If art is born from life, the shaping and combination of real-life elements such as bodies, objects, and space-time, then art festivals are large scale collective attempts to reach out to people. Everyday scenarios serve as a stage where a great abundance of sensory experiences becomes available to the public within a specific period of time. Through the gathering of people, art festivals reconnect art and daily life, returning art to daily life and celebrating its democracy and inclusiveness.

 

In this issue of Art News, we will take a look at the art festivals organized by private art organizations and see how these art groups operate their festivals to bring the arts closer to the public and deepen their connections to local communities.

 

Puppetry is a lively, intimate, and cohesive art form. Both the Close to You festival of Flying Group Theatre and the Lizé International Puppet Festival of Puppet & Its Double are art festivals devoted to puppet theater. Close to You was established in 2010 and has been held for six years as of 2018. Close to You does away with the formal theater space and takes audiences through lanes and alleyways to closely experience the cultural and historical features of each district in Taipei. Puppet theater and object theater serve to create highlights and surprises on the journey. Lizé International Puppet Festival has been held since 2017. Based in Wujie Township, Yilan County, the unique Puppet & Its Double theater troupe has been gradually adopting the aesthetics of village life, while also looking out internationally through the planning of the puppet festival. Lizé International Puppet Festival invites international puppet artists to bring their works for exchange with Taiwanese artists, which are complemented with workshops, lectures, exhibitions, and markets to celebrate the "fruitful harvest" of contemporary puppetry in autumn.

 

The Tua-Tiu-Tiann International Festival of Arts (TTTIFA) is based in the Dadaocheng ("Tua-Tiu-Tiann") area of Taipei. Every October, it brings together local cultural organizations and businesses to hold themed programs, exhibitions, workshops, lectures, and costume parades, as well as invites international artists to create works under artist residency programs. TTTIFA connects art and cultural audiences, tourists, and local businesses, creating a convergence of traditional and contemporary culture, and an eclectic mix of art and commerce. EX-Theatre Asia brings the practice of intercultural performance aesthetics to Miaoli. Since 2016, the Asia Weekend Theatre Festival @ Miaoli has combined performances with food and beverage, workshops, and talks. It continues to assemble local artistic and literary figures through multilateral management of the venues and grassroots advertising, so that there is no distance between art and the villagers.

 

In addition to taking root locally and revitalizing regional features, the art festival is also a niche for the promotion and marketing of works. In recent years, Taiwan has seen a boom in musicals as many large theater companies have been involved in the production and development of the genre. In the midst of the competition between international shows and domestic large-scale productions, the Once UPON 4 Musicals festival, organized by Punctum Drama, aims to promote the "re-production of small and medium-sized original works", to connect and share marketing and production resources, to give voice to small and medium-sized musicals, and to create industrial opportunities. The CoDance Festival of SunShier Dance Theatre is also curated with audience development as core focus. Through venue alliances and marketing partnerships with commercial organizations, the high-density publicity of the dance festival is a solution to the challenge of individual dance troupes fighting their own battles, calling attention from the market/audience to contemporary Taiwanese dance pieces.

 

The organization of festivals requires a great deal of labor, resources, and financial backing, as well as a long time period for local roots and community building in order to generate benefits. Therefore, the efforts and achievements of these festivals run by private arts organizations—which have already forged a reputation—are all the more valuable. In the unique space-time of the festivals, people come together and imagination shakes off the fetters of real life, while art creates quaint and wonderful encounters. Arts to everyone! Let's celebrate! A celebration of art.