Located in central Taipei, the National Theater & Concert Hall celebrated its 30th anniversary in 2017, but many Taiwanese citizens have never seen a performance at this world class performance arts center. CDF has been a supporter of the National Theater & Concert Hall’s ‘Art for Everyone’ project since 2009. During this time, 1,398 children from disadvantaged households and remote communities, as well as young students, have been able to enjoy a performance at the National Theater & Concert Hall.
According to the National Theater & Concert Hall, most audience members are urban residents. The further away from urban areas people live, the less likely they are to have attended cultural events. To facilitate access to domestic and foreign arts programs for children from remote areas, social welfare groups, and young students, CDF has been supporting the ‘Art for Everyone’ project.
Via CDF resources, ‘Art for Everyone’ has helped people from remote communities overcome obstacles, including a lack of transportation and ticket fees, as well as psychological barriers. The project has narrowed the gap between urban and rural areas’ cultural resources.
Under the project, a group of hearing-impaired children were invited by the National Theater & Concert Hall and CDF to a performance by the Philharmonix. They were offered a pre-performance guide and captions on screen, allowing them to better understand the performance in advance. Hsieh Li-fang, Chairwoman of the Board of the Dandelion Hearing & Language Association said, “Participating in arts activities is a great help to hearing-impaired people in brain and language development, emotional management, and stress reduction. The children learn from listening to the sounds that musical instruments make and feel the music in a way similar to those with normal hearing.” Thanks to efforts by sponsoring enterprises and the National Theater & Concert Hall, these hearing-impaired children have seen their arts dreams come true.
The CDIB Education and Cultural Affairs Foundation, as part of this project, has arranged for the participation of 125 college students in a few program rehearsals, including Japanese director Koki Mitani’s production of Jekyll & Hyde & So on and Shakespeare’s Wild Sisters Group’s newest work Dear Life, in a bid to foster the arts in Taiwan. This was the first experience of going to a theater for many of the young students. The foundation believes that young people, after experiencing the charms of the theater, will become theater audiences in the future.
There are many obstacles to participating in arts activities in Taiwan. As we work toward cultural parity through the “Art for Everyone” project, CDF has opened up a door for young students and provided a breeding ground for the arts.