about Bobaway ·       The attention and response that Bobaway has gotten ·       How Taliyah has been interviewed by Bao Dao Radio and Radio Taiwan and World Journal ·       How Taliyah grew up in California and is now on the East Coast attending Johns Hopkins University ·       Why Taliyah decided to attend Johns Hopkins and what it’s been like attending Johns Hopkins ·       Inventions that Taliyah is currently working on ·       Suggestions that Taliyah has gotten from people using Bobaway ·       Taliyah’s role models ·       How you can learn more about Taliyah and support her development of Bobaway   Related Links: https://talkingtaiwan.com/taliyah-huang-young-inventor-of-bobaway-online-translator-that-converts-english-to-taiwanese-ep-253/

My guest on this episode of Talking Taiwan is the film director Arvin Chen. He just directed Love in Taipei, the film adaptation of Abigail Hing Wen’s bestselling YA novel Loveboat, Taipei. Related Links: https://talkingtaiwan.com/love-in-taipei-our-interview-with-award-winning-film-director-arvin-chen-ep-252/     If you’re a long-time listener of Talking Taiwan you may remember when I interviewed Abigail about her bestselling YA novel. That success was preceded by 12 years of writing and over 20 drafts of the novel. It was also in that episode that she announced that Loveboat, Taipei was going to be made into a film.   I remember watching her journey afterward on social media as the film was being shot in Taiwan during COVID. Arvin directed the film version of the book Love in Taipei and I had a chance to speak to him recently about the film.   Some of you may be familiar with some of Arvin’s other films, Au Revoir Taipei, Will You Love Me Tomorrow? and Mama Boy.        Here’s a little preview of what we talked about in this podcast episode: ·         The iconic scenes of Taipei that are captured in the film, Love in Taipei ·         What it was like shooting at the Grand Hotel because Arvin got married there ·         Some of Arvin’s favorite scenes from Love in Taipei ·         The challenges of shooting huge crowd scenes ·         Arvin’s favorite types of scenes to shoot ·         What it was like shooting in Taiwan during COVID ·         How the casting was an open call and what that process was like ·         How Arvin usually writes and directs his films, but Love in Taipei was adapted from the YA novel Loveboat Taipei and Arvin was not involved with the screen adaptation ·         Arvin’s directing approach to Love in Taipei ·         How to capture the essence of the Loveboat experience ·         The Loveboat program and what it is ·         Parallels between Arvin’s experience of going back to Taiwan in his 20s and that of the characters of the film Love in Taipei ·         What has changed and stayed the same about Taipei since Arvin went there to live and work in 2001 ·         How Taiwanese food has been softly exported around the world ·         The music that was selected for Love in Taipei ·         The Mandarin Chinese language version of the Whitney Houston song, How Will I Know ·         The role of or choreography in Love in Taipei ·         How Ashley Liao had to learn modern dance moves in a matter of weeks for her role as Ever Wong ·         If anything unexpected happened during the filming of Love in Taipei ·         What Arvin likes about the romantic comedy genre ·         What it was like to co-write the script for Arvin’s latest film Mama Boy ·         Changes in the Taiwanese film industry over the last 20 years ·         How Taiwan has a thriving film industry because of commercial filmmaking and local film crews with technical know how to work on an American movie ·         How Arvin’s films could be someone’s introduction to Taiwan or a Taiwanese movie ·         Films that introduced Taiwan to Arvin and that Arvin would recommend people watch ·         A more recent Taiwanese film that Arvin would recommend ·         How working with film director Edward Yang influenced Arvin ·         How Arvin’s directing style differs from Edward Yang’s ·         What it is about Taipei that inspires Arvin ·         What Arvin has been working on and what we can expect from him in the future ·         What Arvin hopes that audiences come away with after watching Love in Taipei   Related Links: https://talkingtaiwan.com/love-in-taipei-our-interview-with-award-winning-film-director-arvin-chen-ep-252/

