2018 Taoyuan Land Art Festival—Old City, New Art: The Sparkling Young Taoyuan

Touring Fugang

The folk custom games will be based on the history of Fugang. They will include trivia about Fugang combined with activities such as creating dough figurine sculpture, sugar painting, making tanghulu, and rolling iron hoops. By completing the folk custom games, players will be awarded traditional souvenirs. The 2018 TLAF welcomes everyone to visit the Fugang Old Street and re-experience Fugang's simple, fun, and unsophisticated lifestyles back in the days.

"Experiencing" the Stories of Fugang

For this activity, storytellers will tell the stories of Fugang in a lively and interactive way. They will depart from the TRA Fugang Station and share with visitors the history of the Fugang Old Street through stories. These stories will include the rise and fall of the Laolongjian Rice Mill in the agricultural period, the memories shared by local residents and the Fugang Police Department, the establishment of the Dajingtou Tudigong Temple (resulting from available water resources and people's beliefs), and the creation and architectural features of the ancient Lushi House. Visitors will be invited to visit the old neighborhood, appreciate the charm of the times, and learn more about the local stories of Fugang.

Observing the fish of Fugang

This activity was inspired by the 2016 TLAF Mobile Art: Seven-color Fish. The activity will invite festival teams from the Xinwu, Bade, and Guanyin Districts (where the land art festivals have been held over the years) and combine the strength and resources of the local community to create small and large fish. In addition, a land art volunteer team has been established to bring the festival closer to the local community. The parade will continue to pass on the TLAF spirit like swimming fish, enabling art to "blossom" throughout the city of Taoyuan.

Examining Handcarts

In the agricultural period, many poor families worked as laborers. They pulled traditional handcarts to transport rice and cargo from places to places in exchange for board and lodging. Advances in modern science and technology have gradually replaced manual labor with machines. Today, it is difficult for the millennials to picture traditional tools used by farmers during the agriculture period. Introduction and games for visitors to learn about the ancient handcarts and old Fugang buildings are available. The goal is to allow visitors to experience first-hand the hardship experienced by people of the past.

Enjoying the Food of Fugang

The unique Hakka cultural custom of "food is a blessing" will be used as the theme to connect the five most representative traditional Hakka dishes together with poems. Xu Shui-fu, a local poet of Taoyuan and winner of the Chinese World Ice Heart Literature Award, has been invited to write poems for the Hakka dishes. By utilizing Xu's rich and diverse artistic background and strong literary attainment, food and art will be impeccably united.

Pounding Mochi

Local hospitable Hakka people will explain the history and culture of traditional Hakka food. Visitors invite their friends and sign up as teams. By pounding glutinous rice dumpling into mochi, visitors will experience Hakka people's cohesiveness in overcoming struggles. In addition, exquisite Hakka rice soup will be prepared for visitors to enjoy and reminisce the simple atmosphere of Hakka farms in the early days.

Painting Mobile Trains

Water Theatre

Department of Folk Arts, National Taiwan College of Performance Arts and professional dancers

Inspired by the development of Taoyuan, huge multimedia water projection, mechanical dynamic stage, diverse water vessels, stunts and dazzling light effects are combined to bring forth audience a touching musical realm on the water with sparkling wonders. The drama tells the most valuable natural heritage and cultural features of Taoyuan with metaphors of water, air and earth in a style of mythological narrative.

Art Performance at the Square

DancecologyThunar CircusTjimur Dance TheatreLO SIRONG & GOMOTEU

Four outstanding local performance art groups of Taiwan are invited to put up shows at Fugang Sports Park in Yangmei, Taoyuan. Echoing the spirit of human-land relationship of land art, the performance space breaks free from the boundary of stage, blending in the environment with environmental dancing theatre, well-open stage and all forms of performances. The performing groups interact with the works of public art and the visitors on site as well. The four feasts of performance fuse ravishing feather clothing, captivating circus play, traditional indigenous culture and moving Hakka and Jazz music into one art festival in the afternoon of autumn.

Hakka Art Performances

Combined with local communities of Yangmei, Taoyuan, and themed with the community adjacent to Bogongang, "Hakka Dishes", dances and songs of Hakka culture shall be performed to share the rich Hakka culture in Taoyuan.

Showcases of the 13 districts' local features of Taoyuan, refreshing performances by the college students, and the demo presented by parade groups from Taiwan and Japan altogether create a grand parade of a thousand strong! Professional groups from Japan like Hyuga Hyottoko Danceteam and Kagawa Prefectural Takamatsu West High School Calligraphy Club as well as local groups of Taoyuan, Jin Hong Lion Dance, the Department of Dance of Tainan University of Technology, are invited specifically to exchange with each other while adding more variety and fun to the activity.On the first day of the Parade (September 22), the 13 Districts of Taoyuan shall join forces to bring forth traditional dances, folk parades, and special line dances full of local features in the form of competition. On the second day (September 23), about a dozen schools local in Taoyuan are selected to showcase young vitality through Jazz dance, cheerleading dance, and wind band with creativity, pouring young energy into the old town.

2018 Taoyuan Land Art Festival CF 1

2018 Taoyuan Land Art Festival CF 2