I had a busy day yesterday taking photos around Taichung. The day began at an Aboriginal Cultural Festival organised by the Taichung City Government. The event featured some traditional dancing as well as some fun activities like the three-legged race pictured above and a tug-of-war. There was also a good range of aboriginal style food on offer — plenty of assorted meats on the BBQ and some fresh fruits like grapes and peaches grown in the mountains.

The colorful clothing of the Amis makes for great photos. I have a complete set of photos from this event at flickr. 

In the afternoon I met with Mark and Todd at SOGO for the photowalk. It was only a small group, but that made it easy to wander around and enjoy the streets of Taichung. Mark, a long-term Taichung resident, was a great guide. I am still quite unfamiliar with the streets of Taichung, but the walk helped me discover lots of interesting little streets around the canal district. The photo above is of a vendor in the market on Dalong Road (大隆路). This street is blocked off to traffic where the market selling various handicrafts was set up.

We spotted several VW vans kitted out to sell various kinds of food. This pink one was selling frozen yoghurt. This is in Jingming First Street (精明一街), which is perpendicular to Dalong Road and also has a market. Mark has his photos from the walk in a set at flickr. (Update: Mark has also set up a group at flickr for all the photos from the walk.)

In the evening I went to Emerge Live House, which is located up on the hill near Tunghai University. Emerge has live bands every weekend. The photo above shows Eye of Violence from Taipei. They played with two Taichung bands, Sideffect and Flesh Juicer. Metal seems to be a very popular music style in Taichung. Check my Live in Taichung photoset at flickr for some more photos of live music in Taichung over the past couple of months.

• HSR from Taichung to Taipei
• Completed my Master’s, now in Taichung
• Photowalking around Tunghai University
• Travels in Central Taiwan
• More on population density

              

Taiwan Pictures Digital Archive is a collection of over 3,200 historical photos of Taiwan that was previously launched as Vintage Formosa in March 2008. All the images were collected by  Marc who has just completed a great redesign of the site.

• Images of old Taiwan
• Photos of Formosa from LIFE
• Push car railways in Taiwan

              

On Saturday I met up with Mark, Todd and Darren at Art Street (藝術街) in Taichung for a photowalk. Art Street is Taichung’s attempt at creating a European style walking street. I don’t think the street has quite realised the original vision, but it is an interesting neighbourhood nonetheless. A lot of the interesting stuff is actually located in the alleys and nearby streets rather than the street itself. The street was a bit quiet on Saturday morning. If you want to check it out then I suggest visiting in the afternoon or evening.

After spending some time in Art Street we walked across to the much busier market area just above Tunghai University (東海大學). After having lunch there we walked down to the campus of Tunghai University. The campus has a lot of trees and sprawls out over a hill that looks down on Taichung City. It is a very pleasant place to walk around. The Luce Chapel which I mentioned in an earlier blog post is a notable piece of architecture. A new place I discovered was the No. 43 Studio, a small gallery featuring exhibitions by students.

The open and spacious campus even has its own dairy farm. This scene in the shed looks exactly like a farm shed in Australia.

And some of the dairy cows were munching on some hay. There is a shop selling icecream on the campus if you want to sample some of the produce.

Anyway to add some interest to the walk and subsequent blogging Mark suggested that each person select one photo from the other three people to post on their blog. Mark has already selected three. My selections follow.

I like this photo Mark took of me with the Chinese characters in the background. Check out Mark’s complete set of photos from the walk at flickr. Mark is leading the Taichung edition of the annual Worldwide Photowalk on Saturday 24 July. You can sign up for the walk on the official website.

I like this photo by Todd which juxtaposes the young woman dressed up for her wedding photos with two nuns in their ascetic grey garb walking past. For more of Todd’s photos from the walk check his photoset at flickr.

I remember watching Darren as he took the photo above. I was curious to see how it would turn out. Check out Darren’s set of photos at flickr.

*More of my photos in the Photowalk around Tunghai University set at flickr.

• Photowalking in Taichung
• A leg-breaking relationship
• Taiwan Studies at NCCU
• Melbourne Uni alumni reception
• Travels in Central Taiwan

              

It was three years ago that I first attended and photographed a cosplay event at NTU. I went to NTU again today to photograph some of the cosplay action at Fancy Frontier 15. This was also a photowalk event for the Taiwan Photo Club. It was nice to see some other photographers there including Mei, Craig, Dilip, Neil and Pei.

This man made a good strong pose.

These three ladies posed in their masks.

The Year of the Tiger seems like a good time for a big cat costume. [Tim Maddog informed me this was a cheetah not a tiger.]

*More images in the Fancy Frontier 15 set at flickr.

• Cosplay in Taipei
• Cosplay at Petit Fancy
• Cosplay at Fancy Frontier 13
• Cosplay at Petit Fancy 10
• Taking a break

              

Freak Out Beast (吵年獸), a music festival featuring a huge line up of Taiwan indie bands, took place on Saturday and Sunday in the space around the Red Theatre in Ximending. I attended both days last year but this year I was only able to attend for one day on Sunday.

