Taipei Performing Arts Center, hailed as an instant landmark and a symbol of Taiwan is officially open
Taipei Performing Arts Center (TPAC), arguably Asia’s most important cultural development of 2022 is now open to the public, and more importantly, to local and international artists. The design, which incorporates three theatres in one building, is hailed as an architectural landmark. The inaugural season, which spans from the end of June to early October and counts an eye-dropping number of more than 150 productions for both children and adults.
A celebratory ceremony held on 7 August was presided by the Mayor of Taipei, Ko Wen-je, and architects Rem Koolhaas and David Gianotten of Office for Metropolitan Architecture (OMA), as well as TPAC’s chairman Liu Ruo-yu and CEO Austin Wang. It was followed by an opening concert featuring the world premiere of Taiwanese composer Nan-Chang Chien’s Symphony No. 5 Taipei, performed by the Taipei Symphony Orchestra.
Grand Opening © Paul Chao
Taipei Performing Arts Center © LIN, Hsung Lang
TPAC comprises three theatres around an elevated central cube that invites the city’s street life on site. The spherical 800-seat proscenium theatre, Globe Playhouse, resembles a planet docking against the cube. Grand Theatre is a 1,500-seat space for a wide variety of performing arts. Opposite and on the same level is the 800-seat multiform theatre, Blue Box, for the most experimental presentations. When brought together, the two theatres become the 2,300-seat Super Theatre, a massive performance space. Equipped with facilities to meet the most challenging pyrotechnical demands of contemporary theatre, the spaces have been specially designed to offer new theatrical opportunities.
Grand Theatre © OMA Photography by Chris Stowers
Globe Playhouse © OMA Photography by Chris Stower
The inaugural season, which spans more than three months, encompasses 23 productions commissioned by TPAC, 14 productions of the Taipei Arts Festival, 15 productions of the Taipei Children’s Arts Festival, and over 100 productions under the auspices of Taipei Fringe Festival. They are on not only the three stages of TPAC, but also in its many outdoor and rehearsal spaces, as well as a dozen conventional and unconventional performing spaces around TPAC. The variety of the programmes including music, contemporary and traditional theatre, dance, VR, and site-specific performances, as well as the diversity of participating artists, who includes members of the indigenous and LGBTQ communities demonstrate the inclusiveness and vibrancy of Taiwan’s cultural scene. A handful of shows have creators and performers from abroad, put on with great planning under the on-going Covid-19 restrictions.
Da Vinci’s Notebook ©Paul Chao
Liu Ruo-yu, Chairman of TPAC, said, “The opening of Taipei Performing Arts Center is the most exciting and inspirational cultural event in Taiwan in recent years. From top to bottom, inside and outside, we are eager to offer every space for artists to realise their potential. We will also offer artists resources and expertise, including technical and promotional support, enabling young artists to mature and facilitate established artists to create their masterworks for the next generation.”
Austin Wang, CEO of TPAC, said, “Taipei is the most open and free metropolis in the Chinese speaking world, where artists can create without concern for censorship. With freedom of expression as its foundation, Taipei Performing Arts Center has a mission to champion the multiplicity of voices in Taiwan. In our opening season we present master artists, mavericks as well as a children’s festival where family across generations can experience the infinite variety of performing arts. Despite the challenges posed by the pandemic, we have been able to collaborate with artists from the UK, France, Hong Kong, the Philippines, Spain and Thailand. We are presenting theatre, dance, musicals, operas, symphonies, multi-media works, and performance art. This body of work is a testament to the tenacity of Taiwanese artists and the technical prowess of TPAC.”
For more information: www.tpac-taipei.org