National Taichung Theater – 2024 NTT Arts NOVA

2024 NTT Arts NOVA (Photo credit: National Taichung Theater)

It’s About TIME

As the annual opening season at the National Taichung Theater (NTT), the Arts NOVA series thrives on showcasing new and adventurous artworks that celebrate novelty, cross-disciplinary collaboration, and new media on stage in the springtime of Taichung. Since its rebirth last year from NTT-TIFA to Arts NOVA, this year the series embraces the theme of exploring the concept of time.

From early Mar to Jun, a lineup of 13 diverse programmes resolve around the discussion of time, and each offers a unique perspective on life’s transient nature. A seasonal mixture of music, new media, theatre, wordless drama, dance, and audiovisual artwork, challenges conventional perceptions and ponders the mysteries of existence. It’s an exciting time of the year to embark on a captivating journey through the boundaries of time and sensory perception.

All right. Good night. (Photo credit: Merlin Nadj-Torma)

In the finite time each of us has, the concept of ‘death’ often lurks as an underlying anxiety. In All right. Good night. by Rimini Protokoll, director Helgard Haug delves into the parallels between the enigmatic disappearance of Malaysian Airlines Flight 370 and her father’s inevitable decline into dementia. Meanwhile, in Propositions on Disappearance III, choreographer YU Yen-fang grapples with the passing of her father, an unavoidable experience that time will always bring one day. It makes one wonder about the scenario when time doesn’t exist, as depicted in the dreamlike aesthetics of the Noh theatre in TIME, created by Oscar-winning composer Ryuichi Sakamoto and visual artist Shiro Takatani. Or one can look at it in another way when death represents the end of time. Flesh, presented by Still Life from Belgium, delves into black humour surrounding death, depicting ordinary life moments that become so dramatically absurd they serve as a reminder of our existence.

reCONNECT 2024：NEW CANVAS (Photo credit: Dimension Plus)

In the 2024 NTT Arts NOVA, alongside the overarching theme of time, there are five international and eight local Taiwanese artists featured. As the recipient of the 2023-2024 NTT Artists-in-Residence, CHEN Wu-kang uses atypical dance approaches to explore themes of family memories and displacement in Dance a Dance to Remember.

The reCONNECT 2024：NEW CANVAS, a collaboration between NTT’s T.A.P. Project and Dimension Plus, a Hong Kong and Taiwan bi-cities-based New Media Arts team, will present an immersive audio-visual art exhibition and live performances in the unconventional space at the NTT, covering the 19-metre tall curved walls of the second-floor Theatre Foyer outside the Grand Theater.

Renowned Taiwanese dance group Cloud Gate Dance Theatre of Taiwan will revive CHENG Tsung-lung‘s breathtaking piece Lunar Halo, promising a thrilling fusion of contemporary dance and visual arts. Meanwhile, the Neo-Classical Chamber Ensemble draws inspiration from Taiwanese master painter Paul CHIANG, exploring beauty and self-discovery in Pursuing the Light Ahead—Into PAUL CHIANG. The bursting energy of creativity and talent from the local teams is both exciting and reassuring.

December Nite (Photo credit: HAN Cheng-yeh)

One of the distinctive features of the NTT spring season is its commitment to experimentation and bold innovation. New media and cross-disciplinary artworks are consistently at the forefront of the series, offering a platform for cutting-edge ideas.

This year, the series includes renowned artist Max Cooper‘s Live 3D AudioVisual, transforming the NTT Grand Theater into a glamorous party of immersive audiovisual experience. Meanwhile, Adrien M. & Claire B. from France will present Équinoxe, realising the balanced blend of technology and art with imagery generated on-the-fly by the team’s eMotion software. While in Taiwanese teams, VJ Aka CHANG and composer HAN Cheng-yeh play with laser art, visuals, and sound design in December Nite, weaving the poetic web of lights and space.

In NTT’s Emerging Artists Project, sound artist WU Ping-sheng, DJ Andy CHIU, and multimedia designer Jie LIOU redefine the perception of the world, creating The Boundary of Sense for a journey beyond regular acknowledgement. Additionally, theatre director HUNG Wei-yao‘s latest production, Sucks in the Middle, delves into the urban shadows and existential dilemmas faced by Taiwanese individuals aged 30 to 40, offering a fresh perspective on courage and resilience.

In the context of the 2024 NTT Arts NOVA series, Joyce CHIOU, the Artistic Director of the theatre, emphasises the enchanting nature of theatre, where our perception of time fades away as we immerse ourselves in the experience. Stepping through the doors, we leave behind our everyday worries, entering a world where time seems to stand still. And now is always the time to experience the magic of Arts NOVA at the NTT.

For more info: https://www.npac-ntt.org/ArtsNova/