The event took place on multiple stages around the Red Theatre. At the entrance there were turntables and mixing decks set up for DJs to perform. I had seen this crew performing in Ximending a couple of months earlier. In the evening Kou Chou Ching (拷秋勤) performed their Taiwan-style hip hop.

On the south side of the Red Theatre there was a small performance area for acoustic bands. The band playing in the photo is Xiasheng (夏生).

Plover were performing only their third live show. They were a well practiced outfit though and put on a good performance.

I have seen The Peppermints (薄荷葉) play several times in the past few weeks including at the Sanying Community. After their performance I bought a copy of their recently released CD “Banished”.

The last time I saw The White Eyes (白目樂隊) perform was at Freak Out Beast a year ago. They put on an awesome performance that had the crowd jumping. Gao Xiao Gao (高小糕) is incredibly energetic on stage and provided non-stop entertainment for the crowd. She even jumped into it at one point!

Someone broke out a bunch of sparklers while The White Eyes were performing. Freak Out Beast is based on a tradition related to the new year and scaring away the beast. With a lot of loud music and plenty of screaming from the crowd I am sure the beast was well and truly scared.

*More photos in the Freak Out Beast 2010 set at flickr.

Update: Check out Joshua Samuel Brown’s blog with some great videos of Kou Chou Ching and The White Eyes.

• Freak Out Beast in Ximending
• Another Lonely Planet
• Freestyle motocross at Freedom Square
• Photo in Sky Couch magazine
• 314 Tibet protest in Taipei

              

Freedom Square hosted an exhibition of freestyle motocross riding yesterday afternoon. It was part of the Red Bull X-Fighters exhibition tour.

The riders pulled off extreme mid-air maneuvers in the space between the National Theatre and the National Concert Hall. Despite having only a short run up to the launching ramp they gained some serious air time.

The riders performed a range of stunts including the “Superman seat grab” (shown above) and building up to backflips.

The riders paused to enjoy the applause from the crowd. The large crowd sitting on the steps of the National Concert Hall can be seen in the background.

There was a team of young ladies on the scene promoting Red Bull.

The bikes on display after the event.

*More photos of the event at flickr and Demotix.

• Freedom at last
• Wild Berry House opening
• 49 hour hunger strike for Tibet
• Don’t forget Tibet
• Music without borders

              

On Saturday afternoon I headed to Ximending (西門町) to meet a friend and see what was happening. The place was abuzz with activity. One of the first things I spotted was this concert going on in the plaza beside the Red Theatre (紅樓). The plaza also has a lively market where young designers and artists tout their wares.

Standing outside the MRT Station two young college students approached me. Their teacher had asked them to speak to some foreigners to practice their English. I patiently and politely obliged their request (while silently cursing their English teacher).

A young lady chatted on her mobile phone as she moved through the crowd.

Wandering along a little way I discovered some cosplay with a Gothic theme happening.

And a blind man playing the erhu.

The reason I came to Ximending on this day was to see Kou Chou Ching (拷秋勤) perform outside the in89 Movie Theatre. I have embedded a video of them performing their song “Grey Coastlines” (灰色海岸線) above. I missed the intro to the song. The official music video is available on Facebook.

After Kou Chou Ching’s set a few guys stepped up to do some beatbox. The man pictured above was doing his first public performance after a year of practicing. He was pretty good.

I discovered a “Longstay Hotel”. I thought most of the hotels in this area specialised in short stay!

The man in the photo above was busy writing people’s names with a very artistic style of Chinese characters. A large crowd gathered round to watch.

The last stop was at some of the art shops in the Red Theatre. I discovered a small shop called Mago Life Shop which has a very interesting range of Buddhist t-shirts. The photo above shows John, the designer, with a “The Buddha is my mind mentor” t-shirt.

• Mazu Festival in Ximending
• Taipei by night
• Freak Out Beast 2010 edition
• Taipei Film Festival opens tomorrow
• New photo gallery

              

I went to Kaohsiung (高雄) over the weekend. The sunny skies and warm temperatures were a nice contrast to Taipei of late. As well as enjoying the weather I was keen to see two sites of artistic and architectural significance that weren’t open to the public when I visited last year. My first stop was the Formosa Boulevard Station (美麗島捷運站) of the Kaohsiung MRT to see the Dome of Light (光之穹頂), a public art installation created by Italian artist Narcissus Quagliata.

I borrowed an audio guide from the KRTC Art Shop for NT$30. The guide gave a comprehensive narration, in English, of the key features of the artwork. The dome is very rich in detail and you can spend a long time visually exploring the it. The dome is divided into four sections: water, earth, light and fire. It also takes the form of a yin and yang symbol. Beginning with water it takes a journey through human life, exploring the stages of life and the place of humans in the universe.

