The News Lens
Date: 2016/07/04
By: Olivia Yang

The highly distinguishable artist has never received any professional training, but his works

are in the possession of people like Luc Besson.

A portrait of Michael Jackson clad in traditional Hakka-style floral fabrics took the streets of Taipei by storm last year to commemorate the King of Pop’s birthday.

Behind the piece, which contrasted western and eastern culture, is emerging artist Joe Anderson (周學), who is now exhibiting at the Taiwan National Treasure Art Museum in Hualien and has works collected by well-known people such as French director Luc Besson.

But this highly original artist didn’t start out as a painter.

From full-time scrivener to emerging amateur artist

Seventeen years ago, Anderson was a scrivener looking for a way to release his stress and escape his busy work life. At the age of 30, Anderson started taking lessons at a studio and hasn’t stopped painting ever since.

The artist told The News Lens International that he didn’t specifically choose oil painting, but that this is what most studios teach.

“I personally like oil paints better though,” he says. “The colors and brush strokes come out more.”

Anderson says he is also good at pencil drawings and Chinese ink painting, but the black and white colors don’t stand out enough for him.     [FULL  STORY]

Taiwan News
Date: 2016-06-28
By: George Liao, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

Taipei City’s Department of Information and Tourism on Tuesday announced that the 2016 Taipei Riverside Festival will take place on every weekend from July 2 to August 27, featuring performances from heavyweight musicians such as singer Bobby Chen, The Chairman band, the Chang and Lee singing group, and Canada-based musician Matthew Lien.

This year’s riverside festival was officially launched after the electronic music rock and roll band, Taiko Electro Co., and Bobby Chen sang the original Chinese version of “Smells of Roses” as well as a performance by Chang and Lee, who just won this year’s Golden Melody best singing group award.

The department said the Taipei Riverside Festival, which was inaugurated last year, will be expanded this year with weekend performances during the festival period at places including Dadaocheng Wharf, Dajia River Park, Gongguan, Guandu Wharf, and Machangding Memorial Park. The department urged people to come to the riverside parks to listen to the concerts and visit the on-site markets.     [FULL  STORY]

Taiwan News
Date: 2016-06-27
By: George Liao, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

The “House of Little Moments,” produced by the advertising group ADK Taiwan for Uni-President Enterprises’ Uni Noodle, on June 24 captured the Gold Lion award in the Entertainment Lions category at the 2016 Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity.

This is the second Gold Lion award a Taiwanese creative marketing company has been awarded since the Cannes Lions was founded in 1954. The first Gold Lion award was given to a Taiwanese company in 1999.

The “House of Little Moments” emerged as one of the eight Gold Lion winners out of the 1843 entries in the entertainment category. A total of 61 Lion awards in the category were given this year.

ADK Taiwan’s performance in the category has been exceptional among Asian companies at this year’s Cannes Lions. Besides the ADK Taiwan, only Singapore’s BBH and Inida’s BBDO won a Silver Lion and a Bronze Lion in the category, respectively.     [FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2016/06/26
By: Sabine Cheng and Kay Liu

Taipei, June 26 (CNA) The National Theater will close for an eight-month renovation from July,

after providing a stage for performers at home and from abroad for 29 years, the venue’s operator said Sunday.

A ceremony was held in the National Theater’s lobby that afternoon before the final performance at the venue, which will undergo a full transformation to update its equipment.

Although the venue has been examined, maintained and updated piece-by-piece throughout its 29-year history, there is equipment that must be replaced, because some of the spare parts needed to fix it are no longer produced, said Lee Huey-mei (李惠美), artistic director of the National Theater and Concert Hall (NTCH).

The renovation work, including the stage and its equipment, will be carried out by German firm SBS, which handled the renovation of the Schauspiel Frankfurt theater, and will be supervised by Kunkel Consulting, another German firm that rebuilt and updated the stage technology of the Bolshoi Theatre in Moscow, Lee said.     [FULL  STORY]

The China Post
Date: June 18, 2016
By: Hsuan Chung-wen, Special to The China Post

TAIPEI, Taiwan — A Chinese opera group will present the most famous love tragedy in Chinese

history, here in Taiwan. “Longevity Palace” (長生殿) is a well-known historical tale from the Tang Dynasty. It tells the unforgettable love story between Lee Lung-ge (李隆基 A.D. 685-A.D. 762), known as Emperor Huan (唐玄宗) and his magnificent concubine Yang Yu-huan (楊玉環 A.D. 719-A.D. 756), which ended in tragedy, as she was forced by her beloved husband, the emperor, to hang herself at the age of 35.

This unique combination of Kun and Beijing Opera will be performed on June 17 and 18, at 7:30 p.m., and on June 19 at 2:30 p.m. at the City Theater, No. 25, Bade Road, Section 3, Taipei. Information about the performance is available at www.koo.org.tw.

This new-style opera is the creation of professor Li Bao-chun (李寶春) of the Chinese Opera Department, Chinese Culture University. Li is an outstanding Beijing opera actor, specializing in both male and martial art roles. He has won many awards for his performances, including one for best Asian actor from the U.S. Lincoln Center.     [FULL  STORY]