Dr. Jung Tsai is a retired surgeon. He had been in practice for nearly 50 years. He specialized in Cancer and Vascular Surgery. He is the founding President of The Greater New York Region Pen club in 2003 and was the National President of North American Taiwanese Medical association. He was the commissioner and current consultant of OCAC 僑委會 Related Links: https://talkingtaiwan.com/dr-jung-tsai-on-his-courageous-medical-mission-to-ukraine-for-taiwan-ep-251/ I met Dr. Jung Tsai nearly 15 years ago and in July I happened to run into him when I was at the New York Taiwan Center for an event. That’s when I learned that he was organizing a medical mission to Ukraine and asked if he’d talk with me about it for Talking Taiwan. Dr. Tsai is a retired surgeon, who’s been in practice for nearly 50 years. His specialty is Cancer and Vascular Surgery. He is the founding President of The Greater New York Region Pen club in 2003 and was the National President of North American Taiwanese Medical Association. He was also the commissioner and is currently a consultant of OCAC (僑委會). Dr. Tsai has 15 years of experience going on medical missions with the North America Taiwanese Medical Association, but nothing could have prepared him for this undertaking which has been full of ups and downs. Despite it all, Dr. Tsai has single-handedly made it happen.   He and his team will be heading to Warsaw on August 29th and spending 10 days in Rivne, Ukraine. We be holding you and your team in our thoughts during this live saving, live changing mission and looking forward to your safe return.   Dr. Tsai’s courage is a reminder to focus on what really matters in life and not to give up even when things seem insurmountable.   Here’s a little preview of what we talked about in this podcast episode: ·       Why Dr. Tsai decided to organize a medical mission to Ukraine ·       Dr. Tsai’s observation that people in Taiwan do not want to go to war with China ·       How Dr. Tsai went about organizing the medical mission to Ukraine ·       How Dr. Tsai had planned to bring a group of 25 but then people suddenly started dropping out ·       The concerns of people who dropped out of the medical mission and those who have committed ·       How the Minister of Health in Ukraine wrote a letter in support of Dr. Tsai’s medical mission to help get visas needed for the people coming from Taiwan ·       The challenges Dr. Tsai has faced in single-handedly organizing this mission ·       The group of 15 people who will be going on the medical mission to Ukraine; 13 medical professionals and 2 reporters from Formosa Television ·       The efforts of some people in Taiwan to help Ukraine ·        How the U.S. State department advised Dr. Tsai against going to Ukraine ·       The group will be in Rivne, Ukraine for 10 days from September 1-10 ·       Afterward 5 of the group will go to Lithuania for a meeting ·       How the Baltic Way in 1989 inspired the 2004 Hand-in-Hand Rally in Taiwan ·       The first person to commit to joining Dr. Tsai’s medical mission to Ukraine ·       The logistics of procuring medical supplies, hiring a translator ·       How Dr. Tsai was interviewed by a New York Times reporter about the medical mission to Ukraine ·       How plans for the medical mission to Ukraine are constantly changing ·       Dr. Tsai’s thoughts on people’s fatigue about the war in Ukraine and people’s concerns over the U.S.’s support of Ukraine ·       How Dr. Tsai has saved the life of a high-ranking member of the Chinese Communist Party ·       How a young Ukrainian activist whose father has been captured by Russia contacted Dr. Tsai to thank him and ask to meet with him ·       How Dr. Tsai and his team will announce their medical mission to Ukraine at Taiwan’s Legislative Yuan on August 28   Related Links: https://talkingtaiwan.com/dr-jung-tsai-on-his-courageous-medical-mission-to-ukraine-for-taiwan-ep-251/

On August 6th we stopped by the TaiwanFest at the Culture Lab in New York City’s Long Island City and what a treat it was!    Related Links: https://talkingtaiwan.com/taiwanfest-at-culture-lab-a-night-market-comes-to-long-island-city-ep-250/   You may remember that back in April we stopped by the first TaiwanFest of the year which got rained out and talk about night and day! This time we were happy to see that there were long lines and many of the food vendors got sold out early. There were also vendors selling all sorts of things from trinkets to T-shirts. To learn more about the different vendors at TaiwanFest just visit their website at Taiwanfest.nyc. We’ve been to several of the TaiwanFest’s throughout New York City this summer but what made the one on the 6th really special was the live music, and since it ran from 3-9pm it really took on a night market like atmosphere by the end of the night.   I spoke to a few of the community organizations that were there, like the Hakka Association of New York and FASCA (Formosa Association of Student Cultural Ambassadors).   Borcheng, TaiwanFest’s organizer also talked about how TaiwanFest is bringing more of Taiwan to New York City.   Here’s a little preview of what we talked about in this podcast episode: ·       the Hakka Association of New York ·       the Hakka Association of New York’s Leicha experience at TaiwanFest ·       FASCA (Formosa Association of Student Cultural Ambassadors) ·       How TaiwanFest is bringing more of Taiwan to New York City ·       The musicians that performed at TaiwanFest on August 6th ·       The next TaiwanFest on August 26 will be a Bubble Tea Festival   Related Links: https://talkingtaiwan.com/taiwanfest-at-culture-lab-a-night-market-comes-to-long-island-city-ep-250/

The Taiwanese American Arts Council (TAAC) has been selected to be an Organization in Residence on Governors Island from May to October of this year. The Taiwanese American Arts Council’s house is at Building 7B in Nolan Park on New York’s Governors Island. There will be several artists in residence there. About 20 or 30 artists will use the studios there. Every month there’s something new to see and experience at the house. The art on exhibit is everchanging. Plus there are performances and other events. Altogether 40 artists will be involved. The Taiwanese American Arts Council is the only Asian organization on Governors Island this year. Related Links:  https://talkingtaiwan.com/taiwanese-american-arts-council-from-island-to-island-on-governors-island-ep-249/   In this episode you’ll learn about the theme of the house From Island to Island and what’s going to be happening at there in September.   Maxine Leu is a Taiwanese interdisciplinary artist who's living in New York. Her work includes environmental and cultural issues.   Luchia Meihua Lee is the Executive Director of the Taiwanese American Arts Council.   Ming-Jer Kuo (born in Taipei, Taiwan) is a New York-based artist. He had worked as an environmental engineer for eleven years and came to New York for art. He creates interdisciplinary visual art works based on his lens-based media experience, urban living interests and engineer’s analytic perspective.   Sarah Walko is an artist, director, curator and writer. She is currently the Director of Education and Community Engagement at the Visual Art Center of New Jersey.   Here’s a little preview of what we talked about in this podcast episode: ·         The Taiwanese American Arts Council’s house on New York’s Governors Island ·         Artist Maxine Leu and the inspiration behind her dandelion sculptures ·         Luchia Meihua Lee, the Executive Director of the Taiwanese American Arts Council explains the concept and meaning behind the theme of the TAAC’s house “From Island to Island” ·         Events and exhibits happening at the TAAC house in September ·         Ming-Jer Kuo’s background, what inspires his art, and what he’ll have on exhibit in the group show in September at house at the Taiwanese American Arts Council’s house on Governors Island building 7B ·         What inspires Sarah Walko’s art and some of her pieces that were on exhibit at the Taiwanese American Arts Council’s house on Governors Island building 7B   Related Links:  https://talkingtaiwan.com/taiwanese-american-arts-council-from-island-to-island-on-governors-island-ep-249/