The Formosa Boulevard Station is also currently hosting a Human Rights Exhibition for 30th anniversary of the Kaohsiung Incident. On 10 December 1979 Taiwan’s opposition movement staged a protest to mark Human Rights Day. Agent provocateurs in the crowd sparked off violence and in the subsequent crackdown the leaders of the movement were arrested including Chen Chu (陳菊) who is now the Mayor of Kaohsiung.

Inside the station you can also find the recently opened Human Rights Learning Studio (人權學堂). The studio opened earlier this month and hosts regular human rights education activities.

Later on Saturday afternoon I visited the World Games Stadium designed by the Japanese architect Toyo Ito. Built especially for the World Games held in July this year, the stadium not only looks stunning but incorporates 8,844 solar panels into its roof. The solar panels can generate electricity to power the stadium and the electricity is fed into the grid when the stadium is not in use.

Outside the stadium there is an installation of public art titled “Message of Peace” created by Yaacov Agam.

On Sunday I went to an exhibition at the Pier 2 Art Centre (駁2藝術園區) about the opening and closing ceremonies of the World Games. The exhibition detailed the many parts of the opening and closing ceremonies as well as having some of the costumes and sets on display. The NT$99 entry price included a free DVD of the opening and closing ceremonies. Outside the Art Centre there was an exhibition of container art — artworks created out of 40-foot shipping containers.

There was plenty to do and see in Kaohsiung. I wandered around the Lotus Lake with its distinctive Dragon and Tiger Pagodas. The city also has a well developed bike hire network with the new C-bike system at MRT stations. There are also other outlets offering bike hire. The MRT makes getting around the city very easy too.

*More photos in the Kaohsiung set at flickr.

• The good, the bad and the ugly
• Free Burma concert in Kaohsiung on 19 June
• A website of culture
• Second Skin at Taipei MOCA
• Expat interview with David

              

A beautiful sunny day greeted participants in the LGBT Pride Parade in Taipei today. Organisers estimated 25,000 people participated in the parade and increase from 18,000 last year.

The theme for this year’s parade was “Love Out Loud”. Participants marched in groups matching the colors of the rainbow. Red for sex, orange for power, yellow for hope, green for nature, blue for liberty and purple for art.Some of the groups participating included “Do the left thing”, the Green Party, Gay & Lesbian Couples Association and many university groups.

This year’s event called on the government to take action on anti-discrimination legislation. Politicians often make promises about gay rights before elections, but never follow through once they are elected.

The parade started from Ketagalan Boulevard wound through the streets in the area south of Taipei Station. This men in this photo are the “Water Boys” (水男孩).

Although today was Halloween there were only a few people in Halloween themed costumes.

The parade returned to its starting point on Ketagalan Boulevard. There was a performance by Rock in Hose Burlesque. Their performance included a message about safe sex.

Only a week earlier an anti-gay protest organised by Christian groups had taken place in Taipei. The LGBT Pride event, with its much bigger turnout, affirmed that Taiwanese are increasingly tolerant and accepting of diversity. Hopefully this will lead to more concrete measures to legislate for gay marriage and other rights in the near future.

*More photos in the 2009 LGBT Pride Parade set at flickr. Also check out the photos from the official LGBT Pride volunteer photographers.

• LGBT Pride Parade in Taipei
• Hopes and dreams on parade
• Xinzhuang temple parade video
• Assembly Law amendments restrict rights
• Temple festival in Xinzhuang

              

The streets of Taipei came alive this afternoon with the vibrant, noisy and colorful Hope Parade (世界夢想嘉年華). The parade is an annual event organised by the Dream Community (夢想社區) in Xizhi (汐止), Taipei County.

The parade began at Freedom Square before a short march through the streets to Ketagalan Boulevard. After arriving on the boulevard in the late afternoon there was a stage set up with a concert going on into the evening.

Taipei Mayor Hau Lung-bin (郝龍斌) was on hand to start off the parade and rode on one of the floats for part of the parade.

Drumming was a popular activity in the parade. The photo above shows some indigenous school children drumming.

There were quite a few groups of indigenous students from all over Taiwan although their costumes could not really be described as traditional. The parade is inspired by the Brazilian Carnival so it draws on that influence as well as having its own unique Taiwanese flavour.

There were several Indian-themed groups. The ladies pictured above put on a Bollywood dance performance in the evening. There was also a group from ISKCON, better known as the Hare Krishna Movement.

This young lady loved posing for the camera. The event was great fun for participants, photographers and spectators alike. There will be more color and excitement on the streets of Taipei when the annual LGBT Pride Parade takes place on Saturday 31 October.

*More photos in the 2009 Hope Parade set at flickr. I will upload more photos over the next few days.

• Xinzhuang temple parade video
• LGBT Pride Parade in Taipei
• New home for David on Formosa
• Loving out loud and proud
• Assembly Law amendments restrict rights