Taiwan Today
Date: January 11, 2016

An exhibition of prints celebrating the upcoming Year of the Monkey in the

Chinese zodiac was recently launched by National Taiwan Museum of Fine Arts in Taichung City.

Comprising 80 pieces selected from 256 submissions in a competition conducted by NTMFA, the 31st Annual Exhibition of New Year Prints showcases the wealth of Taiwan intergenerational creativity as the contributing artists are aged between 10 and 70. Of the featured works, six bagged grand prizes, 10 awards of excellence, 20 jury selections and 44 commendations.

Also included in the exhibition are two respective works by master silkscreen artists Boris Kuo, a professor with National Taipei University of Education, and Tsai I-hsung, an assistant professor with New Taipei City-based National Taiwan University of Arts.

NTMFA curator Hsiao Tsung-huang said Kuo’s circle-framed montage print features a monkey, a poster and other everyday items, while Tsai’s offering contains the upside-down Chinese character for spring, which is usually seen in couplets during the Lunar New Year.

The grand prize winners, which employ a variety of themes and techniques, include Chen Ting-hsuan’s monkeys in four seasons; Hsu Chieh’s eight primates representing deities in Chinese mythology; Lin Yi-hsien’s monkey family with flowers and a mountain background; and Lu Yen-huei’s simplified image of a sitting monkey complemented by delicate patterns in gold and red.     [FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2016/01/11
By: Sabine Cheng and Evelyn Kao

Taipei, Jan. 11 (CNA) Located in Taibao City in Chiayi County, the National

Palace Museum’s southern branch, which opened late last year, is focused on Asian art and culture, including Taiwan and China, and is aimed at balancing the cultural development between the northern and southern parts of Taiwan, according to the museum’s director, Fung Ming-chu (馮明珠).

The museum features tall, modern architectural-style buildings, in stark contrast to the National Palace Museum, established 66 years ago in Taipei’s Shilin District.

The southern branch project was initiated in July 2001 and officially opened Dec. 28, 2015.

Unlike the National Palace Museum, which houses the world’s largest collection of nearly 700,000 priceless Chinese art pieces spanning China’s nearly 5,000-year history, the southern branch has been set up as an Asian art and culture museum, according to Fung.     [FULL  STORY]

Taipei Times
Date:  Jan 10, 2016
By: Chen Hui-ling, Yang Hsin-han and Jake Chung  /  Staff reporter, with staff writer

B’in Music Co on Friday reiterated that it would not encourage inappropriate

behavior and is determined to officially terminate its contract with Pan Chun-chia (潘俊佳), better known by his stage name, Ga Ga (嘎嘎), of the Mando-pop, R ’n’ B group Magic Power (魔幻力量).

The Chinese-language Next Magazine on Wednesday reported that Pan, the second lead vocalist of the music group, was filmed kissing Wu Yun-ting (吳昀廷) — better known as Bao Er (寶兒) — a member of the girl-group Popu Lady, and allegedly slipped his hands under her shirt.

Wu later said that the angle of the picture exaggerated events, adding that Pan was flailing about because he had been drinking.

However, Magic Power’s label B’in Music Co was unconvinced and on Wednesday announced that Pan’s image had been tarnished, adding that it has decided to expel him from the music group after his 20-concert contract ends on Jan. 31.     [FULL  STORY]

Taiwan Today
Date: January 8, 2016

An exhibition showcasing the puppets and related materials of accomplished

French talent Jean-Luc Penso kicked off Jan. 5 at Puppetry Art Center of Taipei.

The Origin of Puppetry features glove, shadow and string puppets, as well as posters, properties and scripts used in Penso’s past performances. Also on display are photos taken during the artist’s five-year stint studying in Taiwan under the late Li Tien-lu, a legendary proponent of the art form renowned at home and abroad.

“We met in a Taipei antique shop in 1970,” Penso said Jan. 6 at a news conference at the center. “At first, I didn’t realize who was standing in front of me, but after he staged an impromptu performance, I recognized his immense talent and decided to stay and learn from him.”

According to Penso, Li asked him to devote his life to promoting puppetry around the world. “I agreed and founded the Small Mirror Theater after returning to France. My glove puppet troupe has toured more than 80 countries and territories in the past 40 years,” he said.     [FULL  STORY]

Taipei Times
January 8, 2016

Fire Ex main vocalist Sam Yang’s wife, Enno Cheng, came out of the closet on

Sunday, which was a shock to many people. Immediately, Yang posted a status update on Facebook to voice his support, in which he mentioned their wedding vows. Although the update was short, it moved a great many netizens.

Yang said on Facebook that, “One day after we got married, Enno honestly told me about her ‘struggle with self-identification.’ Since then, we have held hands and faced this matter together. After repeated communication and confirmation, we know that our most difficult days have passed. We are doing very well at present.”

Yang also said that, “Over the past nine years, we have been deeply in love with each other. This love is not going to disappear in the future, it will just cease to exist in the name of romantic love. I will never forget my wedding vow to her: ‘I will forever protect Enno’s right to be herself.’ I will continue to be her strongest support in life. I am also very proud of our candor and courage.”

When she came out, Cheng explained, “Since childhood, my sexual orientation has been filled with ambiguity. I was in love with some very marvellous souls, but when it came to persons of the opposite sex, I always failed at the test of physicality; physical contact was stressful to me. After months of repeated communication, we have come to accept the fact that I cannot fall in love with his body, but that he is not to blame. (I feel shy to say this, but he has a great body. No kidding.) The reason is that I like the female body.”     [FULL  STORY]