National Kaohsiung Center for the Arts (Weiwuying) Underlines the Connections between Arts and Lives

National Kaohsiung Center for the Arts (Weiwuying) moves forward to its 2nd year of operations. With the aim of emphasising connections and developing deeper relationships with communities, individuals and the society, projects such as theatre arts education－to connect with youth generation, Weiwuying Wonderland－to connect with life, Women of the World (WOW) Partnership Project－to connect with social issue, international co-production－to connect with the world…etc. will be carried out successively.

Weiwuying’s iconic event- Weiwuying Wonderland ©National Kaohsiung Center for the Arts (Weiwuying)

Three platforms will come together for the first time in 2020, with the unveiling of Weiwuying TIFA － Contemporary Music Platform in April

Weiwuying holds the philosophy of being an intermediary for resources and introducing emerging excellent arts. Three iconic events namely Contemporary Music Platform, Taiwan Dance Platform and Weiwuying Circus Platform will happen concurrently for the first time in 2020.

The 2nd year of the Taiwan International Festival of Arts (TIFA) presented by Weiwuying Contemporary Music Platform, combines performances, a contemporary music academy, and international linkages to closely tied creators, performers, and audiences. Compared to other categories of music, contemporary music cannot be replicated into a fixed type of sound, instead, it challenges the audience’s existing ideology towards music. Weiwuying intends to invite audiences to explore contemporary music as much as possible, by presenting the “ALL PASS” ticket, which not only allows audiences to enjoy all of the programs in the entire series but also to attend specially-organised events including rehearsal sessions and meetings with the artists.

For more information of 2020 Weiwuying TIFA － Contemporary Music Platform, please visit the website. https://www.npac-weiwuying.org/programs?catalog=5de4af1c75737800060928aa&lang=en

2020 Weiwuying TIFA － Contemporary Music Platform’s Main Image. Manifest the unpredictable and stimulation of contemporary music.

Flagship Musical Program, Along with the Gods, exclusive premiere in Taiwan

In May 2020, a grand-scale musical originally from Korea, Along with the Gods, will present the 1st episode of The Afterworld on 16 to 17 May and the 2nd episode of This World on 30 to 31 May. In stark contrast to the blockbuster movie with the same name. Along with the Gods series, which was originally adapted from a famous Korean comic, tells the story of a Korean legend where people undergo seven trails within 49 days after their death in hell. Each trial is based on the people’s history of sins and crimes they might have committed while they were alive.

The seven imaginary scenes from hell will be presented in a VR fashion on a 17-meter round stage with an 80m² floor featuring LED lighting effects and a giant setting centered around a tram compartment. The play will be performed by actors with excellent vocal skills. Taiwanese audiences will be treated to a deeply moving Asian Broadway masterpiece.

Get a teaser of the theater version here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q8woyFdO8v4&feature=emb_logo

Along with the Gods: The Afterworld ©SPAC

Learning and Participation-Theater Art Experiential Education Project

Weiwuying started out the Theater Art Experiential Education Project in 2019, dedicated to improving theatre arts amongst the youths. Weiwuying is open to collaborate with local high schools and theatre professionals, to create opportunities for guiding students to learn about performing arts through actual experience.

In this project, students involved will have classes before and after watching a performance. Students will have a class learning the elements of performing arts, show their creativity in performing, and get a sense of the aesthetics before the performance. After watching the performance, theatre professionals will lead further discussion and demonstrate means to express their emotion through different approaches such as dance workshops or writing classes.

Theater Art Experiential Education Project in 2019 ©National Kaohsiung Center for the Arts (Weiwuying)